The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Life of a Believer

In the reading of the Gospels, we are brought face to face with the deep & rich wisdom of Christ which is hidden in the parables He spoke. He shared many parables with His people, albeit He understands that parables cannot be understood with our natural minds. And so He uses parables to convey hidden messages, but He also needs us to understand the meanings of His word; therefore He gave us the Holy Spirit who to unveil to us the meanings and application of His deep words to those who seek to understand. Just as scriptures say about Christ, in Him dwells all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (See Colossians 1:3).

In His departure address to His followers in the Gospel of John (just before His betrayal and arrest), He gathers His disciples around Him and tells them – for the first time – about the Holy Spirit and what He will do in the life of His people. He assures His disciples (which of course, are you and me) that the Holy Spirit will be a sufficient Helper for them as He will take the place of Jesus and be to them (the disciples) exactly what Jesus was in His physical form. He will stand with them all through life and never forsake them at any time. A wonderful verse in the Gospel of John says:

But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you. – John 14:26 AMP

The Holy Spirit is unlimited and has quite a lot of roles to play in the life of Christians, but one of the amazing things the disciples never thought of was that Jesus in His physical form could be arrested and crucified, but the Holy Spirit who is invisible (and yet as real as the physical Jesus) could not be arrested since He doesn’t have a physical body; also, the Holy Spirit could divide Himself and be in different places at the same time. He proved this when he came upon the 120 disciples at the upper room:

There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit]. – Acts 2:3 AMP.

Isn’t it amazing to know that while Jesus could only be in one place at a time (limited by His mortal body), the Holy Spirit could come upon and manifest Himself to an unlimited number of people at the same time? I personally believe that if the upper room was a stadium that could contain billions of people, the Holy Spirit would still be [more than] able to fill them all – each person receiving the fullness of Him. He is such a blessing that Jesus has left His church with; He provides guidance, revelation and empowerment to fulfill our destinies and ministries. He thwarts & frustrates the plans of the devil against us and gives us the power to live above sin. He brings life to every dead area of our lives and lights up every form of darkness that threatens our joy and peace. As a matter of fact, the Church would be a secular organization and believers ordinary people but for the presence of the Holy Spirit with and in us!