Follow the Wind: When the Holy Spirit Takes Charge

 

In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is God's divine force, quality, and influence over the universe and his creation. The Nicene Creed recognizes the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Baha’i Faith, the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and "the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation." Each faith has its own unique interpretation of His role and purpose. 

In like manner, the subject of the Holy Spirit is a highly controversial subject within Christianity. Some segments emphasize the signs and wonders that come from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life, including the outward signs of speaking in tongues and their interpretation. They also recognize the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” as a separate event from the Holy Spirit baptizing each believer into the Body of Christ at salvation. This separate baptism is understood as the empowering by the Holy Spirit for service. Much of mainstream Christianity acknowledges only one baptism with many "fillings of the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) as a byproduct of a daily walk with God by His Spirit.

Surrender

Much of mainline denominationalism perceives the Holy Spirit in a very limited role, not seeing Him as the avenue into the deeper spiritual life. They see the Holy Spirit as synonymous with the Word of God as its inspiration but do not accept His larger role as the true source of the spiritual life. That which is born of the flesh (human effort) is flesh (wood, hay, or straw – 1 Corinthians 3:12), that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (spiritual). Steve Green, an anointed Christian songwriter and singer, wrote a song entitled “Enter In.” The words are profound:

Enter in, enter in, surrender to the Spirit's call to die, and enter in

Enter in, find peace within; the holy life awaits you; enter in.

 

The conflict still continues raging deep within my soul

My spirit wars against my flesh in a struggle for control

My only hope is full surrender, so with each borrowed breath

I inhale the Spirit's will for me to die a deeper death

The Holy Spirit takes each believer to a place beyond himself, where the spiritual life is not only in focus but attainable on the other side of the cross, where, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31, I die daily. On the other side of dying to personal interests and desires is a quality of life by the Holy Spirit that gives the believer complete victory over all his enemies, including sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:57). Jesus won the victory, and the Holy Spirit applies that victory. This book explains the many ways that the Holy Spirit works in the believer’s life to experience a victorious life. 

Moved by the Spirit

For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved [phero – moved, incited] by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.                     2 Peter 1:21 

The history of man is the story of God speaking to man. And the Holy Spirit has spoken to men moved and incited by God, who have learned to hear His voice. A critical part of spiritual maturity is developing the ability to listen to the voice of God. Without it, the believer becomes part of the herd, following others who are following others. The uniqueness of each relationship with God requires the Christian to hear the gentle whisper (still small voice – 1 Kings 19:12) as He leads, directs, guides, teaches, encourages, corrects, and convicts each one who desires to know God intimately. This ability does not happen by accident but begins with the believer recognizing that hearing the quietness of His whispers is the byproduct of knowing one's identity as a child of God. In Psalm 46:10, "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! “

The Good Shepherd

The believer's ability to be led by God is directly related to his ability to hear and respond to the voice of God. According to John 10, the shepherd speaks, and the sheep recognize the voice. It is the voice of the Good Shepherd by the Holy Spirit, speaking to each believer and through the pastor with the heart of God (Jeremiah 3:15), feeding the people of God on knowledge and understanding. As Elijah arrived at Mount Horeb, the same area Moses had heard from God on Mount Sinai many years earlier, Scriptures reveal in 1 Kings 19:11-12 that God would not speak with him through wind, an earthquake, or a fire (the signs of God’s judgment), but the sound of a gentle whisper (still small voice in KJV). He was teaching the people of God that He will speak in quiet whispers and not an audible voice that all can hear. God wishes His people to develop an ability to hear His voice as He speaks in the quietness of the details of life and not by the fire and brimstone through which He had been known. 

To hear the voice of the Good Shepherd by the Spirit, the believer must recognize His authority just as the sheep acknowledge the shepherd's authority. The shepherd has demonstrated His willingness to lay His life down for the sheep and, therefore, can be trusted in everything. His voice is reliable and can fulfill every promise He makes. In Psalm 29:4-5, "The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.” The new covenant believer learns to trust His voice since He always speaks the truth and wishes to lead the flock in safe places.

Born of the Spirit

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.                John 3:8

The word translated as Spirit in the above verse is pneuma, the Greek word that is also translated as wind or breath. Throughout the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is symbolized by wind and the breath of God (Genesis 2:7). Jesus confirms the same relationship in the above verse by comparing the believer's relationship to the Holy Spirit as wind blowing. Just like the wind, the believer is not given any upfront idea of the Spirit’s will and where He is going. He is both invisible and mysterious. These two passages from Job illustrate the point:

As long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.                          Job 27:3-4

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.              Job 33:4

A Strong East Wind

One notable instance of the East Wind's significance is found in the story of the Exodus. When the Israelites were trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptian army, God sent a strong east wind to part the waters, allowing the Israelites to escape safely. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided (Exodus 14:21). This event not only demonstrated God's power over nature but also served as a testament to the Israelites' faith in His deliverance. Psalm 78 is one of the Psalms of Asaph and references the winds of the Holy Spirit:

He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and He directed the south wind by His power.

           Psalm 78:26

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not arouse all His wrath. Thus, He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.                             Psalm 78:38-39

The Rebirth of Israel

“Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath [ruach – spirit, wind, breath] to enter you that you may come to life. ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’” So, I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise and suddenly a rattling and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over, but there was no breath in them. Also, He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'" So, I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' Therefore, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord.'"                  Ezekiel 37:5-14 

The above prophesy given to Ezekiel is commonly understood to speak of the rebirth of Israel, fulfilled on May 14, 1948. They were able to resurrect in their own promised land. Israel had not been its sovereign nation since 586 BC, some 2,534 years having been under the authority of foreign nations. God allowed it to happen to His people to reveal their need for a Messiah, a Savior, and Deliverer, who would open the door for a new life in the Spirit. This was not possible through the Torah and the Law of Moses. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4). 

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.                 Ephesians 2:1-10 

The Apostle Paul understood the new covenant like no other believer. He realized that the culmination of his relationship with God as a Pharisee was to be a redeemed Jew through the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit. Both Jews and Gentiles have the same opportunity to experience life in the Spirit. Just as God promised Jews to return to their physical promised land, He offers a spiritual revival through the offering of Jesus at Calvary and his resurrection from the dead. The Holy Spirit transforms lives, one at a time, as each surrenders himself to the authority of God by His Spirit. 

Doers of the Word

"Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."               Luke 6:46-49 

Once the believer hears God's voice, it becomes necessary for him to act on that voice. Jesus's brother, James, warns us that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). The very foundation of faith is a willingness to act, to do what God has commanded. In James 1:22-24, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” The confidence the believer has in his own faith in who Jesus is and what He accomplished is directly related to his conviction to act on what he has heard. The believer walks in His works. 

He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers. Psalm 104:3-4