Courtney Gilmore When my husband and I were first married, I often wished I had an angel on my shoulder, like in the cartoons. Living with another person and making decisions together was harder than I thought. I needed someone to tell me what to say when tensions were high, how to find common ground, when to talk, and when to be quiet. All the advice in the world didn’t seem to help in the moment. I needed someone with me every second, telling me how to be a good wife. Then, one day, I realized God had already given me that. His Spirit was there with me, and He would tell me what to do if I would only listen.
God Walked the Earth
In the beginning, God came to certain people and talked to them, and the Holy Spirit would rush over those He had called for a specific purpose. But eventually, God came to dwell with the people.
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit… Behold an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bring for a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:18-23
Jesus lived among the people and taught them the ways of God. But He was only present with those who followed Him and wouldn’t be here forever. Many recognized Him as God in the flesh, and they moved with Him from town to town, listening to what He had to say and learning from His ways. Many waited expectantly for Him to come to their city so they could be in His Presence and experience His knowledge and power for themselves. But others did not believe He was the promised Messiah, and they sought to kill Him.
He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
John 14:9
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
As Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, He knew it was the end. So, He spent the next few days teaching and preparing His followers for a time when He would no longer be with them. They obviously thought it was the end of God’s presence in their lives. But Jesus knew they would have someone better when He went to be with the Father.
It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
John 16:7
This Helper would not be with those who physically followed Jesus but with those who spiritually followed Him. They no longer had to follow Him from town to town, or wait expectantly for them to come to Him, knowing He would only be there a short while. This new Helper would be with them every moment, forever.
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17
Those who did not know Jesus would not know the Holy Spirit. But those who knew Jesus would also know and receive His Spirit.
The Holy Spirit’s Work
So, Jesus told the people that once He went to be with the Father, the Holy Spirit would take His place, not in the streets, but in the hearts of men.
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
Galatians 4:4-6
He would not be with them anymore, but His Spirit would be there to teach and guide them.
These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
John 14:25-26
He would also convict people of their sins and help them know and do what is right.
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment… I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
John 16:8, 12-13
The Holy Spirit is not only with us always, but He’s eternal, knowing the past, present, and future. So, He can bring to mind what we already know, guide us in the moment, and also tell us the things to come. Because He knows the future, He can guide us along the right path and prepare us for all that lies ahead.
The Holy Spirit With Us
This Spirit was not only promised to Jesus’s followers then. From that point forward, anyone who believes in Him as the Son of God and chooses to follow Him, can receive the same Spirit.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 4:15
Then, in having His Spirit, we have God with us all the time. This is what I was looking for when I first got married. The Holy Spirit was there to guide and teach me in the moment. He could tell me what to say, where to go, and even what to pray. He proclaims the truth and reveals spiritual things we otherwise could not understand.
The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:10-14
His Spirit can even turn our will to His, making us want what He wants and helping us do it.
It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13
His Spirit Works in Us
I can’t begin to explain how He changes our wants and desires, making us feel like Him. I just know He’s done it for me. His Spirit, working in us, has the power to do things we can’t even think to ask for because we don’t realize it’s something He can do.
[He] is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Ephesians 3:20
But if we commit to follow Him, He will help us resist the things of this world so we can better please Him.
Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are contrary to one another, so you do not do the things you wish…
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Galatians 5:16-25
If we feed His Spirit, He will produce what only exists in Him. In this world, we can love people, but not like God loves. His Spirit enables us to love the unlovable, be kind to those who are rude, act good when surrounded by evil, be gentle when we want to be harsh, and control the things we have no ability to control on our own. We can be happy when our lives are going well. But the Holy Spirit enables us to be joyful even when our circumstances are bad, endure and persevere when we want to give up, and have peace in the midst of chaos, fear, and confusion.
He is the “angel on our shoulder” if we will only pay attention to Him.
Links
This is an excerpt from “The Holy Spirit’s Power” as taught on YouTube, Podcast, and written on Substack. Read the beginning of the lesson for free. Or read it in its entirety, along with previous lessons over Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges, for $6/month or $60/year. Once subscribed, you’ll receive one lesson each week by email after that. Cancel anytime.
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