Holy Spirit- Who He Is

The Fullness of His Glory.

I'm not going to pretend here. I just want to get that out. Of all of the parts of the deity... the Holy Spirit is the hardest one for me to grasp ahold of. And I have to admit, that today's reading kind of stumped me a little, so I am going to combine two days into one, in order to better understand what is trying to be said.

I turned to Ezekial 9 today. Just reading this chapter is something to read! In this chapter, God has become disgusted with the Israelites. He sends a man to mark the people who are good and hate all the evil going on in the city. Those who have not been marked are killed. This is God's justice being carried out! Ezekial falls to his knees and cries to the Lord, asking if anyone will be spared his wrath. And here is what God says in verse 9: "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very great. The entire Land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying 'the Lord doesn't see it! The Lord has forsaken the Land!' So I will not spare them or have any pity on them. I will fully repay them for all they have done."

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was a physical presence. He manifested himself as a cloud- a cloud of glory. That cloud resided in the temple. In Ezekiel 9:3, "the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the temple." God had enough. The people are full of sin, and he has decided that it is time for his presence to be noted. Now, while Jesus was here on Earth, he showed Peter, James, and John a glimpse of God's glory when he was transfigured in front of them. That Glory of God becomes a part of our lives today, through the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our savior, the Holy Spirit sort of moves in and resides in us. He is always there to help us when needed. He is our assurance that someday we will share in God's Glory. In order for that to happen though, we need to "let the Holy Spirit fill and control" us. (Ephesians 5:18) Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an ongoing process- it's not a "do it once and it's done" sort of thing.

In John chapter 3, a religious leader named Nicodemus comes to Jesus. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again, and must be born of both water and spirit. He then compares the spirit to the wind. Just as we can't hear the wind, or see where it comes from or where it is going, so it is with the Holy Spirit. While we cannot explain how people are born of the Spirit, we can certainly see where the Spirit has been. Has God's "wind" changed our lives? Or are we living the same life we always have? It's with the help of the Holy Spirit that we are able to change our lives for the better, and live for God. It is the Holy Spirit who touches our hearts and helps us to see temptation for what it is. I thank God that he sent us the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. I , for one, would certainly be lost without him.