One of our Pastor’s favorite sayings at church is, “Jesus is in the house!” And yes, He is. But I have to be honest, I think we have locked him in the basement! Yep. Ok, so we turn to Christ and He gives us the Gift of the Holy Spirit, a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. We have it. The Holy Spirit inside of us. So why do we keep looking for Him? He is already there, sitting on the couch waiting for us to let him flow OUT!
See “How to Pray For the Release of the Holy Spirit” by Dennis Bennett
We have to wait for the Spirit to “come down”. Waiting for the presence of God to come out of the Heavens and into us or onto us. But we already have the Holy Spirit-inside of us. We received it when we believed in Christ. It already came down when Jesus was baptized. There are two parts to this one baptism – being born of the water AND the Spirit. In the first part we repent and turn to God, believe on Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. In the second part we release the Holy Spirit to move in and through us – to flood, to overwhelm, to drench our bodies and our souls we allow Him to flow OUT!
“Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8 NKJV)
“for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5 NKJV)
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ” (John 1:12-13 NKJV)
Myth #2
We have to ‘get clean’ enough for the Holy Spirit to come live inside of us. That’s like saying only clean people can take a bath. If we could clean ourselves then we would not need the Holy Spirit!
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18 NKJV)
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6b NKJV)
Myth #3
We use our will and emotions to get holy enough for God. God is holy and no amount of self effort will make us holy. It’s not about the clothes or our own self-righteousness. He is the only thing Holy that is in us!
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:27-28 NKJV)
Myth #4
The Holy Spirit only flows IN. Yes, the Spirit flows in, but once the Holy Spirit is inside of us, we need to open the doors to our own will, health, emotions and let the Spirit flow OUT into those areas. His Spirit will change us as we let Him flow OUT.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14 NKJV)
We only get a part of the Spirit. You cannot divide the Holy Spirit into pieces. Imagine the Holy Spirit sitting in your living room. Do you let Him in the kitchen even though the dishes aren’t done? Do you let him in the bedroom where the bed isn’t made? He is still in the house, but where will you allow Him to go?
Myth #6
God will bless other people first. Abraham got a promise from God, first God blessed him, and then He blessed his descendants. The Holy Spirit will flow OUT and through us, and then out to others. Like the Cup Overflowing…
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV)
I Had a Dream
I had a dream last night about the Holy Spirit. We have this old farmhouse, I think it was built in like the ’40’s. I was standing in the kitchen and I looked up. Water began flowing from the top of the walls and through the ceiling. It was like a waterfall on the INSIDE of the house. Then because of the running water, the ceiling and the walls just fell down. And the water kept running!
I believe that God was teaching me something this morning. That water represents the Holy Spirit and what God is doing with his Body, the Church. He is flooding us on the inside and the box that we have kept God in is falling down. The ceiling and the walls are coming down! The Holy Spirit is drenching us on the INSIDE!
