Janine

No, he wasn't yet born of the Spirit but there was a heart hunger that was given to him by God to seek. In my counseling, I have seen this difference of a person not born of the Spirit vs. a person who is born of the Spirit. Those not born of the Spirit have a difficult time understanding the Biblical things discussed. I had one non-believer client who by our fifth session admitted that he just didn't get it and felt he couldn't continue counseling. On the other side, I have had clients who clearly understand the scriptures and our discussions but the ruling of their heart is still within their soul which is the reason they are in counseling. The revelations that God gives us along our journey help those who are double-minded, ruled by hurt from the past or ruled by a need within their soul that has not been met in their eyes. I had an uncle who unknown to me during his life was a person who was completely changed overnight by the power of the Holy Spirit. I was told at his funeral that he had been an alcoholic and verbally abusive to my aunt but Jesus saved him and he quit drinking, became the uncle that I knew who was full of love and joy and went on to become a pastor. He was the one who brought me to Christ when I was about 12. Though I accepted Christ, I was in bondage to unfulfilled needs within my soul and ultimately the sin that I committed. It wouldn't be until 21 years later when God led me to see my sins for what they were. I became hot for Jesus after this but it wasn't until 2 years later that I was truly set free from the bondage that sin had on me. So, I believed that I didn't believe in Jesus for a long time but in reality I believed in him, I just didn't believe in my own worth. For some of us, it will be instantaneous for others we will be the late bloomers. The fruit of the Spirit needs fertile ground free of weeds and rocks to be able to grow. When I began to truly seek and reach my roots down into the Living Water, everything changed.

Jesus invites anyone who is thirsty or all who are thirsty. Sooner or later, we are all going to be thirsty for only the living water that can satisfy. Jesus promises to those who believe in him that they will have a stream of living water flowing within them. In looking at my own life, I can see this living water flowing. Sometimes it flows with a force like there's so much water that it is frothing and spilling over in abundance. I am reminded of a hike my family took up to see a waterfall. The snow pack had been significant that year and it was early in the summer season. The trail was wet and in many cases non-existent because the water was flowing down in such great abundance. Love the visual of this as what's happening within a person who believes in Jesus.

The power of the Lord is from the Holy Spirit which is indicated in Luke 4:14a and Acts 10:38a. Jesus being the son of God makes him divine in nature but still with the reality of being a man. So, as an example to us, the Holy Spirit was a part of him as it now is for us because it is the gift from Jesus. Because we have the Holy Spirit, we too have that same power within us to help us in our own walk and ministry for God’s Kingdom. I experience this a lot as a pastoral counselor because I admittedly don’t always have the answers or know what direction to take with a client but I pray always for the Holy Spirit to guide me and my thoughts, words and actions to be directed by him. He gives me the instructions like he gave Jesus instructions.

The relationship is dependent upon each other. Jesus depends on God, the Father’s power to enable him to accomplish all that the Father is asking him to do. God depends on Jesus to take on the role of a man so that he can reach us through that connection of humanness. Why did Jesus have to "empty himself" from his heavenly glory when he became a man? Jesus emptying himself in becoming a man was an act of love for God, the Father. It was emptying himself because he was to show us that man needs the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be able to live fully into how God designed us to be, in complete union and fellowship with him; depending and relying upon Him. He did it to be the example of reliance upon the Holy Spirit within us.

The Holy Spirit actively comes upon him or overshadows and covers him. The Holy Spirit is the Father’s Spirit and it is like the Holy Spirit is the sperm that fertilizes the egg making God the father of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the other half to the equation of how humans are produced. Holy Spirit (Father) + Mary (Virgin) = Son of God. The fact that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit is how Jesus’ identity formed. His Father is God himself, making him God’s son. How does the Holy Spirit establish your core identity as a disciple of Jesus? My new identity is in Christ because he has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of my temple. Jesus is holy because the Holy Spirit was part of him. We have been made holy too because the Holy Spirit is a part of us. The Holy Spirit does not come to live within anyone until they have proclaimed Jesus as their Savior and King.

In Joel, God is promising that the Spirit will come on all people. They will prophesy, dream dreams, have visions. They will be shown wonders in the heavens and on the earth. Everyone who call on the name of the Lord will be saved! In Ezekiel, God promises to give a new heart and put his Spirit in us. He promises to remove our stone hearts and give new hearts of flesh. The Spirit will move us to follow God’s decrees and to carefully follow his laws. We will live and be settled in our own land. God will no longer hide his face from us but pour out his Spirit on us. Who are the recipients of these promises? All who believe that Jesus is the Messiah and their savior.

God promises the Messiah to come up from the stump of Jesse. He promises that he will bear fruit and the Spirit will rest on him. It will be the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and fear of the Lord. God promises through the Messiah justice will be brought to the nations. God promises that the Messiah will bring good news to the poor and proclaim freedom to the captives. He promises the Messiah will proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God. He promises the Messiah will comfort all who mourn. Jesus is the fulfillment of these promises. His life, ministry, death and resurrection all fulfill these promises. And the gift of the Holy Spirit is that one promise that truly helps us receive all these.

The Spirit of God is put upon them which gives them what they need to lead the people. What happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon them? They prophesied but only this one time. It was a deliberate action that the Holy Spirit convicted them all to do, showing for the Israelites and for us today how much the Holy Spirit can help us.

God’s Spirit is power and grace. His purpose in putting his Spirit upon certain individuals in the Old Testament is to give them everything they need to do what God wants them to do. His Spirit empowered them to do what God was calling them to do. What effect does the Spirit seem to have upon their relationship with God? The verse is 1 Samuel 13:12 is telling of the battle within Saul in following the Holy Spirit or following what he feels he should do. “So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” He was waiting for Samuel to show up at the appointed time but Samuel was a little late and the men were starting to scatter. Saul was compelled by his own need to look like he is competent and in control. Instead of listening to the Holy Spirit he listened to himself. This is a battle we all go through with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but thankfully we have Jesus and God’s forgiveness to help us start new every morning. David’s response to the Holy Spirit was filled with the passion he felt for what he knew the Holy Spirit had been doing for him and for the connection to God that we don’t have without his Holy Spirit within us. I had a very deep connection back in 2003 when I was in the hospital after almost losing my baby girls at 20 weeks in the pregnancy. The amniotic sac was protruding out of the womb and so I was to stay in bed in the hospital with my bed at a 10% angle to help the amniotic sac come back inside. I was told I would be there for as long as the baby was inside of me. It was a very snowy spring and the snow storms and roads kept most people from visiting so I was alone most of the time. I was alone with God. He revealed to me the second day there that he had answered my prayer to be able to share my story so that is what I did. I lasted 4 ½ weeks and then the labor started again and couldn’t be stopped. My daughter was born 1lb. 14oz. and was in the hospital for the next 3 months until her due date and she was ready to go home. That fall, I fell into a spiritual depression and didn’t realize it until November when God helped me see how I was grieved over the loss of the deep communion we had in that time in the hospital. He also let me know that our communion with him is like any relationship. You can feel totally connected at certain times but other times the connection is less and still other times the connection feels non-existent. Our connection with God is always there. He never leaves or forsakes us. It’s all in how we perceive the circumstances we are currently in. When David said, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”, he knew how much he would miss that communion with God. It makes me wonder how much Adam and Eve grieved over the loss of the communion with God they had in the Garden of Eden.

Hello, I'm Janine. I am a pastoral temperament counselor and a preschool teacher. I live in Colorado Springs with the glorious beauty of Pike's Peak. I look forward to this study and the interaction with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.