The Holy Spirit I

To be honest, last month I regretted at times that I'd committed to typing every Proverb for the month.  It was a great exercise, I found value and insight into God's word and relationship with Him through doing so, but I felt I was placing my book project on the back burner, and my blog posts of original writing on a counter across from the stove altogether!

I've been working on a project of fiction, intending to bring a picture of the interaction of the Holy Spirit in our lives and this world.  I felt empty in the writing tank--it seemed that God was getting my best, but I wanted to share my best with the world!  When I actually type these things out, I see just how off my perspective has been.  As I have moved beyond the exercise, I see just how gracious God has been after following through with that commitment.

I enjoyed my time in the gospels through the month, but I was eager to jump into a new book.  I jumped into one of my favorites--Hebrews, and after July, my appetite was even greater for His word.  I had trouble staying out of the Bible to go to work, to do chores, to write.  I was thirsty for Him, and He quenched my thirst with Holy Spirit.

I had struggled through July with how to approach my current chapter of the book about the Holy Spirit, and then, in Hebrews, I noticed for the first time:  "...the Holy Spirit said..."

I'd always seen Him as a mysterious spirit, influencing us, knocking around in our heads and hearts, hovering over waters, and generally hanging around in an ambiguous state.  I did not recall His speaking roles in scripture.

Hebrews 3:7-11
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
"TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME,
AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,
WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED ME BY TESTING ME,
AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.
THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION,
AND SAID, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART,
AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS';
AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH,
'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.;"

WOW!  God was just waiting for me to be obedient and I can imagine the smile on His face as I came across this a couple of days ago.  I longed to write about the Holy Spirit, while he desperately wanted to teach me about the Holy Spirit.  The last few days have been full of the Spirit of God.

In this reference, I see that the Spirit is God in that His words are God's words.  When he speaks, He refers to what 'I AM' said in the old testament as His own words here in Hebrew.  As much as Jesus and God the Father, the Holy Spirit is God, too, as part of the mysterious Trinity.

Later in Hebrews 10: 15-17, we see another speaking role for the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
"THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM."
He then says:
"AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."

The Holy Spirit testifies for us, and He writes God's law upon our hearts and minds.  I need to follow what the Spirit has written on my heart and His instructions on my brain, not the fleshly desires of my heart and my humanistic logic.  The way He has shown up in my head and my heart this week reveals so much of God, His love and patience, His grace, His love--His reality!

To God be the glory!  Praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...Amen!