The Spirit of the Lord ...

Tuesday, March 8, 2016. I have been reading about the spirit of the Lord. I am talking about the holy spirit which the bible talks about, the spirit of God, the spirit of the eternal creator. It plays an important role in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is faszinating to read about the spirit, sometimes it is also a little terrifying to read about him. But it is also encouraging, wonderful and breathtaking!

Human Spirit …

At the beginning the bible talks about the spirit of men, which is given to him by God. We are made in his image - one of the basic doctrines of the bible. The way humans are made has much of God, his glory is reflected in our nature, in our skills, in our ability.

We also hear about the holy spirit of God, and that this spirit comes to particular people - to the prophets. The holy spirit fills people, who speak or act in the name of God. The Old Testament tells us many stories, all of them quite fascinating and unusual. Where the spirit acts, many strange things happen. Where the spirit acts, wonders are not far away.

Then, in the New Testament, the holy spirit is sent by Jesus to his people, to all who believe in him. He is the open door through which we can come to God, the door to the kingdom of heaven. And who enters, will receive the holy spirit. God's spirit can come and will come to believers - which does not mean that all they do or say is said out of the spirit or “in” the spirit!

Search his Spirit! …

We are asked to search his spirit. We are commanded to live in the spirit, day by day. The way the bible talks to us clearly indicates that we have a choice. We can grief the spirit. We can act against it. And we can open our heart for it, we can live in the spirit. It is an invitation for the believer, for those who trust Christ Jesus.

The spirit of God is a reality. It can be experienced. It is a wonderful force in our life. That does not mean we would follow it every day. There are days, where we fail to live with him. There are days and might be even weeks (or years?) where we fail to follow his word and his spirit. The spirit is one with father and son, with God, the creator, and with Christ Jesus. We find a wonderful community in this relationship, in the one eternal God!

So if we search the spirit, we will find it in and through the biblical words, which were recorded and expressed by the prophets, by the evangelists and many people living filled by the spirit. These documents do not suppress the character of their authors - yet they are special, the spirit is there! Come and let us experience an eternal adventure, which is full of the spirit. Come and see! (RWEP) ... more texts