But what about the Holy Spirit?

I'm currently working through a Bible study and have been learning more about the Holy Spirit and it's purpose in our lives. If you had asked me a few weeks ago what the Holy Spirit is and what he does, I probably would've said something like, "Well, it's the same as God and Jesus, but different. As for what it does, it tells us what to do...like our conscience."

There's so much more to the Holy Spirit than that. We hear about and are taught about God and Jesus Christ so much, but what about that third part? During the study, I had an "AH-HA" moment when I read that, during creation, the Holy Spirit acted as the Energizer, applying the power and energy of the Godhead to the act of creation. The Holy Spirit is what MOVES us. Come on, I'm sure you've had 'that feeling' inside of you before, prompting you to do something that was outside of your comfort zone. I'd bet it was the Holy Spirit.

Another "AH-HA" moment came after I read this: "The Holy Spirit is always ready and able to fill the believer, but He will not agree to perform this ministry unless He is in present control of the one He inhabits." You know what stood out to me in that sentence? The words PRESENT CONTROL. Man alive! That means I have to CONSTANTLY give control over to the Holy Spirit. He's always ready...just waiting for me to get Him involved. Bringing the Holy Spirit into your life and what you're doing is not a one-time thing. **I keep telling myself this and will continue to do so for a long, long time.**

Oh my gosh, there's so much good stuff I'm learning. Let me share more. Yet another sentence that I highlighted and starred was this, "One of our biggest reasons for failure in daily struggles is our vain attempt to balance the Spirit and the flesh--to make them function as coworkers." That's exactly what I do; try to make them function as coworkers. In all reality, the Holy Spirit should be leading, right? I should be following Him, not asking Him to work alongside what I'm doing.

Isn't that good stuff? The Holy Spirit is amazing and does so much within us, if we allow Him to. Hold on, let me get my soapbox now...for years, I thought I was a Christian, because I was going to church every Sunday and was involved in youth group and went to camp every summer. But that's not what it's all about. I heard for the first time about a personal relationship with Christ after college. Maybe it had been taught and my ears just weren't listening, but I really don't ever remember hearing about the 'personal relationship' piece before 2000. Why is this not being taught more?

Also, I wonder why the church isn't teaching more about the Holy Spirit. If He is, in fact, the Energizer in our lives, why are we not taught how to be more aware of Him? I also believe that the Holy Spirit is what helps make that personal relationship work, yet, we don't hear enough about it to really be aware of it. My church has a motto of "Building a community to reach a community". I feel like we're definitely building a community, but don't really know about reaching the community. I feel like we, as a church community, aren't completely on board with this yet. Maybe more teaching about the Holy Spirit could help in this area. **Soapbox is now put away.**

Would love to hear what you think about this. Am I completely off the mark here? Is it just the churches that I've attended (which includes 3 different ones since becoming a Christian and all are solid!) that aren't talking about the power of the Holy Spirit? What does your church teach about the Holy Spirit? I'm so curious about this now and can't wait to learn more. I've already seen Him working in me and am becoming more aware of giving Him control in my life. Praise God!