My Friend

I love makeup! Yep…you could call me a “makeup junkie”. I am not sure but I hope I am not known by others as one who wears too much makeup. Thankfully God placed people in my life at an early age to teach me “too much” of a good thing is actually a “bad thing”! Today’s post isn’t really about makeup. Well, except for when you mention the Holy Spirit. I have visions as a little girl of hearing women who wore “too much” make-up or none at all as being the only people who would broach the subject of the Holy Spirit.

I am hoping I am one who understands and lives as an example of not too much make-up…but just enough! LOL…But I also want to be one of those women who accurately displays who the Holy Spirit is and what His purpose is in our lives!! I consider the Holy Spirit to be my very best friend. When you have a good friend, you want others to know how great that person is. I find today even with digital media, television and the age of information many people have the wrong concept and view of the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives as Christ followers.

The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity. When we accept Jesus as Lord in our lives, we move out of the driver’s seat in the car of our lives and allow God, who sends the Holy Spirit to “dwell within us,” to direct, lead and DRIVE our lives. The Holy Spirit is real and active. He is our friend, not our adversary. The trouble we have is that often, even as Christians, we do not allow the Holy Spirit to lead.

We somehow have allowed the “world/Satan” to deceive us into thinking the Holy Spirit is weird and spooky and that those who live by the “Spirit” are crazy. Of course there are those people out there that are weird and were weird before they claim the Holy Spirit entered in their lives. We have somehow allowed them to discredit who the Holy Spirit is and His role in our lives–to lead, guide, and give us the power for living a victorious and fruitful life in Christ.

I am here to encourage you to read the whole book of John in the Bible and come to understand that we have the most incredible power. The power of our Creator…
who knows the beginning and the end…
who defeated death on the cross…
who knew us in the womb and
who knows the number of hairs on our head,
who sent His Holy Spirit to earth as a “helper” to me and to you.

As we begin to understand who the Holy Spirit is and His role in our lives, as we realize the need to seek Him more, the closer we find we are to Jesus. We find the power, the strength, to lead a life of significance. He will show us and we will be able to see what that life should look like. John 14:26, “‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.'”

As I have grown closer to Christ and have been seeking a deeper, closer walk with Christ, I have come to understand…the Holy Spirit is the active and present voice of God in my life….to direct, guide, and teach me.

For example, almost two years ago I was spending time with God in my quiet time. I was praying and asking God to reveal Himself and His will for me…to lead me and daily show me the things He had for me to do. I was reading His word and came upon Matthew 10:32-33, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father him heaven.”

I continued seeking God and the voice of the Holy Spirit in my life over a period of several weeks. He spoke to me in my quiet time and gave me direction for writing books. A supernatural thing for sure in my life–from being empowered to actually writing and then publishing. I was even on the treadmill at the gym watching a Christian broadcast. Pastor/author Robert Morris, was speaking about his new book, “The God I Never Knew, How Real Friendship with the Holy Spirit Can Change Your Life.” I bought the book (which I highly recommend) and learned even more about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

I have so enjoyed embracing the voice of the Father in my life…the Holy Spirit. He has used those verses in Matthew 10 to bring me to such a place of excitement that I cannot help but raise my hands in church. Yes, in public…when there is music and a time to worship. And yes, at 52, on the Back 9, worshiping God has been “notched up” in my life. I am as excited about the Holy Spirit and His help in my life as I was as a cheerleader at Clemson when our football team scored a touchdown.

Seriously! I haven’t always felt led to raise my hands in praise with others around. But today? I cannot deny the power of the Holy Spirit in my life…regardless of what others around me may think. I have been led to a place of “eyes on Jesus” not on man or what others think. I am the lady who stands in church, with hopefully the right amount of make-up, and lifts her hands in praise…just as if Clemson were scoring a touch down. After all, what is more important in my life…football or worshiping Christ???

That is the question the Holy Spirit came to impress upon my heart as I sought a deeper walk with Christ. To know Him more intimately. I get excited about worship on Sundays. Why? Because on Monday through Saturday He has been REAL…VISIBLE…OUTSPOKEN in my life. So Sunday worship for me has become UNIQUELY different. My heart is so incredibly full of gratitude…awe…and love…I cannot deny the Spirit’s power.

OK. If you are reading and thinking, “I am not raising my hands in worship in church.” I can tell you that it is just something that “I do” out of RELATIONSHIP AND AWE. God prompts people to do different things. Raising your hands may not be what He leads you to do. If all of this is weird to you, let me just say this. If you are a Christian, and love Jesus with all your heart, and you are a sports fan, then how can you raise your hands in victory for your team and not be excited about something even GREATER? God!

That was a question I had to answer as I became more intimate with Jesus. Is He first? Or my family? Or my alma mater? Or my hobby? Or my job? Knowing and embracing the Power of the Holy Spirit leads to unexplainable days, weeks and years.

I have only scratched the surface. The Holy Spirit encompasses so much more than I have shared with you today. I encourage you to…seek to know God more intimately. To know God’s power in your life…the Holy Spirit. He dwells within all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

John 14:16-18, “And I will pray to 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.”

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