Our friend, James Goll, is a profound teacher and is full of deep teachings in the things of the Spirit. He is one who knows Him well and walks closely with the Holy Spirit.
If you want in increase your knowledge and in the gifts of the Holy Spirit available to you...I encourage you read this insightful message from James Goll!
I'm not going to give it away...read on and find out the ways we should always respond to the Holy Spirit! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
James W. Goll, Franklin, TN
The Holy Spirit loves messes. How do I know? Because of the second verse of the Bible: "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2 ESV). At the creation, as the Holy Spirit was lingering over the formless nothingness, God spoke into being the world as we know it. The Spirit of God loved the chaos to life and transformed it from a mess to magnificence. To this day, that is how He operates.
So the most basic answer to the question, "How does the Holy Spirit move?" is that He hovers. He stays over something until He chooses to move on, having completed His inspection or implementation. That's how He moves.
| "He makes true disciples of us because He is interested in maturing our character more than in bringing us personal comfort." |
Bible scholars call the first time something is mentioned in the Bible "the law of first mention." The first time you find something stated in Scripture fixes its characteristics from that point forward. In the verse above, which is almost the very first verse of the whole Bible, we see that the Spirit of God moves. All the time, He keeps moving across the face of the earth, and He brings light into darkness wherever He goes. He didn't stop moving that way after the earth was created because He is constantly renewing the face of the earth, along with the hearts of the earth's inhabitants.
How are we supposed to respond to this information? Sometimes our lives may feel like "formless nothingness," too, but we are not inert. We can make a response to the movements of the Holy Spirit of God.
How to Respond to the Holy Spirit
I can think of at least three primary ways we should always respond to the Spirit. You and I should make it a point to:
1. Honor Him as a guest. Welcome Him into your home; into your own spirit. Greet Him on a first-name basis, but without over-familiarity. Acknowledge Him as the third person of the Godhead, with His own distinct personality and ways. As John the Beloved wrote, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come" (John 16:13).
Now "guest" may not be the best word to use. When we welcome Him as a guest, we need to recognize Him not only as our guest but also as our landlord. When we open the door for Him, He's not just making a guest appearance. Don't forget—He owns the place!
2. Seek for His presence. He is more than a special guest; He is our equipper. As we ask for Him, we must seek to be equipped by Him—continually—so that we can do the work of ministry. He is utterly generous with the gift of Himself, but He wants to be asked. Jesus put it this way:
"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:9-13)
If a son asks his father...(continue reading)
