The Holy Spirit is Jesus by Bryan Craig

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.  Romans 8:9-11

If you read my blog a few weeks ago, called “The Year of the Holy Spirit”, you know that my word for 2024 is “More”…I know it’s cheesy, “More in 24” but I actually thought of the word, “More” before I realized it rhymed nicely with 24.  And let me say that I’m not thinking about “More money, more success, more opportunity, more fun, more leisure or any of those earthly things I think about every day.  No, I am desiring “More of the Holy Spirit.” This “person, being, God” of the Trinity is often misunderstood, ignored, or maligned.  I believe He is imperative to the abiding life which we promote in Influencers.

First, let me share a bit of my history with trying to understand The Holy Spirit.  Growing up, I do not remember any mention of The Holy Spirit in church.  I may have heard the phrase, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”  So, if anything, I thought of The Holy Spirit as a ghost, a phantom, one that comes in and out of our lives, not much different than the famed ghosts who visited Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve in A Christmas Carol.  As I became a teenager, I was exposed to some churches who believed in being “slain in The Spirit” where people would go to the front of the room, and one of the leaders would place a hand on their forehead and push them backwards into the arms of a few men ready to catch them.  I also got exposed to “speaking in tongues”, where people would randomly utter a “prayer language” in my presence.  I did not know what they were saying, and it was all very confusing to me.

As a young man, I was working with some pastors, and I told them I did not believe I had the gift of “Tongues,” as I had learned it was called.  They took me into a back room and prayed over me, pushing on my diaphragm, and it was obvious that they were trying to give me the gift of tongues or squeeze it out of me.  In that moment, which was very strange and awkward, I felt like someone was clamping my tongue, forbidding me to speak.  It was as if God was telling me, “This is not it, Bryan.”  I don’t discount the fact that some people have been given the gift of a Prayer language, but I just don’t think it is for us to give the gift to each other.

I was also part of a very conservative denominational church, and I was exposed to “contemporary worship.”  They had the traditional service with hymns sung by an organ, but they also offered a different service with a band and praise music.  Keep in mind, this was the late 90’s. At this service, I saw some people raising their hands in worship, which surprised me.  Then, I went with this church to a Promise Keepers conference in Texas Stadium with 65,000 men, with all different religious denominations present, and I saw thousands of men raising their arms.  I was moved to raise my arms, which was so intimidating for me, but it felt so worshipful and freeing at the same time.  Not long after this experience, I started learning that God still heals people today, and about James 5:14-16, where it instructs those sick to seek prayers for healing and an anointing of oil. I also learned about mission trips with lay people, and I heard stories where they were serving lunch, afraid they were going to run out of food, and how it seemed like God multiplied the food just like Jesus did in the Bible.  Also, during this season of my life, I noticed that I would be in a church service or in my own quiet time with the Lord and emotions would overcome me.  I began to chalk all of these experiences up as the presence of The Holy Spirit. 

Then, I went on The Journey.  I loved how Rocky was not afraid to include The Holy Spirit in the 9-month process, and I loved how it was so rooted in Scripture.  Before The Journey, I never knew there were so many Scriptures on The Holy Spirit.  And whereas I knew about Pentecost and the outpouring of The Holy Spirit described in Acts 2, I learned that The Spirit has been around forever.  He is mentioned all through the Old Testament, going all the way to the beginning in Genesis 1:2, where it says, “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”  Just this last Christmas, I continued to marvel as I saw the Holy Spirit showing up with Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, and it says John the Baptist was filled with The Spirit in the womb. This was all before Pentecost.

But what helped me understand The Holy Spirit the most, was when I saw the reference to him as “The Spirit of Christ.”  I included the passage from Romans 8:9-11 above, but there is also 1 Peter 1:11 and Galatians 4:6.  Peter, who walked with Jesus closely, refers to The Holy Spirit as Christ.  And then there’s Paul, who first encountered Jesus, post-Cross, post-Resurrection and post-Ascension.  Jesus came to him in a bright light and said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 26:15) So, Paul only knew Him as Spirit.  In The Journey, we encourage participants to “pray to the Holy Spirit” during this segment on The Spirit, which usually gets a wide range of reactions.  But it is all intended to help our participants know The Holy Spirit, Who is Christ, Who is God.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”  And so most of us pray to the Father.  But Jesus also said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30).  And we know Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. (Romans 8:34). This tells me why it is okay to pray to Jesus, too. So we pray to “God, the Father” or “Jesus” or perhaps we just say, “Lord”…but do we realize that God also sent the Holy Spirit to help us.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  John 14:26

Furthermore, when Jesus told the disciples to “make disciples of all nations,” He said “Behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” How can He be with us if He ascended to Heaven?  It is through His Spirit.

It has been so comforting to me to know that Jesus is here in the present.  In the Scriptures, we don’t read about Jesus being in more than one place at a time, perhaps due to being in mortal flesh, but now, because He died, His Spirit can be everywhere at once.  That blows me away, but it also helps me see The Holy Spirit in a different light. 

So, the Holy Spirit is not just a mystical phantom who makes appearances every now and then, wowing us with supernatural acts and filling us with emotion.  No, He, the Spirit of Christ is within us, abiding with us, teaching us, comforting us, counseling us, protecting us, gifting us and helping us look more like Jesus.  And He does give us Gifts and do Miracles and move us to tears, too.

But I know there’s so much MORE to be discovered about my Lord, The Holy Spirit.  Here I am Lord, teach me, fill me, send me.  I love you.