(I Am) The Holy Spirit

Normally the chronological description of the Trinity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I have intentionally placed this chapter describing the Holy Spirit before the chapter describing Jesus.  The reason will be revealed as the reader continues.   

  The Holy Spirit is a unique, wonderful, and beautiful expression of “I Am, Who I Am!”  When I think about Him, I do so fondly.  I have read about Him appearing in the form of a dove and the form of fire.  I have read that He is the teacher sent from the Father and Jesus, I have read that He is the life connected to our spirit and the living water to our souls.  Through Him and by Him, we experience God’s presence. Through Him, we learn the mind and will of God.  From Him, we receive gifts that connect us to God in a more meaningful way.  He is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and much more.  When we walk in Him, His life and character become our own.

     As it is with the Father, the Holy Spirit is Spirit, and although we have seen Him in different forms, nonetheless He is Spirit, an omnipotent Spirit.  He is everywhere at one time, with no beginning and no end.  He is God’s Holy Spirit, who does nothing of Himself.

     The authority of the Father directs the Holy Spirit to administer to mankind the mind and will of “I Am, Who I Am!”  All things we truly know about God are from The Holy Spirit.  Even before the moment we are Born Again, He had a relationship with us, of which we were unaware.  After we were Born Again, we became aware of that relationship.  When we accepted the words and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we received salvation, and now our spirits are once again alive, through the connection with The Holy Spirit that takes place when He dwells within us!  It is He who teaches us from within and reveals to us the truth about who our God truly is.  Thus, it is the Holy Spirit through whom we have the closest relationship with daily.  When we kneel and pray, it is The Holy Spirit’s presence we feel deep within our inner man.  When we read scripture and the understanding comes alive, it is The Holy Spirit who is teaching us.

     I have been a Christian for over forty-three years and during that period, I spent more time than wished not knowing the Holy Spirit as someone personal to me.  I had been taught that the Holy Spirit never draws attention to Himself therefore I had developed the impression that He was secretly guiding me to Jesus, thus creating the idea in me that I wouldn’t have a personal relationship with Him.  How wrong I was.

     He showed me how intimate He is by reminding me of something that had happened in my past.  He recalled the memory of when I was a young boy and having tutors, and personal teachers who came to my home.  I was not able to go to school because of an injury that occurred to my left ankle.  Due to the injury, I had two reconstructive surgeries.  I was ten years old and lived with my parents in Orangevale, California when I injured my ankle.  Like many ten-year-old boys, I was messing around, not paying attention to what I was doing when, I cut the front of my ankle on a piece of gnarled-up, half-buried piece of metal shop siding.  The cut went deep and severed the main tendon found on the front of the ankle and had to be reattached for me to walk.  An eight-hour surgery was performed at Roseville Hospital, which was close to my home.  After the surgery I was not allowed to walk be it with or without crutches.  As a result, I was not able to attend school in person, so the school sent a tutor to my home.  The teacher was sent from Oak View Elementary School, which I attended during my fourth and fifth grade years.  I was in the fourth grade at the time of my injury. 

     Two years later, I had to undergo a second eight-hour surgery which took place at Rideout Hospital in Marysville, California, close to where I lived with my parents at the time.  The second reconstructive surgery was more complicated than the first, so it took quite a while longer to heal.  And just as it was after the first surgery, I was not allowed to walk for a substantial amount of time.  Thus, I was not able to attend my classes in person.  I was in the sixth grade and attending Barry Elementary School in Yuba City when I had the second surgery, and as it was with Oak View, Barry sent a tutor to my home to teach me the same curriculum that my fellow students were learning in class. 

     Both teachers who came to my home, the one sent from Oak View Elementary School and the second sent from Barry Elementary School, taught me for one hour a day, five days a week.  The teachers had the same authority to teach me as if I were in the classroom at school.  They stood for the schools and brought the schools to me.  Because I had an intimate setting and had developed a personal relationship with each teacher, I was able to understand the subjects being taught, much more readily and easily. It was great! I really enjoyed the learning!  The intimacy without distractions produced in me an ability to learn, with a greater understanding, the subjects taught.

     In the same manner, we have a Tutor who is sent to our lives with all the authority of The Father to teach us all things.  The One He sent to us is The Holy Spirit! Of whom, we can talk to and ask every question we would ever have!  He was sent to us for that purpose.  When I realized that The Holy Spirit was my Tutor sent by God, The Father, I began to have a relationship with The Holy Spirit that proved to be the most beneficial to my spirit and soul about gaining a greater understanding of my Heavenly Father and My Savior who is named Jesus Christ.

       However, I must tell you that when I began to have an intimate relationship with The Holy Spirit, I also started to incorrectly perceive the complete truth about the relationship.  I began to like fellowshipping with Him more than with The Father and Jesus.  I liked Him the most.  I would “hang with Him,” because He spoke kindly to me, He was always gentle and beautiful!  In my mind, The Father was just angry, and The Son was in Heaven doing whatever He is doing to prepare for the future.  So, the Holy Spirit became my preferred connection to God. How ridiculous and ignorant I was to think that way!  Because there is only one God, everything I felt and received from The Holy Spirit I felt and received from The Father and The Son also.  Together as God (Elohim), they are the perfect expression of the fullness of “I Am, Who I Am” to us. 

     So, what did The Holy Spirit do?  He taught me that I didn’t know God like I thought I did.  He taught me the truth!  So, when my beliefs of God were out of balance and I did not understand, He gently guided me to the truth about Himself and He led me to a greater understanding and better relationship with The Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  “I Am, Who I Am,” wants us to know Him and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.  Because He is our teacher and an individual expression with an individual purpose, we can talk personally to the Holy Spirit, as we do with The Father and The Son.

       My own belief of God had been to pray to the Father in the name of His Son, and I do.  I do this because I know I can come boldly to the Father because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and His forgiveness of my sins.  In like manner there is an intimacy to be had with The Holy Spirit that we should never ignore.  As I wrote earlier, “there is no jealousy in The Godhead.”  I cannot pray to one without praying to all.  Remember there is only one God!

    The Holy Spirit is continually reminding us to walk in this life in a manner that pleases our Heavenly Father.  He convicts us by showing us the will and mind of The Mind of the Father, because He is the administrator of The Mind and Will of The Father.  The Holy Spirit does not expect us to be able to “walk in the Spirit” without helping us.  He is the one who is intimately helping us every moment of every day!

     The Father sent The Holy Spirit to us, as someone who is supposed to be very personal and intimate with us.  When we accept Jesus’ words and ask for God’s forgiveness for our sins, it is He who comes into us, restoring our corrupt spirits to life causing us to be born again.  It is The Holy Spirit whose presence we feel within our spirit, soul, and body.  It is He who teaches us everything we know about The Father and The Son.

     Jesus told His disciples that when He left them, they would receive an advantage, John 16:7-11, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. "And He, when He comes will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

       Jesus calls Him” our helper,” sent to “convict the world concerning sin,” and by confirming to us that Jesus Christ is The Son of God!  He supplies all we need to have a fulfilling relationship with, The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and Himself.  He is continually reminding us to walk in this life in a manner that pleases our Heavenly Father.

      As I stated before, The Holy Spirit does not expect us to be able to “walk in the Spirit” without helping us.  He is the One, who is intimately helping us every moment of every day.  When He came, He did not come empty-handed!  He came with gifts! Tools to help us grow into a full spiritual life that is acceptable to God.  The gifts that the Holy Spirit has for us are described in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and another gift of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and another prophecy, and another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and another the interpretation of tongues. But the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” 

      The Holy Spirit teaches us the will and the mind of “I Am, Who I Am.”  He is the administrator of God’s will and the revealer of God’s character, holiness, and thoughts.  The Holy Spirit is our guide, leading mankind through the path that leads to a life of love and promise, in this life on earth and the eternal life to come.