The Gift of the Spirit is to Be Cherished

Whenever, I think of the Holy Spirit my mind automatically sees Him as a dove, descending from the heavens to earth. Like He did at Jesus' baptism in Matthew 3:16. Then I see Him in the form of wind and tongues of fire like in Acts 2:2-3.  But here lately, I have found myself in awe that He would want to live in me. He obviously has the power to go elsewhere. He could choose to be in dove form, wind form, fire form... He could simply hover above the earth like He did in the beginning (Genesis 1:2).

But out of everything He could be doing... He chooses to live inside of believers, to dwell with in you and me (1 Corinthians 3:16, Ezekiel 36:27). After God was separated from us because of sin, He desires to never be separated from us again. Therefore, He dwells in us so that we may never not have him again. But do I daily and moment to moment cling to that gift. Do I constantly rely on the Spirit to help me and to correct me? Do I in every part of my day allow Him to speak to my heart what it is He wants me to do that day or does my calendar over ride His voice?

The answer is sadly no. No, I do not but here is what I do know. Just because I have ignored Him in some moments of my day, when I sin and miss the mark, and when I plain just can't hear Him because of the rush of every day life... He still remains in me. He remains faithful to keep pushing me toward holiness. I can count on that! Today, I was remind that I must actively pursue His voice. I must cherish it and desire to listen and obey Him.

My six year old is getting ready to start the first grade. She accepted Jesus about a year ago as her personal Lord and savior and today she asked me about baptism. She wants to get baptized and I walked her through some biblical passages of water baptism and then I talked to her about the baptism of the Spirit and how she has already received that baptism. She then asked me why she needed to do the water baptism.  And I said, "For salvation you don't, but for accountability it is helpful". When we stand before a church of brothers and sisters (even just one other). We are confessing our faith and asking them to help us in our walk.

---

"My Brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns an sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins" (James 5:19, NIV).

Do you have that person in your life that would call you out if you were not listening to the Holy Spirit's call, correction, and direction in your life?  Have you declared your faith to your church, or another believer,  so that they can "Holy Party" with you? The pursuit of Holiness is not lame... but it is to be cherished and declared.

"he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:5-6).

When we go under the baptismal waters we remember we die to self and are raised in the birthing of His Spirit that gives us the ability to live a Holy Life... Cherish it.