Growing up unchurched, I knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. Even now being a minister among college students in the United States for 10 years, I have noticed that many of those who grew up going to church have little understanding of the Holy Spirit nor a real encounter with Him as a Person.
In my early walk with God, I spent time reading the books written by an American evangelist in the late 1800s, R. A. Torrey. He taught me that the Holy Spirit ought to be recognized as a Person rather than mere force or influence. This was a profound teaching to me. Torrey said, “If we think of the Holy Spirit as so many do as merely a power or influence, our constant thought will be, “How can I get more of the Holy Spirit,” but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a Divine Person, our thought will rather be, “How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?”
Do you want more of the Holy Spirit in your life, or do you want HIM to have you more? Christianity is often described as the relationship with God rather than a mere religion. If we believe and proclaim so, then, we must see the Holy Spirit as a Divine Person just like we see God of the Bible as Father and Son and develop the intimate relationship in and with God the Holy Spirit.
When He truly gets hold of all of you, you will know and experience all the works that the Holy Spirit desires to do like guiding you to all the truth (John 16:13), interceding for you (Romans 8:26), sanctifying (1 Corinthians 6:11), transforming your character (Galatians 5:22-23), empowering you to be a witness for Jesus (Acts 1:8), and so on. Before we seek the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in us, we must recognize Him as a Divine Person and desire to develop an intimate relationship with Him. Then, as a byproduct of being intimate with the Holy Spirit, you will receive everything that He has and does for you.
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Resource: The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit by R.A. Torrey
