Divine BFF

The acronym BFF is supposed to mean Best Friend Forever in modern texting communication. It is hoped to mean someone who accepts you as you are and attempts to ease any pain or share any joy experienced in life - someone to share life with you. Sharing life can mean shared celebrations or direct trusted correction when needed. Both of these are part of being a best friend, and knowing that whatever challenge arises, they will never turn away. The indwelling Holy Spirit goes far beyond a BFF; He is a part of God. "I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back." — John 14:16-18 MESSAGE

Never Alone

Our physical existence may involve times when we feel alone, by ourselves, lacking personal confidence. This is a feeling the Christian never needs to experience because the Holy Spirit lives within us; we only need to allow Him to help guide us toward godly objectives. When we are distressed and reach out to God, we always have someone to go with us and help us. “And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. Romans 8:27 (NLT)

Ear to Hear

The last letter in the Bible, Revelation has some teachings that are very confusing to many people due to differences in background. However difficult to comprehend, there are many messages provided to us by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Think carefully about this: "He who has an ear (metaphor for perception), let him hear (metaphor for understand) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it." — Revelation 2:17 ESV

Groaning

When something is in distress and uncomfortable, those internal struggles can be observed by the emission of evidence of this struggle. Everything separated from God's perfect presence is under duress. "For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us."  Romans 8:22-23 (NLT)

Holy Spirit Help

The Holy Spirit speaks to us via the scriptures. He takes what we read or hear, helps us put the pieces together and understand the teaching. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." — 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

Son of man

Have you ever wondered about the reason Jesus wanted to be known as “the Son of man?” One reason is that it was a description from the prophets of the Father reaching out to His errant children. When the people heard “Son of man,” they should have remembered the words the Holy Spirit gave to Ezekiel: "Stand up, son of man," said the voice [of the Spirit]. "I want to speak with you [Ezekiel]." The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words. "Son of man," he said, "I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day." — Ezekiel 2:1-3 NLT

Holy Spirit Communication

Holy Spirit communication can be extremely difficult because it tends to demand we open up completely and makes us admit what we are feeling. Do you have a physical friend with whom you are not hesitant to share ANYTHING. The Holy Spirit is closer to the Christian than such a friend. As you communicate with the Spirit, you must realize nothing should be held back. He already knows your desires and biases, therefore everything you say or do, the real motivations are known to Him.

Although He knows your motivations and reasoning, He will not stop a bad decision from playing out with its consequences. He rejoices with you in your good decisions, and feels the hurt from the bad ones. While we would like to shift the blame for some of our decisions, it cannot be. The comment about actions without responsibility, “the Devil made me do it,” is an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for our actions. Perhaps an ungodly germination, but the final decision was our own. Such redirections will not be accepted when the Spirit knows all our motives. When we better understand this, we might better understand Jesus' goals for His siblings.

Timely Meeting

If you had the opportunity to meet Jesus in person, what would you feel? Unbelievers would likely be dumbfounded: that which I considered nonexistent, really is true! Hmm, now what should I do, think, say, uh . . .

If you are a believer, I suggest this meeting would be radically different. Certainly you would probably feel overwhelmed. What would you try to say to someone who knows everything you are thinking, everything you have ever thought, said, and did? All the thoughts, words, or actions for which He has forgiven you! This is someone who was with you through all the struggles and learning experiences you endured -- this is someone who knows all the depth of your present shock. Would you want to praise Him for, for . . . everything? Would you suspect He wants something different from you — but what?

I would like to suggest this is an experience you can have any second of any day. All we need to do is begin reading His words left for us and remember the Holy Spirit lives within us and will be as active as we are willing to allow Him to be. Jesus’ promise to His disciples (Jn. 16:12-14) also applies in part to His other children:  “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

At that point you should be partially astonished, but also realize that He loves you enough to not only die for you, but is also committed to help you become what He wants you to be. What the Holy Spirit reveals for an individual to do probably will not exactly mirror the task given to any other person since our past experiences have made each of us unique, to a degree. Although being a bit unique, we all need to embrace the guidance God gives to us and courageously act on it. Since part of the triune God lives within the Christian, sometimes we think it is so far beyond our comprehension we deny its reality. Each person the Holy Spirit indwells has immense power to accomplish those things Jesus wants done. We should remember that when we are aligned with His desires, we have the same power Jesus did. One of our major challenges is replacing our desires with Jesus’ desires.

Holy Spirit yeast

Opposed to the Jewish teachers lectures, Jesus provided understanding using stories which encompassed activities His hearers encountered most every day. What better way to describe the change expected when one enters the Kingdom of Heaven than the transformation which occurs when an invigorating element is added to what we consume for sustenance. As the yeast produces a different presentation of the same material, when the Holy Spirit come to indwell a person, that person is changed. Then Jesus told the people another story: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough (bread) rise." — Matthew 13:33 (ERV)

Human perfection

{From Heartlight} Often, as humans we strive for perfection in many areas, only to be met with the realization that there is constantly more to do. When the target becomes spiritual perfection, only Jesus was able to achieve this feat. God realizes this – the motivation for Jesus coming to earth was to accomplish what others of  human-kind could not. The motivation of the Holy Spirit is to help human-kind understand they need the gift offered by Jesus’ death and those who accept it change into a person who honors God. "The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration. A saint is not a man without faults, but a man who has given himself without reserve to God." — W. T. Richardson

How should Christians respond?

When people drink enough wine, they lose the ability to act normally, or as others expect. Those who drink too much are often described as “overcome,” something else has taken control of them, something has caused them to act differently than expected. Whether one remembers Peter at the Pentecost wherein the Holy Spirit was given to men or Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, these men were overcome and demonstrated something had taken control of them in times of difficulty. “Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit. Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts; you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah” Ephesians 5:18-20 (ISV)

Holy Spirit Decision Making

Based on Holy Spirit guidance, Christians make decisions by rational reflection on their life-situation, helped by wise and godly advice, within the parameters that the Word of God establishes.