Questions abound about the Holy Spirit's role and work in our lives,
Good students of the Bible see the challenges too. "Asking" the Spirit to fill us isn't really the flavor of the New Testament (the Word "fill" was different in the book of Acts than in Ephesians). "Trusting" Him to lead us is more exact...but I've always wondered if God is big enough to handle our imperfect ways of seeking Him to work in us!
One comment brings up another excellent question which can be confusing:
So...what are your thoughts, then, about Luke 11:13 where Jesus is instructing His disciples about boldly asking God for what they need? His words are "how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" If all who belong to Christ have the Spirit, as Romans 8:9 tells us, then why does Jesus use this phrase "give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him"?
The only way I can make sense of this (along with the disciples of John the Baptist receiving the Spirit) is to appreciate the important nature of transitions in the Bible. Quite frankly, the Old Testament saint obviously had a different relationship to the Spirit of God. You'll remember that the Spirit left Saul and that David pleaded for the Spirit not to be removed from him (Psalm 51:11).
In the New Testament, however, Jesus gives us a new promise:
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 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.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:16-18 (NKJV)
It seems obvious that Christ is promising to send the Holy Spirit in some new sense to His own. Moreover, the Spirit here will never leave! Isn't this a transition?
We often quote Hebrews about how Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever...but this doesn't AT ALL mean He is always doing the same thing!
To me, the coolest thing of all...still...is that He is always leading; even when I'm stumbling along!
God bless,
Fred
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