YES!

If you consider yourself a real and dedicated Christian, the obvious answer to that last question is "yes."  Yes, you should be trying to have the holy spirit working in your life.  The follow up to this question is where we begin to find trouble, because that is where we as Christians diverge in our understanding of the matter.  Defining what the holy spirit is, what functions it performs and how the holy spirit actually changes one’s life is daunting.

When does God's spirit first appear in the Bible?

To begin to deal with this, we decided to look at when the it was first introduced in the Bible.  The result of this search is instantaneous because the second verse of the very first book of the Bible reveals that “God’s spirit moved upon the face of the waters.”  There it is, right at the beginning of all earthly beginnings - God’s spirit exerting the power of change and creation.

The most strict and literal sense of the word for “spirit” in Genesis is the Hebrew word for "wind" or "breath," which gives us a picture of an unseen force or power.  This thought is actually born out in the New Testament as well.  The two Greek words that make up the phrase “holy spirit” can be literally translated “sacred” and “current of air or breath” so we might take this as a description of “God’s sacred and unseen power” used to work with us in our lives.

When you think about that, it is pretty astounding.  God’s power at work in my life!  The same power that drove creation wrote prophecy and worked miracles.  How does this even happen?  The answer to that question is equally as astounding.  When we look at the way God’s spirit - His sacred and unseen power - worked in the Old Testament with humanity, we can see a clear and distinct mode of operation.  In the New Testament, there is an obvious change in not only method but the operation as well.

Find out what the differences are between the Old and New Testament applications of God’s sacred and unseen power.  We also explore the specifics of what the holy spirit does and does NOT do for us here and now.  Listen to our November 28, 2016 podcast, “How Can I Get the Holy Spirit?” and begin to put the pieces of God’s power applied in their proper places.  If God’s power is going to work in your life, don’t you think you should know what to expect?