Raised Catholic, I grew up making the sign of the cross more
times than I could count. “Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen.” I admit that the
words (and actions) were done more out of routine, than out of focused time on
the Lord. But that little prayer talks about the Trinity. The great I AM exists
three fold; as God, as Jesus, and as the Holy Spirit. The first two are easier
for most to comprehend. The last is more abstract. What exactly is the Holy
Spirit? The rest of this post explains how it makes sense to me, but by no means is it the only explanation!
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:28). By receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, the
Father and the Son become alive in us as a distinct entity. The Holy Spirit has an existence, in addition to ourselves,
but our individual self does not disappear. If the Holy Spirit simply took
over, every believer in Christ would look much more alike than we do. Instead
of this “take over,” we must choose to let the Holy Spirit take an active part
in our lives just as we must choose to accept Jesus Christ as our savior.
When we make an active choice to “wake up” the Holy Spirit
in us, miraculous things can happen. As Jesus told his apostles before he was
crucified, “do not worry beforehand (about being brought to trial) about what
to say. Just say whatever is given you at the
time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). The Holy
Spirit in us is our direct connection to God. Think of a telephone line
extending from heaven to your heart, and then your mouth. But in order to work,
there has to be a clear connection. We can make the line fuzzy when we depend
on our own wants, give into our own worries, and let our own words out of our mouths.
That connection with the Holy Spirit gives us nine gifts, or
fruits, that help give us an abundance of things of which there is no law
against; meaning we cannot ever have too much of them. Those nine gifts are:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. (Galatians 5:22).
More to come in my next post. For now, let’s just take a
moment to praise God for those nine gifts in our lives!
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