Benefits of the Holy Spirit
Recently, my husband encouraged me to embark upon an in depth study of the Holy Spirit with the Woman’s Bible Study at our church. Naturally I was a little hesitant because my exposure to the Holy Spirit was like a circus act, it was loud, a blazon spectacle done with excellent showmanship. In time it became something I feared and distanced myself from. However the study by Francis Chan called Forgotten God is exactly what I needed to refocus on the benefits of the Holy Spirit within a Christians life, especially as a mom.
As the weeks went by , reflections of the Holy Spirit started to saturate every perspective, even my evening television sessions. Everything was being dissected as if I were back in Anatomy and Physiology 1. I needed to see the Holy Spirit with a fresh and new lens. I had to dig deeper and examine if the Holy Spirit had invitation to work in and through me.
In fact, my husband and I started watching the Amazing Race and as it happens we love the series. The show tends to bring back fan favorites especially those with distinctive personalities. One such couple stood out to me, Pre- Colin and Christie and Post Colin and Christie. Pre- Colin and Christie were tense, argumentative and just seemed to be at odds with themselves and those around them. Colin especially, had some very clear unresolved anger issues.
Fast Forward fifteen years and Colin and Christie have returned to the race. However, there was one startling difference. Though they looked the same, their attitudes and outward perspectives had drastically shifted. In place of anger was zen peace. Moreover Colin had the ability to address frustrations with calm and deliberate exercises that diffused the situation at hand. Colin and Christie had peace with each other, and those around them. They were healthier and grounded. They spoke of energy and positive vibes while encouraging each other every step of the race.
So What are the Benefits of the Spirit?
Furthermore, if Post Christie and Colin could accomplish this with a small god. What more could Christians, myself included, accomplish with the ONE and ONLY GOD?
The Holy Spirits movement in one’s life is intended to bring God the glory. The power can manifest itself in quiet or loud ways depending on the circumstances. In the Bible the spirit moved depending on what the intended person needed: healing, provision, deliverance, a friend even. You become a vessel for the power of that work alone, you benefit from the Spirit. Simply put, it will never be about the edification of self.
Power Supply:
On the days where the kids have been sick, piles of laundry start to resemble Mount Everest and you are running on fumes in a chaotic storm. Right there at the end of yourself you will find the unending supply of power of the Holy Spirit. Days of scarcity and days of plenty the power of the spirit is constant and adequate for each new day. This life is a collective race that we run with the end goal of Heaven in sight. Not an accordion dance of full to empty on repeat, which would be an arduous attempt to live fully.
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13
Defense Against the Flesh :
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[a] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, – Galatians 5:16-18, 22
When we seek balance and contentment our souls are longing for the direction of the spirit. For example as moms we long to hear at the end of the chores, the interactions with our children, our responses and thoughts were measured and marked pleasing by our Father. Just as God declared after each day of creation ‘it is good” we too, want to know that in our little corner of motherhood that “it is indeed good!”
Comforter:
Grief of any kind not only grieves us, it grieves the Spirit as well. In that deep and heavy space all hope is suffocated, while robbing us of logical thinking. We yield ourselves to doubt and pain which can dangerously place us in a state of emptiness. When we have the spirit, he intercedes on our behalf. He sustains us in our loss, only to fortify us as we are delivered from our “desert.”
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. – Romans 15:13
To Know Love:
The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the very signature of an extraordinary love that we barely can grasp. The cross wasn’t the only gesture of love God extended to us. He never left us alone, instead He sent the Spirit to remind us that we are so much more, we have been called to live life as His Chosen people. In need of nothing.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:10-11
To Confirm Adpotion:
Finally, whether you had earthly parents or not you were adopted by Christ the moment you accepted his forgiveness and invited him into your heart. The presence of the Holy Spirit reminds you daily that you are a child of God.
Each day that you navigate being a mom, you are gaining the perspective that God has when He looks at you. Let that simmer, as you gaze upon your children with infinite love, your Father is looking at you with a love that is tenfold that. And it meets you at the foot of the cross daily. That same blood that seeped into that splintered cross, still seeps into all of your splinters. Just as raw as it was those years ago. There is freedom in that, and the benefits of the Holy Spirit are there for you, if you simply make room for Him.
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[a] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. -Galatians 4:4-7
-Patience
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