ou can receive the Holy Spirit!  God wants to give you the power.  Jesus taught, "I say to you: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for Him!" (Luke 11:9-13)

rust God, for He loves you, and He will give you what you need to become holy.  Ask Him for the Holy Spirit, and He will gladly give you what you ask for.  How can you know if you have the Spirit of God?

Dear friends do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (I John 4:1-3)

I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (I Cor. 12:3)

If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9)

You are controlled not by your sinful human nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9)

You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit who makes you sons. And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. (Romans 8:15-16)

f you want the Spirit of God, you must confess that Jesus is Lord--that He is your master who can rightfully tell you what to do, and you will do it.  If you want God as your Father, you must become one with His Son, and with the will of His Son.  And if you acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord, that is your proof that you have received the Spirit.

he most important personal power that the Holy Spirit gives you is the power to be holy.  He gives you the power to be a true child of God.  If you want to be holy, you now can be.  Of course, if you do not want to be, you can avoid it.  You can fail to use the power of the Holy Spirit.  But if you really acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and want to be a child of God, why would you want to fail to use the Holy Spirit's power?

By faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.... You were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire Law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ... So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of your sinful nature.... The fruit of the Spirit is

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self-control.

... Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:5,13,16,22-23,25)

child of God wants to be like the Father. Beware of grieving the Spirit, or even of quenching the Spirit.

ot only will you be able to live as you want to by the power of God's Spirit, you will receive the power to display the might of God to others--not only by your life but also by the miraculous gifts of the Spirit.  The types of gifts that the Holy Spirit gives are discussed in I Corinthians 12 and in other places.  What gift the Spirit will give you is up to Him, and when He gives it to you is up to Him.  But you must seek the gifts of the Spirit.  You are especially told to seek the gift of prophesy.  (I Cor. 14:1)  Just as the disciples did before Pentecost, you must pray for the power of the Spirit to fall upon you, and wait for the Spirit to anoint you.  The gifts of the Spirit are not for your pride and fame, but for the sake of building up the Kingdom of God.  The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to help us remember what Jesus taught us (John 14:26) and to speak out the truth boldly (Luke 12:12; Acts 1:8;4:31).

he gift of first importance that the Holy Spirit gives to the community of believers is the gift of apostleship (I Cor. 12:28).  And through the first apostles He gave us His most important gift: the Holy Scriptures.

his is a painting of Peter and Paul by El Greco. Unfortunately, he left out John (my personal favorite).  Peter, Paul, and John are the apostles who, by themselves or by inspiring close associates, are responsible for writing most of the New Testament--i.e., the Holy Scriptures for all who are led by the Holy Spirit.

he images used to picture the Holy Spirit are most interesting. Because He is the greatest power in creation, He is naturally pictured in terms of the four ancient elementals: earth, air, fire, and water. He is spoken of as rushing water (John 7:37-39), as a mighty wind (John 3:8 and Acts 2:2-2), as bright, flickering fire (Acts 2:3 and Matt. 3:11 and Revelation 4:5), and as an earthquake (Acts 4:31).

ut the most popular image is that of a gentle dove, in which form He appeared when Jesus was baptized (John 1:32; Matt. 3:16).  Naturally enough, the most prominent image of the dove in the Old Testament has been incorporated into the image of the Spirit.  The most famous dove in the Old Testament was the one that Noah sent out to see if the land was dry after the Flood, and when the dove came back with an olive branch in its beak, Noah knew that the wrath of God had passed and the world was once again at peace. (Genesis 8:1-12)  God promised Noah to never again destroy the world with water, and put a rainbow in the sky as the sign of His promise. (Gen. 9:11-13)

Pentecost Sunday is also called Whitsunday (White Sunday), because of the white garments of those who were baptized in water on that day.  In Mediterranean lands people were baptized on Easter, but in the colder northern climes they waited until Pentecost.  When better to be baptized in water than on the day that recalls the Church being baptized by the Spirit?

May the God of hope fill you with great joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

-- Romans 15:13

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Music on these two pages is by Enya, creator of the most spiritual music I have ever heard (Memory of the Trees on page one and Orinoco Flow on this page). If the music stops and you want to hear it again, reload the page, and keep reading.