Holy Spirit

"And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!"

—Ezekiel 39:29 NLT

Key Thought​

God speaks of the coming of his New Covenant relationship with his people. One dynamic of that Covenant is that the Spirit will be part of a permanent relationship with them. Paul speaks powerfully of this relationship in Romans 8 (especially Romans 8:32-39). God's leaders before Jesus had the Spirit for a...

 

[God, to the Israelite exiles in Babylon:] "I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands."

—Ezekiel 36:26-27 MESSAGE

Key Thought​

Sometimes, I'm afraid that "stone heart" and "self-willed" describe me. And when I check around, I find most folks...

 

[The LORD said,] "For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children."

—Isaiah 44:3 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus spoke of his being the water of life, a spring of water welling up to true life. He identified this living water with the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). The New Testament also uses the imagery of water to talk about the Holy Spirit being poured out on us...

 

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

—2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NLT

Key Thought​

Unfortunately, many of us who claim to follow Jesus can miss the incredibly radical claims of the apostle Paul. One of these claims is...

 

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

—2 Corinthians 3:3 NLT

Key Thought​

Imagine how differently we would live in God's family if we viewed our community of believers as a "letter" written by the Holy Spirit. This letter was written on human hearts to bless both the community in which we...

 

[Elihu said,] "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life."

—Job 33:4 NIV

Key Thought​

While those words were spoken by one of Job's critics, they echo the truth of Scripture. God makes us intentionally, purposely, and personally (Psalm 139:13-16). God puts his breath in us, and we live. God's creativity is the handiwork of the Spirit — the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2) waiting for God's creative word to...

 

[Peter said,] "Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him."

—Acts 10:38 MESSAGE

Key Thought​

The Bible talks about the Holy Spirit as the promised gift of God. While there are many amazing things about this gift, one of the most amazing is that the gift of the Holy Spirit, this...

 

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from [the Holy One] remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him.

—1 John 2:26-27 NIV

Key Thought​

We live in a world of competing voices, many of them deceptive. How do we filter these voices and know the...

 

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

—1 John 2:20-21 NIV

Key Thought​

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit, whom he called the Comforter (or Counselor or Advocate, depending on the translation), would come and lead us into all truth (John 16:13). The Spirit, who inspired the writing of the Scriptures (2 Timothy...

 

Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ — the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person — comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!

—1 John 4:2-3 MESSAGE

Key Thought​

Over the years, many people have speculated on the...