A few years ago while I was worshiping with Dunsin Oyekan’s “The Gospel of the Kingdom” album, I started praying in tongues. Prior to this I had been desiring and seeking the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I might have had him in my life because I had prayed for Him, had hands laid on me to receive the Holy Spirit but I didn’t know him personally, didn’t speak with him and definitely could not speak in tongues. Therefore being able to speak and pray in tongues definitely gave me great joy.
Hereafter, I saw some serious changes in my life which were definitely not because of me. It was by no means a 360 turnaround or a change which came quickly but they were changes regardless. I, who was never able to pray for a long time, found myself praying and worshiping for longer. I found myself reading the bible for longer and not just reading the bible but receiving deep insights into the word like never before. I had done a bible course which had as its key message, the five ways of engaging with the word, daily Bible reading and writing so I had already been reading the bible and writing what I learnt. However, this time, I wasn’t reading the bible as a chore, I enjoyed reading the Bible and looked forward to the teaching sessions from the Holy Spirit as truly he became my teacher (Acts 14:35-26).
Whenever I read the word, it felt like God was speaking directly to me because anytime I read, I received a word for my day and season of life. I was also able to spend more time meditating on the word and in my time of meditation even receive a word of knowledge about someone or something. This was very new to me as I never saw myself as the kind of person who saw something about someone without even hearing it from the person or knew in their heart and was very certain about something that was going to happen before the thing happened. Although not so frequent, the little I experienced really showed me a different side of Christianity and I wanted to be on that side more and more. I don’t think I am a prophet but I believe the Holy Spirit revealed things to me just to draw my attention to certain things and I am truly glad he’s taken me on this journey.
Before receiving the Holy Spirit, I had read and learnt a lot about Him and I believed that settled my heart and mind to receive Him because the more I knew about Him, His reason for existence and His role in my life, the more my desire for Him grew more and more. In my research, I learnt that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to mankind (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:20). The Holy Spirit is evidence of God’s love for me. Therefore I know that even after God sent his only son to die for me and bought me with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), he gave me the Holy Spirit, His very own spirit to lead me back to Himself and to His love. God loves you and he shows it in so many ways. If you’re struggling to see or feel this, then reach out to the Holy Spirit. He is God’s special gift to you and is God’s own spirit.
I also found that, truly, I was not alone and that the Holy Spirit is my helper, advocate, counselor, comforter and advocate (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is all these 24/7, each day of the week, 12 months in the year. He is always my helper, always my advocate, always my counselor, always my comforter, always my comforter and many more. Life could get stressful but even in times of stress and sadness, there is always someone there to help me through it and I can be helped only if I lean into Him. Do you ever feel alone and helpless? Like you have no one or no help. Then try the Holy Spirit. At first it may seem like you are talking to the wind, you may even look like you are mad because it may seem like you're talking to yourself but this man, the Holy Spirit is willing and ready to help you, comfort you and counsel you and He will always respond. You just have to listen intently and obey.
The Holy Spirit must be very important because He was the last person Jesus spoke about before leaving his disciples in Acts 1:4-7. He asked the disciples not to leave or go do anything without the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew what he was talking about because there was a significant difference in who the disciples became, in their confidence and faith and what the disciples could do after receiving the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said, they received power and their lives were never the same. This power is from the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead in Romans 8:11, defeating hell and the grave. In Acts 5:12-16 we see how the disciples were able to perform miracles, signs and wonders and spread the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 8:39-40 we also see how after speaking with the Ethiopian Eunuch, the Holy Spirit suddenly took Philip away such that the Ethiopian Eunuch could not see him again and Philip appeared in another town. I can’t even imagine how this is possible, humanly speaking, but these are but a few things the Holy Spirit is capable of. In fact, the whole book of Acts is filled with such, you should try reading it.
Seeing all these in the books of Acts also increased my confidence a bit more but I had more questions. If I had access to this same Holy Spirit, did I also have access to this same kind of Power? Was the ability to experience and perform miracles limited to the disciples only or this is also possible for me and in this current age. Also was the Holy Spirit all about the power to perform miracles or there was more to Him. I really did ask questions and gradually, as time went on, I received answers to them. The one thing I knew was that the presence of the Holy Spirit in anyone’s life turned things around in the person’s life.
In seeking to know more about the Holy Spirit, I also read about the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). A whole sermon can be preached on this but we can leave that to another day. The evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not just by the ability to pray in tongues or ability to perform miracles, signs and wonders, those are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What shows that we truly are filled with the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. Like a seed, germinates and bears fruit showing that something has even been planted in the first place, we show that we are filled with the Holy Spirit when we exhibit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Therefore if we say we have the spirit of God in us, then our goal should be to strive to bear fruit which is evidenced by these.
True, it’s not easy to be joyful or to be at peace when there are storms in our lives. Neither is it easy to show love to someone who has treated us wrongly or to even have self-control when everyone around us is going the wrong way but that is why this is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I have learnt that to exhibit these, I cannot depend on my own strength and might. Like a farmer will nurture the seed, watering it, removing weeds and generally spending the right amount of time on the plant, we can bear fruit when we nurture our relationship with the Holy Spirit. When we spend consistent intentional time with Him and involve him in all aspects of our lives. Although a very gradual process, we get to a point where no matter our circumstances, the peace, joy, love, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that comes from the Holy Spirit become manifest in our lives. Therefore if you need peace in your life, try letting the Holy Spirit be more present in your life by involving him in your day to day and by allowing him to teach, help, counsel and lead you.
I am still a work in progress but I can testify about the peace that the Holy Spirit brings. At some point in my life, I experienced this and it was like nothing I had ever seen. At a time when it felt like my life was going in the opposite direction of where I expected it to be, the Holy Spirit poured a kind of peace in my heart where I knew and was so sure and certain that no matter how things seemed or how difficult things were, God had me and was going to take care of me. I was so at rest and trusted God completely to an extent that I completely surrendered to God. I really let go of all the pain and disappointment in my heart and truly left it at the feet of God. I know I could never have done this without the Holy Spirit. So please be encouraged today and know that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not a myth or fiction. It is very real but requires our letting the Holy Spirit lead.
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Thank you for reading today’s post about the Holy Spirit. It took a while for me to write this post because I felt under qualified to write it but the more I put this off, the more I was prompted to write it. Stubborn me finally obeyed and I am truly glad I did because I have been reminded of so many wonderful truths. I hope this encourages you to have a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit as it has for me.
Please stay tuned as subsequent posts will speak about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, how to receive the Holy Spirit among others. Additionally, please do well to share any questions you might have on this and we will do our best to answer them by the help of the Holy Spirit. God richly bless you.
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