Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

"They are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord."  This is what I found when I Googled "character qualities of the Holy Spirit."  Yes, I am aware of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  And those are just as true.  

And there are many more writings that you will find on the topic of the Holy Spirit.  But for now, I want to write about these.

When I talk with God, I talk with Jesus.  They are one and the same.  Jesus is God with a face on.  He came to earth as a human so that we could see God and know Him.  What a gift!  May we never take this for granted!

Some people pray to the Holy Spirit.  Since God is a Triune God, it is the same as praying to God and Jesus.

Jesus IS the Holy Spirit and vice versa.  It is not a part of who He is but who He is in total.

I still can't fully understand this but maybe I'm not supposed to.  

But I know that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter.  Jesus said so.

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." John 14:16

I can't imagine how heartbreaking it was for the disciples when Jesus went back up to heaven, leaving them physically without Him.  Jesus knew that He was not to stay on earth forever - at least not yet!  So He sent us His Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us until He comes back for us.

So once you are born again, the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus and God in Spirit form, comes to take up residence in your heart.  

So getting back to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, whenever we exhibit any form of "wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord," it is not of ourselves but of the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

I suppose the opposite is therefore true, too.  That when we are living foolishly, with no understanding, no wise counsel, we lack fortitude, just don't know what's what, are not being holy, or fearing the Lord, then we are not allowing the Holy Spirit full sway in us.

See, it is not automatic.  When the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, we can choose how much of Him we "let out," so to speak!  The Spirit does not automatically "take over."  Oh that He would!  No.  We need to cooperate with Him.

Our flesh still wants to rule and reign, ugly sight that it is.

So this is sort of our measuring rod, if you will.  Whenever I am living in wisdom and understanding given to me by the Holy Spirit, which is always in line with God's Word, then I am living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now why would I ever give that up?  Again, because my flesh is still alive and kicking!  My flesh is just plain stupid!  Yours, too!

Our flesh doesn't know what is good for us.  What is the flesh, you ask?

"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these..."   Galatians 5:19-21

Some of this list sounds pretty drastic.  But read the entire passage.  We, all of us, are in there somewhere!  Our flesh, that is.

So the battle rages on between our Spirit and our flesh.  Which one wins out is up to us.  I know.  The responsibility!  

The Spirit always "won out" in Christ.  Jesus was the only one who lived a perfect life, without sin, in total submission and obedience to His Father.

We don't "work on it" more.  We let go more.  We allow the Spirit to live in us by giving up control and, like Jesus, submitting to the Lord and obeying Him.  If it is harder for us, then that is because we are leaning more toward favoring our flesh than the Spirit!  We are without excuse!

But when we do a side-by-side comparison of the ways of the flesh and the ways of the Spirit, we see what's what.  And if we're smart, we give in to Christ, the Holy Spirit in us, in order to please Him.  Not in order to earn brownie points with God!  That is not what it is about!

Our salvation is already secure in Christ.  We cannot do anything more to "earn" His favor, love, and acceptance.  It just is.

Phew!  That in itself should goad us to always obey the Holy Spirit in us!  We are all so undeserving of God's favor and grace and yet He gives it freely!

It's important to remember that we can help ourselves in the matter by what we choose to "feed" our spirits and souls.  If we feed on the Word, we will want more of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  If we feed on what the world has to offer, our flesh is stimulated, not our Spirit.

Here's what we have to watch for:  they both feel good but in entirely different ways.  The flesh finds "instant gratification" but then that feeling wanes quickly and we're left feeling empty and bereft, unfulfilled.  So it is short-lived.  

But when we are in sync, or in step, with the Holy Spirit, we are truly free.  We feel His peace, pleasure, and Presence which are priceless and cannot be counterfeited by anything that the flesh offers us.  And it lasts.  It is not fleeting.  It is secure.  It is who we are truly meant to be, who we all were before the fall, and who we will be forever!

The flesh is not eternal, but the Spirit is.

We can win the war inside of us between the Spirit and the flesh! The Lord promises us victory over the flesh and the devil!  

I recently purchased this book about the Holy Spirit and I look forward to reading it.  Will let you know how it is!  Click here (affiliate)

Oh Lord.  The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!  Help us choose to allow Your wonderful Holy Spirit full sway in us, for it it then that we are truly satisfied and know who we are.  Do not let us fall for cheap imitations that don't last and only leave us feeling emptier.  Thank You for leaving us this precious gift of the Holy Spirit so that we are never alone.  Thank You for the gifts You give us through the Holy Spirit.  Help us use them wisely and walk in the power of Your Holy Spirit more than we do in the flesh.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.