Midweek Message from the Archive
The Holy Spirit: Part Five
People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold. Job 28:1 NLT
Sometimes I feel like that; I dig and dig and eventually the Spirit leads me to the nuggets within the gold mine of scripture. Today’s nugget is simple: God is good. Not flippantly, an empty phrase, or litany but, He is inherently good.
You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. Nehemiah 9:20 NLT
The Holy Spirit has the innate attribute of goodness: it’s His nature. It’s vitally important that we understand His goodness because He lives in our hearts and any good we have or do comes from Him. So what exactly is goodness?
The Father cares about you; let that sink in. Your happiness and welfare was so important to Him that He sent His Son and then the Spirit to live in your heart and help you reach your full potential in Him. He cares when you’re hurting, when you’re experiencing pleasure, and when your life is just OK.
Over the past few weeks we’ve dug out many nuggets of the Spirit but all stem from His goodness; that’s absolutely necessary to understand. The Spirit is beneficent; He directs kindness toward you with distinct benefits as you are filled with the Spirit:
- Help (Rom. 8:26)
- Guidance (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18)
- Empowerment (Acts 2:8; 1 Cor. 12:11)
- Intercession (Rom. 8:26-27)
- Revelation (1 Cor. 2:10)
- Understanding (1 Cor. 2:12)
- Freedom (2 Cor. 3:17)
- Supply (Gal. 3:5)
- Access to the Father (Eph. 2:18)
- Unity (Eph. 4:3)
- Fellowship (Phil. 2:1)
- Love (Col. 1:8)
- Sets us apart (Rom. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:13)
- Communicates (Acts 8:29; 1 Tim. 4:1)
- Prevents (Acts 16:6-7)
- Confirms (Rom. 8:16-17)
- Gives life (Rom. 8:10)
- Indwells (1 John 3:24)
- Manifests Himself (1 Cor. 12:7)
That was just a sample; there are many more benefits to the good Spirit but the point is clear. The Spirit is good, we need to remember that, and His goodness provokes goodness in us. Without the good Spirit dwelling in us we cannot do good because our nature is evil (Luke 11:13): He makes us good (Acts 11:24). Feel free to call upon the Spirit of Goodness when you need to show grace and love toward the unlovable; its fruit that grows from within you and His supply is never depleted (Gal. 5:22). I’m praying alongside Paul:
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV
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