The Holy Spirit's Work

Last week I wrote about the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, whom Jesus said would come to live in his disciples (John 14:23).  That was a new thing, because in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit rarely came upon anyone; and sometimes the Spirit left again, like in the case of Saul:  "Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear" (1 Sam. 16:14).  This may have led to David's plea "don’t take your Holy Spirit from me" later, in Psalm 51:11.

In the New Covenant, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come to live in his disciples, and he and his Father "will come and make our home with each of them."  How is it that by one Person coming to live within us, the other two also live within us?  It's because (in ways we can agree with but not really understand) God is one, and yet God is three, Father Son and Spirit.  The three-ness of God never creates any division or separation in the one-ness of God, and the actions of either Father, Son or Spirit are always the actions of the one God.  (Like I said, we can agree, but it's hard to understand.)  

But here's the mind-boggling truth: in the Person of the Holy Spirit, the one God has come to make his home in us, as a natural next step in his love for us -- the love that he showed us in his Son, whom we know as Jesus, coming to live with us, to die for us and be resurrected for us.   And when the Spirit of God comes to live in us, being active in our minds, then we have "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16) by which we can understand the things of God.  So Peter can tell us to "be of one mind" (1 Peter 3:8) -- not that Christians are in lockstep, but that we all have the mind of God in us.  

Having the mind of God in us, then, we are able to perceive the love and intentions of God, not just for us but toward those around us also.  (One might ask, how could we have the love of God for someone, unless the mind of God resides in us?)  So the challenge is to discern and surrender to the mind of God in us, and the spiritual disciplines are an important tool.  You can learn more about applying them on this blog, or by reading from Henry Nouwen, Richard Foster, Dallas Willard and many others.  Let's keep exploring that.  Are you ready to hear from God?