WHO AM I? (GOD)

BLOG 3

Concerning the Holy Spirit and fire image . . . the scripture declares “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mat 3:11).

Hopefully, you have read Blogs 1 and 2 concerning WHO AM I? (GOD).  Blog 3 of this series contains crucial knowledge concerning the Holy Spirit!  It is imperative to reiterate that the Holy Spirit is One of the Triune God – Elohim, the plural God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  It is most crucial that when we see the word “God” we must also be aware of just Whom we are referring to – Our Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.

At this point, if you truly desire to be walking in the fullness of God’s Biblical truths, I highly encourage you to have as part of your library/study resources, the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – with Greek (New Testament) and Hebrew (Old Testament) Dictionary, in order to truly understand what is being declared in the Bible.  Use this reference as one would use an English dictionary to truly understand the significance of a word in English.

When are we first introduced to the Holy Spirit in the scriptures? That occurs in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God (Elohim as described above) created the heavens and the earth!”  We also read in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image’”.  Please be aware that the initial role of the Holy Spirit was to produce then and now, “life-sustaining breath to man at creation”. (As provided in a footnote to Genesis 6:3, New Spirit-Filled Bible). To be very clear, that does not mean that man becomes Spirit-filled at birth or when born again for that matter! To reiterate, the process must be “man must request to be born again and then at some point, request to become Spirit-filled.” Note: some born again Christians are Spirit-filled immediately as Jesus was when John the Baptist baptized Him in water.  As well, consider Cornelius, who was filled with the Holy Spirit immediately when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

It has been noted and you would be interested to know that it has been said that there are approximately “100 references to the Holy Spirit throughout the Old and New Testaments.” (Gift of the Spirit – God’s Plan for You, CBN)

There is an incredibly vast difference concerning the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit at work in the New Testament.  In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was so very selective just whom He empowered for the task at hand.  Consider some whom the Holy Spirit empowered, for example - Adam, Noah, Abram (later renamed Abraham), Issac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, the prophet Joel, Isaiah and Israel itself in order to be protected from its enemies, Ruth, and Esther – to name a few.  We could continue to name others, but, these are examples of the Holy Spirt being selective as needed, in contrast, thankfully, not so in the New Testament!

I must ask you this crucial question - “have you invited the Holy Spirit into your life?” If not, I beseech you not to let another day go by in so doing. In Blog 4, we will be discussing the “gifts and the fruit” of the Holy Spirit.

I addressed the process of being baptized with the Holy Spirit in Blog 1, but for those of you who have not had the opportunity to read “Who am I”, Blogs 1 and 2, I will reiterate the process for you who so desire to have your “surrendered heart set ablaze” – this is what the Book of Acts, which I so encourage you to not just read, but study and take to heart - the “Acts of Jesus/Holy Spirit”, for Your walk with the Triune God will never be the same again and you will be empowered to minister powerfully by the Holy Spirit as He leads you, using the gifts and fruit of the Spirit, praise God.

At this point, you could well ask, “Why are you spending so much time discussing the Holy Spirit?”  If a Christian believes that functioning just as a “born again believer” is “the entirety to the Christian life”, tragically, he/she is not able to accomplish all that the Holy Spirit has for each spirit-filled empowered believer.  His/her ministry is so very lacking – the devil and his minions have so deceived millions of believers, unfortunately!

Before one can be baptized with the Holy Spirit, he/she must be born again. Then, with a surrendered heart and sins confessed, simply ask the Holy Spirit “to be filled with His Spirit and by faith, declare out loud, that you have indeed been ‘baptized by the Holy Spirit’”, and watch the Holy Spirit over time empower you to accomplish the Lord God Almighty’s work on earth through you.

Again, remember that as Jesus was getting ready to ascend to heaven, He told the disciples to “Go do the things I did while on this earth, but even far greater things”.  Things being the operative word. (Mat 10:5-15; 28:16-20; Joh 14:12; 20:21) – not to produce more by ourselves, but with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  In addition, He promised them that He was going to leave them and us with “another Comforter, Helper, Teacher, the Sanctifier who convicts us of our sins.” (Joh 14-16; Heb 2:11). Thank You, Lord God Almighty!

This would be an appropriate time to also inquire “have you been water baptized?” This action is a public statement of repentance and union with the Triune God?”

Remember Saints, we are at war! As I shared with you before, it is written in Matthew 11:12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent (us) take it by force.”  If we don’t know who our enemy is, we cannot win the war, Amen? Which means that we must fight the battle empowered by the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind what is written that “without Him, the vine and we as the branches can do nothing” (Joh 15:4-8) and implied, without us He can do nothing.

Thus, our enemies . . .

    * The world

    * The flesh

    * Satan and

    * Man’s church

Each of these will be discussed in Blog 4.

Again, why would I “choose” to focus on the Holy Spirit, you could well ask? It is crucial that I do so! Please hear me, for I believe it was not I who chose to do so, but it was the leading of the Holy Spirit. There would be times when He would awaken me in the early morning hours to “take up the pen”, for I am just the writer of this blog, the servant of the Lord, as were the writers of the Bible!  Always, before I begin writing, I ask the Holy Spirit to provide and anoint the thoughts that He so wants His saints to hear and “go do”, for how will the saints know unless they are told?

In the coming blogs, we will continue the study of the Holy Spirit and as well, deal with spiritual warfare, especially in Ephesians 6:10-18 focusing on the “Whole Armor of God”.  We must always keep in mind, that in order to win the battle which takes place in our Christian lives, again, we first must know just who are our enemy is . . . amen? 

Consider this in closing:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Cor. 10:3-6)

Be Glorified, our precious triune God, the Father, Son,

and the Holy Spirit, be Glorified