Many people in the spiritual world don’t know what this means.  The Holy Spirit is a powerful force God (YHWH- His name) the creator of heaven and earth uses to communicate with people.  His name is not easy to pronounce, but in English it is translated as Jehovah, in Hebrew it is translated as Yahweh.  This is the name He revealed to the early prophets, such as Moses, Abraham etc.

Jesus (Yesuah) explained in John 16, the purpose of the Holy Spirit.

1. To preach the truth
2. To counsel us
3. To convict us of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness
4. To remind us of judgement
5. To guide us in all truth
6. To strengthen our faith
7. To encourage us

God put a conscious in every one of us, in regard to the knowledge of good and evil, which happened in Eden.  We are all aware of two voices speaking to us, in regard to sin.  One says, do the right thing as opposed to the other.

The Holy Spirit as Jesus says, convicts us of sin, and reminds us to do the right thing, especially where God and Jesus are concerned.

In Galatians 5:22, we learn more: that the Holy spirit produces love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in a believer.  Note: A believer who is obedient gains much joy in Christ and will be saved.

Jesus said, the Holy spirit can only operate through him, therefore pointing us to all areas of righteousness, e.g. praying, reading his word and putting it into practice, encouraging each other in meetings, etc.

The Holy Spirit will always remind us to be obedient to God and Jesus.  God and Jesus are attached 100%. Obedience to Jesus is obedience to God.

The Holy Spirit also opens our minds to understand the Bible, to prophesy, and reminds us, that salvation (forgiveness of our sins) is only found in Jesus Christ and  Christianity.  As you can see, the Holy spirit is using me in this blog to prophesy (meaning to tell the truth about God).  Salvation is found in one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Acts 3:12.  Jesus also says, anyone who asks God for the holy spirit, will receive.  And you can only receive if you obey. Acts 5:32.

Jesus says, if you love me you’ll obey what I command. And I’ll ask the Father, and he’ll give another Counsellor (Holy Spirit) to be with you forever. The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14

The Holy Spirit does not make people fall over, nor does it make a preacher blow and make people fall on the ground.  People fall because of imbalance and emotions, which also  happens at weddings.  I know this will surprise some people who believe this is the case.  How do we know this?  Because of the scriptures, e.g. fruit of the spirit above. There is nowhere in the Bible that supports falling over. The idea of falling over is a man’s idea, it is not God’s will.  I’d advise anyone who practices this to search the scriptures for themselves.  A preacher who uses this tactic is sending out a message that they have power, or has a misunderstanding.  I’m not judging  because I know some people believe that’s what they should do.  However,  I’m just stating out a fact which other Christians are concerned about.  God wants anyone who preaches to portray a humble attitude; to put the congregation above themselves. For God wants us to worship in truth, peace and order.

Jesus did something we believers have to learn from, especially if you are in leadership, or are among the sheep (followers). To wash each other’s feet (serving one another with a humble attitude, and doing acts of kindness). John 13:12-17.

God used the Holy spirit to do miraculous wonders, like making the disciples speak in different languages, so that the listeners would understand what was being preached. Acts 2.  Nowadays, we  learn all kinds of languages through education, part of the reason is to preach the gospel to the world. For example, English has played a major part in various parts of the world.

And this is the issue, it is impossible to be a Christian/born again without the Holy Spirit. John 3:5-8.  When we receive the Holy Spirit, our mind and actions change to the godly guidance. The word gets into our mind, and we get moulded by God through the Bible and the Holy Spirit.  The Bible also gives us a clue,  after Baptism, which is pledging a good conscious before God, we receive the Holy spirit. Acts 2:32-41.

In Romans 8:1-17, it says, those who live according to the sinful nature have set their minds on their sinful desires, but those who live according to what the Holy spirit have set their minds on what Jesus and God desires.  And those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.  Any one who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to God.

For this to happen, it all depends on your heart.  When we have a good heart we seriously listen to God and Jesus.

The most effective calming force a human being can engage in; a gift from God.

–          To help us to connect to him.

–          A way of worshiping him.

–          A way of releasing our problems/burdens to Him.

Jesus did just that, when he prayed for himself and released his heartfelt situations to the Father.

And then he prayed for the believers; he knew there would be divisions among churches because of human imperfections and misunderstandings, which somehow saddened him.

So, he prayed for unity – meaning genuine believers are united in him.  It saddens him, when genuine Christians judge each other.  (I remember going to  church and a friend in Christ said to me, you’re not one of us, because you were not baptised by us.)  And I remember saying if Jesus was here, what would he say?  He is the tree and we are the branches, and he commands us to love each other.  He is the Bible, and so whoever reads the Holy Bible and puts it into practice is in Jesus.  And if any one wants to connect to God properly they have to pray through Jesus’ name.

And according to Jesus’ wisdom, our prayers have to be specific and reasonably short, (Mt. 6-14).  He advises us, that we should pray individually in a solitary quiet place; which is just you and God.  When you look into the Bible you can see how he used to retreat to the mountains to pray by himself.  He also encourages us to pray together.

The way he taught us how to pray, is the main way God wants us to pray to Him.  (The most important prayer, Matthew 6:9-13)  Every line is significant and straight to the point. The first line is acknowledging that God is our Father in heaven.  And that he should be honoured, and his name should be sanctified.

He mentions ‘your kingdom come’, which means God’s Kingdom should be in our hearts and in our lives. The Kingdom represents his words, plan and salvation, which in the end will be established.

He mentions ‘His will be done’, which means it is important to understand that God’s will is better than ours.  He decides what to do on earth as he did in heaven.  And we can’t even argue with Him. So, we have to accept God’s will in order to have  peace of mind.

Our daily bread,’ when you think about it, God provides most our needs and we don’t even need to ask him.  For example,  food is plenty all the time, and all we need to do is to get it.  In this case, I think Jesus means wisdom and Holy Spirit.  Jesus referred to himself as our daily bread, and he said, he is life. John 6:35.  We always have to pray for guidance and wisdom.  And also to pray for every situation that bothers our minds.  For each day comes with its own issues.

And then he says, forgive us our sins’.  This is easy to understand, because when we sin it is important to ask God forgiveness.  For this is a way of humbling ourselves when we acknowledge that we have sinned against God.  And then we have to remember, that to be forgiven, we also have to forgive. Matt. 6;14-15.   He also advises us, that if you’ve sinned against someone – go to them and apologise to create peace.  But his first message is, make every effort to avoid sinning.

And then he says, ‘let us not into temptations’…this is crucial, because it is not good to fall into temptation or Satan’s trap.  So, we should always pray to keep away from temptation grounds, but if we get tempted we should be adamant to say no, for this strengthens our faith.  A sin can weaken/destroy our faith if we fall into it, so it is better to keep away.  Temptations affect the heart and are brought about by Satan.  So when you face one…Pray! Jesus urged Peter to pray about the temptation.

And then he says, deliver us from evil’. This is crucial and critical, because it is not good to be in Satan’s trap. It is a state of destruction, for we want to be saved.  When you find your self in a trap… pray and get out!

According to Jesus we shouldn’t use many words because we end up repeating ourselves.  And he says, ‘God knows what you are thinking’.  And it seems like we shouldn’t keep on asking God for things, or we end up praying for things which He had already decided to give us, before we even opened our mouths.

Let me give you an example, non believers; they get almost everything they need.  And guess what, they don’t even pray.  As a scripture says, God makes the sun shine on everybody. John 5:43-45  He shows his kindness to everyone.

So the most important thing is to pray for our spiritual needs, as mentioned in the Lords prayer.  It is crucially  important to pray from the heart; to be humble and sincere. Think about every line from the Lord’s Prayer seriously with a heart of repentance.  And it is also important to make sure we thank him for every blessing, even when things are tough.

Jesus said, seek his kingdom first, and all these things will be added on to you. Matt. 6:33

Praying  in the morning  and at night  is crucial to get us energised spiritually.  Some Christians pray using a new tongue.  (Pentecostal churches use this a lot, I cor.13)  They feel, it also helps them in stress.  But my favourite Prayer is which Jesus emphasised on above.  I always look forward to it, knowing that it is our guidance.  And Every time I pray, it touches my heart deeply.

When it comes to judging we are all guilty of it.  Sometimes we are good at pointing a finger at somebody else and forget the one that is pointing back at us.  As you know, it happens in  religions, relationships, etc.  Sometimes it is so easy to play the game because we want to protect ourselves, or our beliefs.

However, it is good to judge the wrong action and convict the wrong doer. That’s why we have the laws and courts. But Jesus said, don’t judge, you too will be judged. Mathew 7:1-6.  He wants us to understand that before you judge somebody else examine yourself first, or before you correct somebody else correct yourself first.

We are living in times whereby the message of Jesus has been diluted, and some churches are judging , ‘we are the only one and everybody else is wrong’.  But, Jesus’ message is simple and clear. Don’t judge on the outside appearance, God is the ultimate Judge. Therefore, Jesus wants us to focus on our own righteousness which is based on the Bible. As mentioned before,  for when God points a finger, it is directed at you as an individual. You do the right thing!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, is to tell it as it is.  God says, I (Yahweh) your God, search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a person according to their conduct and according to what their deeds deserve. Jeremiah 17:10

God the Father and his Son, exercise absolute judgement, justice and perfection.  We on the other hand, because of our imperfections, don’t know everything, and only see a little bit of a person, so we are limited in our judgement.

However, when it comes to who is a genuine Christian, Jesus gave us tips, and he said, by their fruit (righteous deeds) you’ll recognise them.  Mathew 7:16.

We also learn from him, that it is okay to see somebody’s sin and tell them to change.  Judicial and Police institutions do the best they can sometimes, but not without mistakes due to human imperfections.

We are all in the same boat called the world.  So what Jesus would say, especially to those of us who claim to follow him, ‘don’t put yourself in the Judgement seat of God.  Just focus and work on your own righteousness’.  But it doesn’t mean we cannot correct each other.  As he says, in Luke 17:3, watch yourselves. If one of you sins, rebuke them.