The Holy Spirit: He's Been Here All Along

Today in the liturgical calendar is Pentecost Sunday; the day that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, marking a new era in Christendom. Since that day, we have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

How cool is that?

I can't help wondering if we're taking full advantage of the Holy Spirit. As far as I know, only some Christians (Pentecosts, for instance), really believe in His power, and, respectfully, I think they use Him more for show than for His real intent. I think the Holy Spirit is supposed to work in our lives all the time, helping us and guiding us. The Spirit really is the forgotten part of the Trinity. We pray to God. We read Jesus' words and try to emulate Him. But do we rely on the Holy Spirit? If we did, is it possible that we would have a direct line to God?

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26

I think the Holy Spirit is what we might call our conscience, and picture as that little angel sitting on our shoulder, whispering the right answer in our ear. But... what if He's real? What if we really do get the answers straight from God, but we ignore them because they're not already written down, or because someone with a title -- like Father, or Pastor, or even Doctor -- didn't say so?

While I know the Spirit doesn't make us happy all the time (God never promised that!), He does help us through the hurdles of life, if we let Him… if we let Him. But we don't. Instead, we rely on the words of friends, political pundits, and yes, even opinionated pastors, thinking they know better than we do because they say so.

I think we don't take full advantage of the most incredible thing of all; God Himself, right inside us! The Triune God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, is more reliable than friends and news stations; don't you think?

I'm only asking the question today. I want to look into this further.

Peace, Love, Spirit