The Holy Spirit in Us?

For those asking me for a Bible study or daily devotional blog, this is for YOU!

I will work on this in days to come, in formatting and putting in some fun stuff, but for today, here is the rough beginning...

Today’s Verse: 1 Cor. 6:19-20        The Holy Spirit in Us, and Glorify God in our Bodies

Wow – these are tough words to hear and even tougher to really understand what they mean, and how to apply them to our lives, right?  Yes, I definitely agree.  As I began blogging my thoughts on these 2 verses I got distracted with the explanation and scriptural back up of what I was thinking.  So, I wandered a little and only touched the surface of these verses today.  After a couple hours of thinking and researching I put down my pen and will continue again tomorrow.  Maybe I will make this a week-long verse study? 

So after reading today’s blog (below) , be sure to come back again tomorrow to see where I go from there.  And please, please, please – know and understand that I am trying very hard to NOT seem judgmental because that is not my place or intention – I only attempt to – after much prayer - put into thoughts what I believe God’s Word is saying to me. And to give some real life examples (yes, MY life examples, no matter how funny or silly or misguided they may seem) of how to apply those Words to our day to day living. 

Anyway, enjoy and I would love to hear your comments, questions, or disagreements.  We all can learn from each other. 

Much love and blessings to you, and have a GREAT day!!

Mindy

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 

So, let’s dissect these words for a better understanding: 

First, we have to understand what “the Holy Spirit who is in you” means. 

·       Protestants and Catholics, generally believe in the Trinity; the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14)

·       You will hear the Holy Spirit also referred to as the “teacher,” or the “helper.”

·       We learn throughout the Bible that when we believe in God and establish a belief and trust in Jesus as God’s son and our Savior, (becoming a Christian in the real sense of the word) then the Holy Spirit comes to us and indwells within our bodies (our spirit).  The Holy Spirit then becomes our “teacher” and “helper,” guiding us by a gentle voice, a soft prodding, or a prickling of our conscience.  (John 14:16-17, John 15:26, John 16:13-15) Another way the Holy Spirit helps us is when we read the Bible and ask God to help us understand what the Words mean, then the Holy Spirit speaks to us, in our minds and hearts, with words or examples of what God wishes us to understand out of those Words.  

·       We also learn that those who are “of the world” or those who don’t believe in the deity of God and Jesus, the Son, (those who are not Christians) do not have the Holy Spirit living in them, and teaching them.  Therefore, Non-Christians do not and cannot have true understanding of God’s Word.  (John 14:17) That to me is very sad; I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in that kind of uncertainty.

Okay, to put this in simpler language, we now know that the Holy Spirit is part of God, or God’s representative or interpreter, living inside us, serving as a voice of truth to teach us right from wrong.  And with this understanding I contemplate these additional thoughts:

·       If the Holy Spirit is a representative of God, actually a person or part of God, then the Holy Spirit is truly “holy.”  Which means clean, sacred, righteous, pure, sanctified, virtuous, Godly, divine.

·       And – if the Holy Spirit is all those virtuous things, then the Holy Spirit needs or should have a clean place to dwell, right? This then, explains why the Holy Spirit would come to those who are Christians trying to live a Christian life, and NOT to those who are not.  Someone who does not believe in God, or Jesus as the Son and Savior, then would not have the cleansed heart and spirit for the Holy Spirit to come dwell.  Because it is the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross and being resurrected back into Heaven, and our belief in this action that cleanses our hearts and spirits and makes us worthy and open enough to commune with God.  (John 3:16, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 2 Cor. 5:21, Romans 5:8-11, 6:23) 

o   On a side note here: per the Bible practicing being good, kind, caring and loving and considerate to others regularly – in other words, being a really good person or practicing Christian behavior does not biblically classify you as a Christian.  Per the Bible, you must be “born again” or “saved by grace” or “redeemed” or “believe in him” to be given eternal life and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Not just by doing good works.  So be careful – you might think someone is a Christian because of their Christian or “good” behavior or stating they are a Christian – but according to God’s Word, if they have not accepted Jesus as their savior, no matter how great their works are, or how nice a person they might be, they are not the Biblical definition of a Christian and will not have the teaching of the Holy Spirit nor the understanding within them.  Wow, I'd say we can be very easily led astray by the watering down of this Biblical principal.  Now please don’t get me wrong – Jesus commands us to love one another, and I totally embrace that, unconditionally – but we just need to be careful whom we place our trust in and who we take our teachings and beliefs from  J  Even John in 1 John 4:1-2 says to test the spirits to be sure they are from God.

In case you don’t know, biblegateway.com is a great place to go to look up and read scripture in a ton of different versions.  A handy tool, especially if you don’t have a Bible.    

Comments?

Tune in tomorrow for the continuation.  Love to you all.