Most of us know someone like this; maybe he's a relative or an acquaintance, or maybe you've only seen him on TV. Whichever, you'll know what I'm talking about. This person is the guy who shows up at a family reunion or picnic or some other family gathering and may already have had too much to drink. Sooner or later, he spills his paper plate full of food, stumbles around, says the wrong things, and generally makes everyone uncomfortable. Everyone is embarrassed for him, but he doesn't have the sense to be embarrassed for himself. He just doesn't line up with the family's way of doing things. He just doesn't know how to behave. Frankly, when he shows up, everyone groans within themselves and thinks "Oh boy, here we go again." We'll call this man Your Drunk Uncle. He's definitely seen better days. He's your Dad's brother so you have to let him in, but boy, you wish it could be otherwise.
Okay, you get the picture. Now let's listen in on a gathering of Christians.
- If I asked who wants more of the Father, all believers would say "I do!"
- If I asked who wants more of the Son, all believers would say "I do!"
- But if I asked who wants more of the Holy Spirit, many Christians would say "Well, maybe, but only if He behaves Himself."
Are you beginning to see the irony here? In many Christian circles, the Holy Spirit is looked at like He's Your Drunk Uncle. That attitude is a huge stronghold in a lot denominational tradition and teaching. There's a "We don't do it that way" kind of thinking.
Many Christians are happy having the first two-thirds of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; they will let the last third in only if they can control Him since He obviously doesn't control Himself, and even then He's on probation. Are the Father and Son full-fledged parts of the Trinity? Of course they are. In exactly the same way, the Holy Spirit is every bit as much a full-fledged part of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father and the Son.
This may sound harsh, but I think that if you are leery of the Holy Spirit, you are by definition leery of God. If you limit and put boundaries on the Holy Spirit, you are limiting and putting boundaries on the Father and the Son because all three are fully joined. They are of one mind and purpose and always act, think, and exist in a perfectly blended, unified way.
In our understanding of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are separate yet inseparable. It's a huge a mystery, I can't get my mind around it, and yet there it is. Mystery or not, it's true and I accept it. Just as Jesus perfectly represents the Father, the Holy Spirit perfectly represents both the Father and the Son.
Here's a picture that illustrates putting clamps on the Holy Spirit and thereby limiting God: A man is being released from prison, but only in a limited way. The jailer lets him out of the cell, all except for an arm and a leg, then says to him, "Okay, you're free to go and get on with your life, but one arm and one leg are staying in the cell." He's not really free to do what he wants, is he? That's what we do to the Father and Son when we limit the Holy Spirit.
I'll say it again: you can't limit the Holy Spirit without limiting the Father and the Son. Here's where I think our understanding of the Trinity gets out of balance. The way I see it, Scripture is very clear that God is One, though He is so far beyond our understanding that He reveals Himself to us in three Persons: Father, Son, AND Holy Spirit.
It's not like God is 50% Father, 40% Jesus, and 10% Holy Spirit. I think it would be more accurate, at least from a human perspective, to say that God is 100% Father, 100% Jesus, and 100% Holy Spirit. My human perspective, by the way, is wildly limited, so these kinds of analogies are the best I can do.
Whether you like it or not, you cannot be leery of the Holy Spirit without by definition being leery of the Father and the Son. If that's you, realize that this is really a huge sinkhole of distrust in your Christian life. You must get over it. We need all of God and all that He has for us, and whatever that is, it's a lot more than we have now.
The principle is that you can't take just part of the Trinity. It's really all or none. Jesus makes the point that if the folks didn't love and accept and honor Him, they didn't love and accept and honor the Father. The same principle applies to the Holy Spirit. Don't you trust God to do right by you? It doesn't work to want part of God but not all of God. You should recognize the foolishness of that.
Do you treat the the Holy Spirit like Your Drunk Uncle who is welcome but just barely, and only then if He behaves Himself? If so, that grieves God's heart and is something to repent of. You and your group must learn to accept God the Holy Spirit in whatever way He wants to work in you, through you, and around you.
Here's the Disclaimer: I'm not saying you should just accept everything and everyone that claims to be of the Holy Spirit, because NOT everything and everyone that claims to be is really the Real Deal. The New Testament Epistles provide a lot of guidance along these lines. Study your Bible and learn to recognize the Scriptural boundaries within which the Holy Spirit chooses to operate, but don't let your traditions rewrite and misapply those Scriptural boundaries. See what Scripture REALLY says. If you're looking in order to justify your traditions, that's probably what you'll end up doing.
Not every spirit is from God, but many Christians take that too far, wrongly expanding upon the Scriptural admonitions and incorrectly rejecting maybe a lot of what God is trying to do. You know better than to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so don't limit God just because some people misrepresent Him, whether deliberately or through ignorance.
At this point, I've given you a lot to think about and feel it's time to close this Post. But I will write again soon, Lord willing, about how I believe God the Holy Spirit wants to move. I want to get into specifics. In the meantime, ask God to show you where you don't really trust Him, then repent of the distrust. Learn to always trust God to do the right thing. Now that's a thought! Repent from limiting Him and ask Him to walk you through un-limiting Him. We need all He has for us, but only He knows those details and only He can work them out.
This I feel clear about: Whatever has gotten Believers through in the past will not be enough to get Believers through in the future. Open your heart to Him in this matter; God will not give you anything but His Best.
Some of the thoughts in this Post are reflected in the following verses:
John 5:23 (Jesus speaking): "...that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
John 10:30 (Jesus speaking): I and My Father are one."
Luke 11:9-13 (Jesus speaking): "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
John 14:16-17 (Jesus speaking): And 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 14:26 (Jesus speaking): 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 15:26 (Jesus speaking): "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
John 16:7 (Jesus speaking): Nevertheless I tell you the truth. 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.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Okay, you get the picture. Now let's listen in on a gathering of Christians.
Hey, look! Here comes our Heavenly Father! Oh, It's so good when He's here. I wish He'd show up more often! It's so good when He's with us. Oh, look again! It's Jesus! Wow! It's even better when He shows up. Let's make sure He feels really welcome! This is the best gathering ever!
Uh oh, don't look now, but guess who just came in the door. It's the Holy Spirit. Just when things were settling in and going smooth, too. What is He going to do this time? Isn't He ever going to learn how to behave? Doesn't He know how He's supposed to act when we get together? After all, we have our way of doing things and He just doesn't fit in!
- If I asked who wants more of the Father, all believers would say "I do!"
- If I asked who wants more of the Son, all believers would say "I do!"
- But if I asked who wants more of the Holy Spirit, many Christians would say "Well, maybe, but only if He behaves Himself."
Are you beginning to see the irony here? In many Christian circles, the Holy Spirit is looked at like He's Your Drunk Uncle. That attitude is a huge stronghold in a lot denominational tradition and teaching. There's a "We don't do it that way" kind of thinking.
Many Christians are happy having the first two-thirds of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; they will let the last third in only if they can control Him since He obviously doesn't control Himself, and even then He's on probation. Are the Father and Son full-fledged parts of the Trinity? Of course they are. In exactly the same way, the Holy Spirit is every bit as much a full-fledged part of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father and the Son.
This may sound harsh, but I think that if you are leery of the Holy Spirit, you are by definition leery of God. If you limit and put boundaries on the Holy Spirit, you are limiting and putting boundaries on the Father and the Son because all three are fully joined. They are of one mind and purpose and always act, think, and exist in a perfectly blended, unified way.
In our understanding of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are separate yet inseparable. It's a huge a mystery, I can't get my mind around it, and yet there it is. Mystery or not, it's true and I accept it. Just as Jesus perfectly represents the Father, the Holy Spirit perfectly represents both the Father and the Son.
Here's a picture that illustrates putting clamps on the Holy Spirit and thereby limiting God: A man is being released from prison, but only in a limited way. The jailer lets him out of the cell, all except for an arm and a leg, then says to him, "Okay, you're free to go and get on with your life, but one arm and one leg are staying in the cell." He's not really free to do what he wants, is he? That's what we do to the Father and Son when we limit the Holy Spirit.
I'll say it again: you can't limit the Holy Spirit without limiting the Father and the Son. Here's where I think our understanding of the Trinity gets out of balance. The way I see it, Scripture is very clear that God is One, though He is so far beyond our understanding that He reveals Himself to us in three Persons: Father, Son, AND Holy Spirit.
It's not like God is 50% Father, 40% Jesus, and 10% Holy Spirit. I think it would be more accurate, at least from a human perspective, to say that God is 100% Father, 100% Jesus, and 100% Holy Spirit. My human perspective, by the way, is wildly limited, so these kinds of analogies are the best I can do.
Whether you like it or not, you cannot be leery of the Holy Spirit without by definition being leery of the Father and the Son. If that's you, realize that this is really a huge sinkhole of distrust in your Christian life. You must get over it. We need all of God and all that He has for us, and whatever that is, it's a lot more than we have now.
The principle is that you can't take just part of the Trinity. It's really all or none. Jesus makes the point that if the folks didn't love and accept and honor Him, they didn't love and accept and honor the Father. The same principle applies to the Holy Spirit. Don't you trust God to do right by you? It doesn't work to want part of God but not all of God. You should recognize the foolishness of that.
Do you treat the the Holy Spirit like Your Drunk Uncle who is welcome but just barely, and only then if He behaves Himself? If so, that grieves God's heart and is something to repent of. You and your group must learn to accept God the Holy Spirit in whatever way He wants to work in you, through you, and around you.
Here's the Disclaimer: I'm not saying you should just accept everything and everyone that claims to be of the Holy Spirit, because NOT everything and everyone that claims to be is really the Real Deal. The New Testament Epistles provide a lot of guidance along these lines. Study your Bible and learn to recognize the Scriptural boundaries within which the Holy Spirit chooses to operate, but don't let your traditions rewrite and misapply those Scriptural boundaries. See what Scripture REALLY says. If you're looking in order to justify your traditions, that's probably what you'll end up doing.
Not every spirit is from God, but many Christians take that too far, wrongly expanding upon the Scriptural admonitions and incorrectly rejecting maybe a lot of what God is trying to do. You know better than to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so don't limit God just because some people misrepresent Him, whether deliberately or through ignorance.
At this point, I've given you a lot to think about and feel it's time to close this Post. But I will write again soon, Lord willing, about how I believe God the Holy Spirit wants to move. I want to get into specifics. In the meantime, ask God to show you where you don't really trust Him, then repent of the distrust. Learn to always trust God to do the right thing. Now that's a thought! Repent from limiting Him and ask Him to walk you through un-limiting Him. We need all He has for us, but only He knows those details and only He can work them out.
This I feel clear about: Whatever has gotten Believers through in the past will not be enough to get Believers through in the future. Open your heart to Him in this matter; God will not give you anything but His Best.
Some of the thoughts in this Post are reflected in the following verses:
John 5:23 (Jesus speaking): "...that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
John 10:30 (Jesus speaking): I and My Father are one."
Luke 11:9-13 (Jesus speaking): "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
John 14:16-17 (Jesus speaking): And 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 14:26 (Jesus speaking): 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 15:26 (Jesus speaking): "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
John 16:7 (Jesus speaking): Nevertheless I tell you the truth. 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.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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