Good morning Jesus, breath in me again this morning your breath of the Holy Spirit.

"And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22)

This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and to all of us.  I was in a discussion with the Sunday morning worship leaders of a large church one Monday morning and the discussion turned to the worship services the day before.  The church they led worship in was a very large church.  It was blessed to have very talented and gifted musicians and singers leading its worship.  The church also had state of the art sound systems, lighting, video projectors, stage effects and stage backdrops.  They could put on a show!  In the discussion, one of the worship leaders commented on how smooth worship went yesterday. None of the musicians or singer missed a beat, the visual presentations were “spot-on” and the pastor, who is a good orator, presented his message well.  Everything “clicked” and fell together perfectly.  The worship leader then said something that stuck in my mind and troubled me.  He said, “That would have been a powerful worship service whether God showed up or not.”

             How do you know when the Holy Spirit is present at a church worship service?  In the midst of the audio and video effects on your senses of a contemporary service, or the ceremony and tradition of a traditional service, can you tell?  If “God did not show up” would you notice?  Do you intentionally seek the presence of the Holy Spirit in your personal prayer time?  How do you know when the Holy Spirit is present?  What signs of his presence and power are their in your daily lives?  Jesus tells us in John 4:23, "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” God seeks out worshippers who worship him in and through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said in John 20:23 that the hour is now, today, that true worship of the Father will revolve around two things: Spirit and Truth.  In Johannian writings, (the books in the Bible who’s authorship is accredited to the apostle John) “truth” is a word John uses that refers to Jesus (Jn.14:6) and the word or will of God (Jn. 8:40).  Worship in most churches focuses on Jesus and the truth of God in Scripture, but the focus and reliance on the Holy Spirit in a church’s worship is often lacking.  As a result, many of our personal prayer lives lack an understanding of and the focus on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  My goal is to use this study and time together to help instill in the DNA of our lives the absolute necessity of reliance and guidance by the Holy Spirit.  It needs to be manifested in all areas of our life including both our personal and corporate worship, so the power of the Holy Spirit can be manifested in our daily lives.

 My family, for the next few blogs I am going to reflect on the Holy Spirit and the absolute necessity of His presence in our individual lives and the corporate life of the church,  I pray for the rest of this week to be in intentional time of seeking the Holy Spirit and a refilling and realigning of your heart, mind and soul to His presence in Jesus' name!  Please pray the same for me.  God bless you my friends!

We are seeking revelation of the Holy Spirit together.  So please post comments below  of your reflection and revelations to encourage us in this time together.

Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower

One Direction Community

Email: garyl@onedirection.community

Website: https://www.onedirection.community

Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC 

 

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Holy Spirit’s attributes from the Scriptures

In my time spent searching the Bible I looked at verses on the Holy Spirit and what attributes of the Spirit they reveal.  I came up with 23 attributes. This is my personal list I came up with and not presented as the “correct” or total list. I have included them here for you to read over in your own personal reflection time.

  1.  Power, confidence, helper, strength: Acts1:4-8, 4:29-33, Rom. 8:26-27; Eph. 3:14-21
  2. Call, commissioning: Acts 1:4-8, Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:21-22
  3. Anointing: Acts 2:1-13, Joel 2:28-32
  4. Guiding prayer, visions and speaking: Acts 2:1-13; Rom 8:26-27
  5. Gifting: Joel 2:28-32
  6. .Sign bearing: Joel 2:28-32, Acts 4:29-33
  7.  Unity in the body: Acts 4:29-33, 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Ezekiel 11:17-20
  8.  Healing: Acts 4:29-33
  9.  Witnesses, convicts: Acts 5:29-32, Gal. 5:16-25; 1 John 4:13; Exodus 24:16
  10. God is source: Acts 5:29-32, Rom. 8:26-27; 1 John 4:13; Exodus 24:16; Ezekiel 11:17-20
  11. Jesus is source: 2 Cor. 3:17-18, John 4:14, 20:21-22
  12. Source of belonging and adoption: Rom. 8:1-17
  13. Indwelling in us, source of holiness: Rom 8:1-17, 15:13; 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Eph. 3:14-21; 1 John 4:13
  14. Opposes the flesh: Rom 8:17; Gal. 5:16-25
  15. Fruits of the Spirit: Rom. 15:13, Gal. 5:16-25
  16. Teacher, revealer, gives us knowledge of God, Jesus: 1 Cor. 2:9-16, Eph. 3:14-21
  17. Washes, cleanses, sanctifies, baptizes, transforms: 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 12:12-14, 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Matt. 28:18-20
  18.  Source of spiritual gifts: 1 Cor. 12:5-11
  19. Source of eternal life, salvation: Romans 8:1-17, John 4:14, Joel 2:28-32
  20. Freedom from the Law: Gal. 4:3-7
  21. Adoption: Gal. 4:3-7; Rom. 8:1-17, Ezekiel 11:17-20
  22. Part of the Triune of God: Matt. 28:18-20
  23. Needed for true worship: John: 22:23

Here is a short 2 minutes video by Francis Chan on the Holy Spirit.  He uses the video to present his book "The Forgotten God" which is a great book to read on the Holy Spirit.  The video also helps set the tone for focus on the Holy Spirit.

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