THE HOLY SPIRIT
Marilyn Hickey: Who is the Holy Spirit?
CBN.com
– Marilyn reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a person who dwells in and communicates
with us. According to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is "another Comforter,"
Jesus being the first. "He is called to be with you as long as you live,"
says Marilyn. John 14:16 promises He will abide with us forever.
The Holy Spirit can come into our lives like a sweet, gentle breeze. Then
again, sometimes He comes in like a rushing mighty gale like when the disciples
were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Marilyn says when she was younger, the
Holy Spirit began moving on her once she became born again. "At first,
I didn’t sense Him," says Marilyn. "He didn’t blow me
down. He just blew gently, giving me a hunger to pray and read the Bible."
One night, while standing in a meeting and praising the Lord, Marilyn had
an unusual encounter with the Holy Spirit. She began to rock back and forth
almost involuntarily. It was gentle and sweet, but she thought, God, what
is this? This is strange to me! God answered, That’s the Holy
Spirit, and I want to show you that I blow you where I want you to go. Just
stay sweet in me.
The Manifest Presence of God
Marilyn says that God wants to bring Holy Spirit revival to the body of Christ,
but it takes preparation on our part. "God thinks the process of preparation
is just as important as the finished product," she says. "If we
can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us the way He wants to work, then He
can produce what He wants in us."
We need the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives–at
home, church, school, on the job, and in our families. We need to be able
to touch Him and know Him in a personal way. "Learn to live in an atmosphere
of praise," says Marilyn, "because, according to Psalm 22:3, God inhabits
the praise of His people."
Once when Marilyn came home from an overseas trip and was on her way to Texas,
she had an unusual awareness of the Lord’s presence. She was adjusting
to a 16-hour time change and jet lag, but it was as though her body didn’t
need any sleep for four days. "I felt as if I were living in a capsule
of the presence of God," she says. Wonderful things began happening in
her meetings. People were being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. By
the second day, Marilyn knew something was cooking. She began teaching on
the Psalms and people began crying. When the altar call was over and the service
dismissed, no one left. People stayed and basked in the presence of God. Several
people reported that they had visions of what God was doing in their lives.
On the second night, Marilyn continued in the Psalms. All at once, people
on one side of the church began fanning themselves, and soon they started
laughing. She thought, What’s so funny? Then a man fell into the
aisle, and at that point, her teaching was over. People in the back started
laughing in the Spirit and the entire front row fell on the floor, drunk in
the Spirit. "That was the manifest presence of God," says Marilyn.
"Sometimes we desperately need visitations, because our problems can
be so tremendous. But when you begin to experience God’s presence, it
changes you and you won’t ever be the same."
Marilyn says it is important to cultivate God’s presence through the
Holy Spirit: First, because in His presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm
16:11). Second, God’s presence identifies sin. (Genesis 3:8 says Adam
and Eve heard the voice of God and hid because they sinned.) Third, the manifest
presence of God turns back our enemies (Psalm 9:3). Fourth, when we have God’s
presence, we have rest (Exodus 33:14). Fifth, we are saved from affliction
in the presence of God (Isaiah 63:9). Sixth, His presence is what we will
experience for eternity (Jude 24 and 25).
More on The Holy Spirit on Spiritual Life
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