Intimacy with the Holy Spirit

Hello all and welcome to my mission trip blog page! I’ll be posting on this periodically throughout my trip as a way to share what’s happening. I am currently on a plane to Costa Rica to begin my journey in country. Some blogs will just be pictures, some will be about service projects and mission work, and others will be about what God is teaching me and my team. Before we left for country, we spent time at training camp in Georgia preparing our hearts and minds for the mission field. The sessions, activities, and worship we participated in amplified our hearts for Jesus and His mission before we even left the U.S. 

One session that was particularly impactful was about developing intimacy with the Holy Spirit. I knew the Spirit was one person of God. I knew that I loved and appreciated the Spirit. And I even knew that the Spirit lived inside of me. What I didn’t know, however, is what the Spirit’s role was or that He wants to be our best friend. 

Listen, all you have to do to receive the Spirit into your heart is believe in Jesus and be thirsty for more (John 7:37-39). That’s it. Then once we receive the Spirit, we get to be children of God (John 1:12). The actual, beloved children of God. What?! That’s amazing, guys! We have a Father above who boldly claims us in whatever state of brokenness He finds us. A Father who loves us too much to leave us the way we are. A Father who knows each of our names. Back to the Holy Spirit, though. His role in born-again believers has four parts:

1. Partnership. He wants to works with us. He doesn’t need us, yet He wants to do life with us as the hands and feet of Jesus. You are never more qualified to wreck peoples lives in the best way possible than when you are filled with the Spirit. Think about the feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21. Read carefully, though. It was actually the disciples who multiplied the food after Jesus had blessed it. And they were able to do so through partnership with the Spirit.
2. Companionship. Once we accept Jesus, the Spirit makes his home in us (John 14:23). We become His dwelling place. He wants to live in us and be our best friend. He wants us to be comfortable talking, listening, and walking with him just like we would a friend. 
3. Intimacy. He wants us to draw near to him. He wants us to wake up in the morning and ask to be filled to the brim with the Spirit. Because when you’re walking around full of the Spirit, two things happen naturally. Your daily walk changes, and—when you bump into someone—the Spirit might just spill over into their life. There’s a song by Jesus Culture called ‘Holy Spirit.’ A line in it says, “Holy Spirit you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.” He should change both you and the atmosphere whenever you walk into a room because you are so dang full of Him that He pours over to all people and places. 
4. Empowers. We receive power when the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Let us not forget that He is one with a God who is all-powerful and all-knowing. And we get to have that living inside of us! Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” He doesn’t include Costa Rica specifically, but I know He wants us to reach them too. My team and I go confidently in the name of God with Jesus before us and the Spirit within us to share His Gospel. We are eager to get started in country, and to see what the Holy Spirit can and will do through us. That doesn’t mean He isn’t empowering you to do work right where you are, however. As far as I know, Northwest Iowa, Sioux Falls, Colorado, Japan, and everywhere else is included in “the ends of the earth.”

Know that the Holy Spirit wants to be active in your life. If you haven’t accepted Jesus into your heart, He is near you to convict you of your sin and turn your eyes to Jesus (John 16:7-9). If you haven’t been born again in Christ, the Spirit is there to help you (John 3) and then dwell in you (Romans 8:9). If you have accepted Jesus and the Spirit into your heart, then listen to the ways in which He wants to work with and through you. He’s a partner and companion, he desires to be in intimate relationship with you, and He empowers you to build the Kingdom of God. 

-E