What Does The Holy Spirit Really Do?

A good friend of mine sent this, it was so good, just had to share 🙂

“It is impossible to follow God unless we are led by the Spirit. The only way to be led by the Spirit is to follow God’s command to be filled by the Spirit. God’s Word interestingly compares being filled with the Spirit with being drunk.

Somebody who is drunk with wine or alcohol is controlled by it. But someone who is “drunk in the Spirit” is controlled and consumed by the Spirit, who helps us live holy lives.

How are we filled with the Spirit? The Holy Spirit enters you when you decided to give your life to Christ, to become a Christian. But we need to continually ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to help us do the things God wants us to do. When we’re growing as Christians, we should allow the Spirit to take control over more and more of our lives.

The Holy Spirit plays many roles. You can read about some of them in these passages in God’s Word: John 14:15-27; John 16: 5-15, Romans 8: 1-17; Galatians 5:16-26. In John 14, for example, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will comfort us when we’re hurting and promises that the Spirit will bring us peace. Jesus also says the Spirit will help us recall the things we’ve learned about God, which also means the Spirit will help us when we tell others about our faith.

In John 16, Jesus refers to the Spirit as a “Counselor” who will guide us in our everyday lives. One way is by convicting us of sin. And this is really a good thing: God wants us to get rid of the things that displease Him, and the only way to identify those things is to be convicted by the Spirit. The Spirit works through our conscience to make us aware of sin in our lives. Romans 8 tells us the Spirit will help us stop sinning and do the things that please God.

A verse later in that chapter also tells us that the Spirit helps us pray. When we go to God and say, “Lord, I’m just not sure how to pray or what to say”, the Holy Spirit helps us in those times, and actually intercedes for us, with the help of Jesus Christ, saying the prayers for us. IS that cool or what?

We are still responsible to do our part, especially to consistently read our Bibles and pray, asking the Spirit to show us the Truth and teach us how to live. It’s important to remember that the Spirit will not prompt us to do anything that goes against Scripture. People sometimes justify their actions by saying, “My conscience told me…..”. We need to make sure we’re listening the the Voice of the Holy Spirit, not the voice of our own desires. And we know which is which by checking this voice against the Truth of God’s Word. How can you tell if you’re being led by the Spirit? By the “fruit” of your life, your attitudes and actions. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Are these things evident in your life? Two verses later, it says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

My thoughts and prayers are that you are walking in the Spirit. Truly, we still make mistakes while on earth. That is why Jesus took our place, because of His Mercy and Grace, knowing we would be forever lost without His Sacrifice on the Cross. Only with His Strength and Courage, can we possibly defeat the evil one at his own game. We should continually become closer and closer to our Heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for moments granted on earth, with just a short step to meet Jesus and be introduced to our Father to live with Him, forever and ever.”

“In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”