The Holy Who ?? Part 2

Let's take a look at some attributes, or qualities, of God the Holy Spirit. Just like we see qualities or personalities in each other, the Bible is clear regarding the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.  And yes...we'll address the 'power' seen in churches :)

Some people only view this person of the Godhead as a 'spirit being' who makes people feel good, laugh, fall down, act funny or speak in strange languages.  That perception of Him is false and because of shallow, uneducated teaching from pastors, Bible teachers, professors and ignorant Christians many people - followers of Christ and those who oppose Christ - are afraid of learning who He really is. 

Listed below are more than ten characteristics of the Holy Spirit given us from Scriptures.   I encourage you to find these verses in your bible, as it would take a lot of space to print them all...

a. Spirit of God    Exodus 31:3, 35:31, Isaiah 61:1

b. Spirit of judgment, burning    Isaiah 4:4,  Matt 3:11

c. Holy    Isaiah 63:10-11, Matthew 1:20, Mark 12:36

d. Spirit of  holiness  Romans 1:4

e. Spirit of grace (unearned favor) and prayer  Zechariah 12:10, 

    Hebrews 10:29,   Romans 8:26-27

f. Spirit of truth   John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13

g. Spirit of adoption (into the family of Jesus) Romans 8:15

h. Isaiah 11:2   Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge,

    fear of the Lord

i. John 14:16 & 26  Helper, Advocate, Friend, Comforter, Counselor, 

    Intercessor, Teacher

j. Spirit of power  Acts 1:8,  2 Timothy 1:7    

   He is God’s Power, manifested. “Power” in Ac1:8 – a Greek term dynamis 

   (pronounced du nah mes) the origination of our English "dynamite"

Before the Holy Spirit was given to humanity as a gift from Jesus, the power of the Spirit only rested on a few people, for a period of time.  You can read about this in Old Testament stories and see Jesus Himself being empowered by the Holy Spirit; He always empowered people to accomplish a 'God' task.  Jesus did not say this power was going to 'freak' people out!  Power is given to Christ followers to energize them in living a victorious life that overcomes temptations to sin; also, the power helps them tell others about this man Jesus- the ONLY savior of humanity from the bondages of sin and hell.   

So...What about people falling down, or having a feeling in their body?  Kenneth Hagin wrote a short booklet on this that you might want to read:  Why Do People Fall Under the Power? http://bit.ly/qviAFo    In order to keep this simple, when humans are in the Presence of God our body cannot physically withstand His power and presence - which is the reason for some people falling down while being prayed for, while praying by themselves, or while being in the presence of a Christ-follower full of God's power.  Many people, myself included, have sensed God's presence in a very powerful way and realize He truly is an awesome God!  There are other people who have seen God's power in operation and think they can imitate the power to impress other people....which leads to weirdness in the churches.  

God's intent is NEVER to show His power in order to draw attention to a person or organization--His purpose is always so people will look to Him or Jesus as Lord. 

Remember, one thing John the Baptizer said about Jesus is that He would 'baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire'.  In a physical sense, fire is a purifying agent when used correctly; this is a feeling some people receive in their body when they are healed of a disease or when they are instantly delivered from an addiction, etc.  

Finally, receiving the power of the Holy Spirit as a Christ follower is not an 'option'.  Acts 1:9 - Jesus commanded his followers to wait for the promise of this Holy Spirit...not a suggestion!  He said they would receive power in their lives to be a witness for others.  Also, Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:18 to 'be filled with the Spirit', meaning the Holy Spirit - as opposed to the spirits that come in a bottle!   Here is a basic explanation of that phrase:

a.    “be filled” – to fill to the top/ to the full; to supply liberally

b.     the Greek translation is ‘be being filled’. This means a   

        continuous filling, not a one-time event.

I hope this has helped you understand more about the Holy Spirit.  You can read about His work in the early church in the book of Acts chapters 1-10; and see Paul's explanation of the Holy Spirit's gifts working in our lives as we follow Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us. You can reference Romans 8:1-30, 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, 14 and Galatians 5:16-25.