Norman Warren

When you become a Christian you do not become perfect overnight. Nor does your heavenly Father leave you to huddle along as best you can. You are now a child of God and he wants you to become more like Jesus. For this reason he has given you his Spirit - The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not a vague, ghostly creature. He is a person in every respect, except of course he does not have a human body like us. He has a mind and a will. He can love and guide, protect and help. He possesses great power and authority, for he is God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing and is present everywhere.

When you felt a need for God it was the Holy Spirit prompting you. When you became a Christian it was the Holy Spirit who led you to accept Jesus.

The Holy Spirit comes into your life when you open your heart to Jesus. He is Jesus' promised gift to every Christian. Jesus himself is in heaven, but he lives and rules in the lives of his followers by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings to the Christian the calm confidence that he or she is a child of God and in his family. His special work in every Christian is to help them become more like Jesus.

He will strengthen you to overcome temptation and bad habits. You still have your old self-centred nature as well as the new nature God has now given you. It is as though a tug of war is going on inside you. The devil is tempting you to do wrong and to pull you away from God's love. The Holy Spirit is there to help you overcome wrong and stay on God's side. The Holy Spirit is far stronger than the devil and victory is always there for asking.

Only the Holy Spirit can change human nature and make a self-centred person unselfish and thoughtful. Only the Holy Spirit can give the power to control the tongue. Only the Holy Spirit can turn anger and resentment into love and compassion. He will develop in your life the character of Jesus - his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control.

He is always there to guide you in times of difficulty and uncertainty. He will help you to understand the Bible. He will help you to pray. He will lead you to discover God's will and purpose for your life. He gives gifts and abilities to enable you to serve God at home, in the church and in the world. His task is to prepare every Christian for that great day when we will see Jesus Christ face to face in our eternal, heavenly home.

The Holy Spirit works in us by means of his seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:2-3

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