FollowHave You Experienced The Holy Spirit?
Pastor Pat James
The book of Acts tells of how the Holy Spirit came upon the believers who were gathered in the upper room. There was a sound like a strong wind, there were what appeared to be flames of fire over their heads and they were changed in a dramatic way. Most believers have never experienced anything like that, however many of us consider it to be an example of what it means to experience the Holy Spirit in our life.
A Pharisee named Nicodemus paid a rather clandestine visit to Jesus one night, (the first case of “Nic at night”), and Jesus spoke to him of the mystery of the Holy Spirit. He said, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; …” (John 3:8)
The Holy Spirit is like the wind, we will not be able to tell where He came from or where He is going, but we will be aware of His presence. But how? How will I be aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life? To answer that, we must be aware of what the Holy Spirit does.
Jesus said , “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;” (John 16:8).
One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin. Has He done that in your life? Though we may call it different things most everyone is aware of the wrong things they have done in their life. Yet those who believe and have the Holy Spirit within them, are not driven to deny or hide from their sins; they do not feel the need to blame others or attempt to escape their guilt through intoxicants and such. The believer somehow finds the strength to face the fact that he has sinned, without allowing that fact to overwhelm him. If you have experienced that strength then you have experienced the Holy Spirit in your life!
Jesus tells us the Spirit would also convict the world concerning righteousness. Many have tried to find righteousness by keeping rules and regulations. No matter how hard we tried we always felt that we haven’t tried hard enough, that we just haven’t been good enough. Then we came to understand that righteousness is not gained through self-efforts, instead it is a gift that we receive by faith. It is through our faith in Christ that we are forgiven and His righteousness is credited to our account. That realization causes us to respond in love because we have been set free from a life of struggling to earn the favor of God. And that realization is a touch of the Holy Spirit!
Jesus also said the Holy Spirit would convict the world concerning judgment. Most all of us know what it is to be judged. Many of us have felt the pain of being miss-judged by others. But there comes a time when we realize the judgments of others are not what is important. The Holy Spirit causes us to realize that our worth is based not upon the judgments of other people, but on God’s judgment. We are forgiven of our wrongs, we are loved and we are free to enjoy the possibilities of each day before God. And that wonderful, liberating realization is a touch from the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit is truly active in the life of every believer, but we must learn to recognize His work.
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Pastor Pat James is pastor emeritus of True Hope Christian Fellowship Church, at
2516 18th. Ave, Forest Grove, OR Telephone 503-357-8534