The Holy Spirit is living, moving, and is part of every moment in our lives. It’s through Holy Spirit that we are able to be empowered and emboldened to fulfill the purpose God has for us. Living a Holy Spirit life is the most exciting and thrilling thing we can do in this life and when we follow the Holy Spirit, life change happens. Over the past years of pursuing life with Holy Spirit, I’ve learned how to have a live and active relationship with the Father and my hope is that through the next few minutes of reading this blog, you will be encouraged and empowered to live a life in Holy Spirit. And by the way, you might notice that sometimes I refer to the Holy Spirit, just as Holy Spirit. I do this because it feels more personal to me. 

1. Learn who Holy Spirit is.

 Luke 12:12, “For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

The Holy Spirit is mentioned 264 times in the New Testament. WOAH. That means that we don’t just need to learn about Holy Spirit from experience, but we can really gain an understanding of who He is by reading about all he has already done. But you don’t need to stop there. If you are meeting someone new, the best way to get to know them is to ask them questions about who they are. In the same way, pray and ask Holy Spirit to show Himself to you. For me, I hear God’s voice in the midst of worship, and that’s one of my favorite times to talk to Holy Spirit. I usually ask him, “Holy Spirit, what’s going on right now?” and wait for Him to tell me.

2. Invite Holy Spirit into your life.

Galatians 5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

How many times have you heard, “Come, Holy Spirit!” or “We invite the Holy Spirit to fill this place”?  When I first was exploring the Holy Spirit, I was confused by these expressions because I thought that we already had the Holy Spirit inside of us, so why do we need to invite him? It’s true, the Holy Spirit is already with us, but when we invite the Holy Spirit into a situation or a worship service, we are inviting Him to move in power. When we invite the Holy Spirit, we are giving Him permission to do what he does best - change our lives. God wants to move in power, and so to make this practical, before I start my Bible time or a worship service, I always invite the Holy Spirit to move - I don’t just want him to be with us, I want to see him to MOVE.

3. Talk to Holy Spirit directly. 

John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

In the midst of praying, people typically address Father God, but not Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit lives with us and is in us - He is alive and active in our everyday life and so when we don’t address Him, we are missing an important part of our prayer life. Holy Spirit is ready to talk to you about everything and anything. One of my favorite things about Holy Spirit is that even when he isn’t talking, he is still saying something. If you don’t think he is  talking, go back to the last thing he said and ask "what did I miss?" But what if you’ve never heard the Holy Spirit?

If you have never heard the voice of God, I suggest you take one of our Vineyard FIT: Faith in Training workshops, How to Hear from God. The next one we have is on March 15, 2018, and if you would like to sign up for it click here (if you are reading this after the March 15, click here to see a list of all of our Vineyard FIT: Faith in Training classes and workshops).

4. Rest in the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26, “But the Comforter, 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.”

When you are actively living a life in the Holy Spirit, you can expect really cool “Holy Spirit Moments” to happen at every hour of every day. Now, we know that the Holy Spirit is always on the move, but one thing to remember is that there is no performance in the Presence. When we are in the Presence of the Holy Spirit, we do not need to perform and impress our Father. All we have to do is wait for Him to move and let Him move. We can just rest in who He is with no expectations. That’s the kind of love the Father has for us, and that’s the kind of love I want to have with the Father.

The more I learned about Holy Spirit, the harder it became to just sit at home in my comfy chair, in my comfy house, and smile at my Bible - and to not do anything about it. I became discontent with the life I was living before understanding my need for Holy Spirit. Instead, I had to get up and live an empowered life with Holy Spirit. Now it’s your turn!! Go and be empowered in Holy Spirit!!

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 Warren Wong

Anna Earl is the Assistant Director of Communications. In this role, she leads the Photography and Videography teams as well as manage Vineyard’s social presence which includes the website and social media. Anna also is a Student Group leader and is on the worship team. She is also married to the amazing Nate Earl and together they live in South Bend.

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