One of the assignments of Jesus is to introduce us to the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives eternal life and abundant life (John 10:19).
Eternal life does not exist outside of salvation, but abundant life does not exist outside of the Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 says we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. This speaks of a relationship. We are encouraged “not to grieve” the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30, which speaks of intimacy. And intimacy grows from relationship. Our salvation gives us a relationship, but our pursuit of the Holy Spirit brings intimacy.
You can’t have fellowship with someone you keep referring to as “it.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 says,
“The grace of Jesus changed our lives. The love of God is the foundation for everything, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”
The Grace of Jesus changed our lives. The love of God is the foundation for everything, and the communion of the Holy Spirit is what will change everything. Many know about grace and love, but a few practice communion with the Holy Spirit.
He waits to be wanted, longs to be welcomed. He needs to be hosted. Many people invite the Holy Spirit, but you know how to host Him. To start Fellowship with the Holy Spirit we must first see Him as a person. If you want to walk with the Holy Spirit, start with talking to Him. Throughout your day address Him, thank Him, worship Him. We should not feel guilty for not spending time with the Holy Spirit, but we should feel thirsty. He wants a relationship, not rules.
When we fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we can start with the awareness that He is with us, and then turn our attention to Him and lift our hearts with affection towards Him.
Our relationship can’t go higher than our obedience to the Holy Spirit. The Bible instructs us not to grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30. One of the main ways the Holy Spirit is grieved is when we are disobedient to His leading. It’s when the Holy Spirit speaks to us that we have a relationship with Him. Just like when the Holy Spirit led Jesus to fast in the wilderness. If you’re not hearing from Him, it may be that you need to repent or apologize for something or as simple as beginning to give to others.
It’s when we take the risk of obedience that we experience the reward in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. No risk equals no reward and no relationship.
This doesn’t mean we have to listen to everything that comes into our head. The Holy Spirit also uses our spirits to communicate with us, and His voice will never contradict God’s Word. The world says “follow your gut” but the Bible says to follow God.
Over the years I’ve prayer to hear God’s voice, but I needed to pray that He gives me grace to heed His voice too. He doesn’t always speak awesome prophetic words for other people or words of knowledge that bring immediate results. Sometimes it’s just God testing us to see if we want to go deeper with Him or stay on the same level.
By obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit we allow Him to develop fruit within us. This cannot develop if we are disobedient to Him or if we grieve Him.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that we make mistakes, or can fall into old patterns. It’s easy to go days without praying or picking up our Bible. The key is to always bounce back, even if we sin we need to repent and get back to walking with God.
God came to the meeting where He would meet Adam, knowing that Adam fell into sin. God did not cancel the meeting. He as expecting Adam so that they could talk and Adam could repent and move forward but Adam hid from God. When we sin we are supposed to run to God, if you can run walk, if you can’t walk crawl, but don’t ever stay where you are in guilt and shame. We don’t drown by falling into the water, we drown by staying where we are.
The Holy Spirit knows our tendencies, our weaknesses, and our struggles before He committed Himself to our sanctification. He is not shocked when we make messes. What shocks Him is when we think He can’t help us get out of the messes we make. He’s shocked when we don’t trust Him enough to pull us out of whatever struggles we find ourselves in.
From Pity to Praise 