Holiness: Walking in His Presence

Hey there…We’re back!

Thank you for your patience…Today we want to begin looking into one of the most complex, yet most amazing concepts in our journey with God… The Person of the Holy Spirit. As we begin to walk daily with the Holy Spirit, our journey becomes the most amazing foundational relationship you’ll ever know. In fact, I must admit that the title image for this blog, “Pursuing the Presence of God” is a misnomer. By that I mean that as we have become New Creations in Christ, we are sealed in our relationship with God by the indwelling Presence of God – The Holy Spirit! We are not pursuing Him, as He is already abiding in our lives daily; as our Teacher, Comforter, Leader, and Guide.

To begin, let’s look at some of the Biblical foundations for the Holy Spirit, the Presence of God in our lives…

• God’s Essence is Spirit (John 4:24) “God does not have a physical body. Although God is Spirit, He is not an impersonal force in the universe as some describe Him. He is a Spirit being with His own mind, personality and will.” (Firm Foundations, Book 2 pg. 24)
• The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Who has always existed, and has no beginning or end. (Psalm 90:1-2)
• The Holy Spirit was living and active at Creation. Genesis 1:2, 26
• The Spirit of God was active in the lives of many Old Testament people. Saul’s Anointing as King, 1 Samuel 10:6-12; Jephthah’s tragic vow, Judges 11:29-40; God’s promise to Ezekiel for Israel’s Restoration and Transformation. Ezekiel 11:14-25 The prophet Micah attributed his word in Ministry to the Holy Spirit of God using him to call out Israel from rebellion. Micah 3:8ff

NT: New Covenant, New Heart, New Spirit

As the Old Testament period winds down with the era of the prophets, God begins to set the stage, through the prophets, for His New Covenant that would call all Mankind back into an intimate fellowship/relationship with Him that was lost in the Garden. Not under Laws of cold stone, but Laws and precepts written on the tablets of our heart. Notice how that 600 years before Christ, our Redeemer/Deliverer was born into the World; God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah of the coming New Covenant: (Jeremiah 31:33-34) Wow!

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put my Law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember know more”

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?”

This haunting question taken from Acts 19:2ff has been one of the most poignant questions posed in all of Scripture, and it still is… even today. Many believers do not understand the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as He guides us through our journey of Faith transformation with Him. As we stated before in our blog conversations on Spiritual Adoption, the Holy Spirit is our gift from God the Father “sealing” us as His child. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in our lives begins once we have accepted the Father’s gracious gift of redemption / adoption by faith in Christ. The Father’s plan has always been to reconcile us back to Himself through the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of His only Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Now our lives are no longer to be imprisoned by the Lies, Deception and Death that have plagued Mankind since “the Fall” in the Garden of Eden. Christ’s Victory over our personal Sin, Rebellion, and ultimate Death provides for our Spiritual Rebirth, Transformational Journey, and Resurrection to Everlasting Life empowered in us by God’s living Presence within us… the Holy Spirit of God! But the haunting question still remains… Is He in you? Are we walking daily knowing the Holy Presence of God is working in us and through us for His Glory so that all will know Him… and choose Him. Nicodemus struggled mightily with this, because he was very religious. So we are not alone. But a Holy Spirit Transformation / Rebirth is crucial to our Holiness journey. (Romans 8:1-17, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, John 3:1-15)

If you have accepted God’s gracious plan of Redemption and New Life through Christ, you have been reborn as a new Creation in Christ, a Son or Daughter of God! You are a member of the family of Almighty God! We are walking daily in His presence. How does this happen? Next time we will consider our position as new sons and daughters of the King of Kings! See you then… Blessings! ♥