Category: Holy Spirit

Everything is interconnected. The Spirit of God has created everything and this commonality connects us. The Holy Spirit brings life – rich, reproducing, abundant life, the kind of life that swallows death – life that lasts forever. Take God’s Spirit out of the equation, and futility rules. Productivity without the Spirit of God inevitably leads to a dead end. On that note, Jesus observed (John 6:63):

“The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”* Bible Version: New Living Translation (NLT)

Since everything has sprung from God’s Spirit there is a noticeable spiritual bond between God and His creation. Unfortunately, human beings cut themselves loose at some point, and they strayed far from heaven. It has been the Lord’s mission to overcome the apparent disconnection, and this is why Jesus came.

Interestingly, as I’m writing out these thoughts our internet connection went down. The worldwide web has revolutionized our culture and made information more readily available. Imagine today’s world without having this powerful tool. It is safe to say, the interconnectedness provided by various computer devices has accelerated problem solving. The ratio of human inventions went through the roof with the introduction of the personal computer, especially when the computer reduced in size and became a portable device. Power outage and loss of connectivity, even if it is only for an hour, creates havoc in the modern world. However, the repercussions of being disconnected from the source of all beings are intrinsically more serious.

The Holy Spirit is poured out globally and not unlike the Internet accessible everywhere. When people pray, the Spirit of God listens. This is what Jesus was referring to in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:7):

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

To be reconnected to heaven all we have to do is ask and the Holy Spirit will re-establish the lost connection; His breath revives us. Reconciliation with the Godhead is only a prayer away.

A Penny for Your Thoughts

God’s wisdom is revealed by His Spirit. I find that fascinating. God’s mind is big and so it’s hard to imagine that human finite minds can understand His thoughts. Well, in general they can’t. Human minds can understand a number of things, but the thoughts of God are foreign to the natural human mind. If it wasn’t for His Spirit, we could not understand a word He was saying.

In my younger years I had a profound experience with the Bible. Growing up in an agnostic household, the Bible was considered to be a book like any other books. I personally liked to read King Solomon’s poetry whenever I cracked open the Bible. Over time I began to wonder if the biblical God was fiction or reality. Could He make Himself known to me if He indeed existed? And so I prayed. Nothing dramatic happened, except when I opened the Bible the next day the Word became alive and began to speak to me. God is alive and He communicates to us via the Holy Spirit. This was my first experience of His communication skills. Once our eyes are opened and we know that God exists we have the mind of Christ. Jesus knows and loves the Father like no other and I have been digging to discover more of God ever since.

I remember riding in the car with my grandfather when I was in my twenties. He was a quiet man and I was not very talkative either, so we rode in silence for a while until he asked me: “What do you think?” Looking back I notice that he asked me this question more than once, on various occasions. So I opened up to him and told him what was on my mind that day. “A penny for your thoughts”, you hear people say who want to see what is going on in your head. They won’t know unless they ask. The same is true with God. We won’t know what He thinks, unless we ask Him.

God is mysterious and His thoughts are deep, but this does not deter the Holy Spirit to probe into those thoughts. The apostle Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 2:10)

“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

It is to our benefit that the Holy Spirit is so curious. He introduces God’s thoughts to us when we are inquisitive and want to draw closer to God. We ask questions just like my grandfather did when we were riding in the car together, by inquiring of the Lord: “What do you think?” God-willing, He will let us know. Thanks to His Spirit we understand God’s reality on earth, in our current lives and in the world to come.

An ambitious building project came to a screeching halt. What happened?  In the 11^th chapter of the book of Genesis we read how people got together to build a great city with an enormous tower. Their goal was to unify the world under one capital – incidentally the goal of many rising and falling empires in the history of mankind. With the introduction of foreign languages, however, God threw a mighty curve ball. People divided into their respective language groups to form tribes and nations. And so they began to scatter into the four corners of this world forever abandoning the construction project of the Tower of Babel.

With Babel came native and foreign tongues, and ever since we have been in dire need of translators to be able to communicate with people all over the world. “Babel” sounds like the word “confusion” in Hebrew. And the confusion is profound indeed – even among people speaking the same language. We have a hard time understanding each other and much less can we make sense of God’s Word. Consequently, God has been misunderstood, and in the realm of human relations people have been misunderstood.

We worship God in Spirit and in truth. Without God’s Spirit we don’t know how to worship the Lord. The same is true with studying the Word of God; the Spirit of God breathes life and meaning into the Scriptures and explains God’s thoughts to us. He could be seen as our interpreter from Heaven. Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit to His followers as an advocate and His representative before He left this earth to return to the Father. In John’s gospel Jesus said to His disciples (John 14:26): 

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” 

The gift of the Holy Spirit has become the powerful antidote to the Babel event. He opens the door to a better understanding between God and His children and naturally also between believers. The Spirit of God was poured out worldwide to teach us God’s ways and is currently knocking on doors of human hearts to bring all people back to God (Revelation 22:17):

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

If we were ambassadors by trade we would know how to navigate between different cultures and how to keep the dialogue open between countries. The use of ambassadors today is widespread. States use diplomatic representatives to deal with any problems that occur within the international system. Ambassadors live in their assigned countries for long periods of time so that they get acquainted with the culture and local people. The Holy Spirit representing God’s kingdom dwells in our realm and is sent to us to inform us of God’s will and explain it in such a way that we can understand it. Languages seem to be the Holy Spirit’s specialty. Speaking every language there is, and most importantly: God’s heart language, the Holy Spirit is an excellent and very unique interpreter. As a member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit re-introduces us to God’s Kingdom – basically back to the way it used to be when we knew God intimately, when we walked the Garden of Eden with Him, and before we engaged in conversations with a treacherous serpent; on that note I call this time era in Eden “Before Serpent”. Just as “Before Christ” is abbreviated BC, “Before Serpent” is abbreviated ….bad joke, I know!

God’s Spirit is known to be gentle. If we reject Him, He respects our decision and lets us go – because apparently we know what we’re doing – or don’t we?

Jesus once prayed for us on the cross saying (Luke 23:34):

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’”

When Jesus asked the Father to forgive everybody, He gave Him a reason why: “They do not know what they do.” I’ve always wondered if people had known they were actually killing the Son of God on the cross was there a chance that God would not forgive?

This is a theoretical question of course, but in this vein here are some more: Did Adam and Eve understand what they were doing eating that forbidden fruit? Did Satan know what he was doing causing a split in heaven and taking one third of all angels with him? How much can go wrong and how much can be forgiven? I don’t think we really know.

And knowing that we don’t know is the beginning of all wisdom, I believe. Humility goes a long way towards God’s kingdom, and that’s when we are actually open to listen to the Wisdom of Ages, aka the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit has a lot of important things to share (the truth first and foremost!). If you’re busy, take some time out of your busy schedule. If you’re not busy, just come with curiosity and an open mind.  Don’t be afraid to listen what the Holy Spirit has to say. I promise you, it will rock your world and you’ll be amazed!

Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord      Francesca Battistelli