Holy Spirit Lesson 3 Companion Devotional

If I wanted to introduce a friend to you, how would I do that? My friend is someone I have gotten to know and I think you will want to know him too. We usually begin introductions with the person’s name and then we might tell something about what they do and what they are like. Today I have the joy of beginning to introduce the Holy Spirit to you.

I feel inadequate for this task because He is mysterious. He is God, we cannot reduce him down to our size. We will never fully understand Him. He has such depth and fulness that our finite minds cannot grasp who He is. A.W. Tozer in his book, The Mystery of the Holy Spirit, said you can discover more about the Holy Spirit in five minutes on your knees adoring him than in five years in a seminary. So we must approach this topic of the Holy Spirit prayerfully.

Names in the Bible are important. They are instructive. They tell us about the nature and character of the person named. In biblical times they didn’t choose names because they were on the list of the top ten trendiest names for the year. They didn’t choose a name because it had a little ring to it or it started with a specific consonant. They chose names for what they meant, therefore it is important to take the time to consider the meaning of a biblical name.

The Old Testament Hebrew word for holy means morally pure, apartness, sacredness, wholly other than, transcendence. The New Testament Greek word for holy, hagios, means pure from every fault, worthy of veneration, reverent. More than only being separated from sin, this word also encompasses awesomeness, veneration and reverence. The Hebrew word for spirit, ruah, means breath, wind or spirit. The Greek New Testament word for spirit is pneuma meaning movement of air (wind), spirit. The word spirit refers to something like the wind that is unseen and doesn’t have substance. Putting all this together, when we think of the Holy Spirit we think of someone who is unseen, who does not consist of matter or substance. He is pure, without sin, awesome, full of veneration, wholly other than, transcendent. This it the primary meaning of the name for the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has many other names that give us more insight. They help us understand who He is and how to relate to Him. He is the Spirit of truth, He is the one who convinces and convicts us of the truth. He will never deceive us or lead us astray. He is the Spirit of life, He is the one who brings eternal life to us. He is life-giving. He is the Spirit of adoption, He adopts us into the family of God. He is the Spirit of prophecy, He brings us information that we need when we need it. He is the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of grace and the Spirit of wisdom.

Some of His jobs include, He helps us, He guides us, He leads us throughout life. He convicts us of sin, (what a relief to know I don’t have to be my husband’s holy spirit!). He is our comforter, our advocate. He is the author of Scripture. He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He is our teacher. He gives us the power and strength to follow the Lord. He pours out the love of God into our hearts so that we know, no matter what the circumstances of our life, we are beloved by God. The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit has feelings. Our receptivity to Him impacts how He feels. We can grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. We can even insult and resist Him; and of course we can draw close to Him and bring Him joy. We will be looking into specifics about this in the weeks to come.

The Bible gives us varied names and job descriptions to introduce the Holy Spirit to us; it also gives us analogies describing what the Holy Spirit is like. An analogy is a comparison that paints a picture of likeness. I will close by considering one of these analogies to help us get to know the Holy Spirit better.

The Wind

Jesus said in John 3 the Holy Spirit is like the wind. When the wind blows, you can literally feel it though you cannot see the wind. Yesterday I was standing outside at the car wash and the air was perfectly still. It was stifling, then there was a slight stirring in the air and it was absolutely refreshing. This stirring of the wind is like the Holy Spirit. Acts 3 tells us that the presence of the Lord (brought by the Holy Spirit) brings times of refreshment.

You cannot predict where the wind will blow. It can be localized. Picture standing on a driveway and watching a swirl of leaves blow around while where you are standing is still. Sometimes the Spirit will be poured out in one geographical location but not in another. We read the reports from the Welsh revival at the turn of the last century and see how the Holy Spirit moved upon one village and brought many to repentance and salvation, but did not move upon the next village. Jesus said, you will not know where it is coming from nor where it is going.

The wind can be powerful. Think about tornadoes. Wind can be incredibly forceful. From the account in Acts 2 of the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, one of the most prominent features that day was the sound of a mighty violent rushing wind. Locomotives had not be invented yet, but if they had I bet Luke would have said it sounded like a freight train barreling into town and through the room. The sound of the wind was so remarkable that it attracted multitudes who rushed to the upper room to find out what was happening. Jesus had said to wait until you receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

The analogy of wind to describe the Holy Spirit helps us to understand Him in many ways, but falls short in others. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. He is a person. Wind doesn’t have any personality. You cannot know the wind. You cannot make the wind sad. You cannot make the wind rejoice. You cannot get the wind to make a decision. The Holy Spirit wills, He decides which spiritual gifts we will get. The wind doesn’t bring information, but the Holy Spirit searches out the mind of the Father and brings revelation to us. He teaches us. He is not a force, he is a person. He does not have a physical body just as the words for spirit, ruah and pneuma, portray. He is immaterial, we cannot see him, but he has a distinct personality. He is mysterious.

Learning more about the Holy Spirit makes my heart surge with the desire to know and experience Him more. I want to set the sail of my life and catch the wind. I want to make sure I always welcome Him and draw closer to Him. I want this for you too! Do you want more of Him in your life?

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the wonderful Holy Spirit. Thank you that you did not leave us as orphans but sent Him to live in us. Thank you that there is always more of Him for us. Help us to grow in our sensitivity to Him. Show us how to set our sails and catch the wind of the Spirit.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen