Today I want to talk about something at the very core of knowing Jesus: the Holy Spirit. This is fundamental, but sometimes we build our doctrines so high that we can no longer see the foundation, even though it is very important that it is still there.

Please keep a teachable spirit and don't shut me out automatically if I say something that goes against what you have been taught. We have all been taught certain keywords that are taboo. Don't let someone else tell you what to believe. What if they are wrong? Check behind me, research the scripture yourself, and see if these things are true. Then make your decision based on fact, and no one can take that away from you. I tell you this because a lot of what is being taught out there today as the word of God is just fairy tales, the traditions of men. Scriptures are often twisted to fit someone's pet peeve of the day.

Jesus said this in John chapter 7:

(John 7:37-39 NKJV) On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus spoke of the Spirit that those who believe in Him would receive. That is the Holy Spirit. After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus remained on Earth for about forty days and appeared to many people (Acts 1:3). Then He gathered His disciples and told them they would be "baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5).

Then Jesus ascended to heaven, took His seat at the right hand of the Father, His work complete. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the upper room, as Jesus had said (Acts 2:4), and He has never left the Earth. He didn't die with the last Apostle, for He is eternal. Jesus Christ said the Holy Spirit would abide with us forever:

(John 14:15-17 NKJV) "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove and remained on Him (John 1:32). Jesus walked in the "power of the Holy Spirit" (Luke 4:14), and even as He prepared to leave Earth, He gave the Apostles orders from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2). It is the Holy Spirit who regenerates fallen mankind and renews us (Titus 3:4). It is He who guides us to be more like Jesus.

He is called the Comforter, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. He is inseparable from Christianity and a vital part of our day-to-day life. It is He who gives you the answers; it is He who gives orders to God's troops on Earth. That gentle whisper is the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus gave His Apostles orders from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2).

The Apostles were nothing but men until they received the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2. Then they began to heal the sick (Acts 3:6), raise the dead (Acts 9:40), and people fell dead at their words (Acts 5:5). He has been passed down from generation to generation, and He is still here, working on Earth through God's people today.

I want to make this point very clear because I was taught that the Holy Spirit and His gifts died with the last Apostle, when nothing could be further from the truth. I lost years getting to know Him until I unlearned that trash and began studying the Bible myself. Actually, He was with me the whole time, even speaking through me now and then, but I didn't know who He was. He is okay with that. He needs no recognition and will never call attention to Himself. He always points us to Jesus and remains in the background, as invisible as the wind. Rest assured, He is still here.

For example, the Apostle Paul never met Jesus before His death, resurrection, and ascension. Paul was a post-resurrection Apostle who received the Holy Spirit when a disciple named Ananias in Damascus laid his hands on him and prayed (Acts 9:17). Years later, Paul met some disciples of Jesus in Ephesus and must have felt they were missing something. He asked them whether they knew about the Holy Spirit. They didn't.

(Acts 19:1-7 NKJV) And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all.

Here, a dozen men in Ephesus who had never heard of it received the Holy Spirit from an Apostle who had received the Holy Spirit from a disciple named Ananias in Damascus, who had received the Holy Spirit sometime earlier. Today, there are people who have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit, so this trend continues from generation to generation.

The day before Paul came, those men knew nothing about the Holy Spirit and could not have told you about Him, but the next day all that changed. I tell you this because your leaders cannot lead you where they have not yet been, and they may well-meaningly try to protect you from the unknown. For example, I have heard tongues preached against by people who didn't speak in tongues. While the disciples in Ephesus didn't speak in tongues on, let's say, Monday, they did on Tuesday.

What does it look like? Jesus called it a river of living water that would flow out of you. One day, when He was at Jacob's well, a Samaritan woman asked Him for a drink of this living water (John 4:15). He told her to bring her husband, and she said, "I don't have one." He replied, "That is true, for you have had five husbands, and the one you are with now is not your husband." Then she said: "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."

That was living water flowing from Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave Him insight, letting Him see beyond the natural, revealing the truth. You can deceive man, but you will never deceive the Holy Spirit. He is a light shining within us, revealing all the dark areas. To be effective, we must have the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, for He protects us, guides us, warns us, renews us, and helps us make the right decisions in life. He will tell us whom to pray for.

Once I had a vivid dream that a friend of ours at church was sick, with huge sores covering their back, and I had a salve that would heal them. In the dream, I rubbed the ointment on their sores, and they were healed. I noticed I hadn't seen them at church lately, so I felt I should call them and invite them to dinner. We did.

While at dinner, we talked for a while and learned that they had been hurt by someone at the church, so they left and never went back. We worked at the coffee counter and knew everyone involved, and it was a simple misunderstanding. Words went unspoken, and looks were misinterpreted. We prayed with them, and their burden was lifted. They returned to church.

(Luke 15:4 NKJV) "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?"

The Holy Spirit knew what was going on behind the scenes, for He sees all, and He sent us after His lost sheep. He flows through us to help others in the body of Christ, and He will use them to help us. We are interconnected; we are one Body, and the Holy Spirit is the lifeblood that carries nutrients where they are needed most. There is no life in the Body of Christ without the flow of the Holy Spirit.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please send me Your precious Holy Spirit. Flow through me. Speak to me in a way that I understand and give me orders from heaven. I am Yours. I choose to believe that You are alive, that You love me, and that You are listening to me today. Come and be a part of my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!