HOLY SPIRIT: THE PERFECT GIFT - PART 1

MONDAY 21 MARCH 2022

Despite our complete knowledge of how wicked and perverse some children of this age and generation could be, we are often baffled by the ways great parents respond to their children when it comes to giving them good gifts. This is the same with ungodly parents. Apparently, in today's scriptural reference below, from the immediate context, Jesus addressed all men as having no good in them. By men being evil, Jesus regarded them as being polluted and defiled, as being corrupt and abominable and as bent on iniquity, yet they knew what was good for their children. Let's find out more!

Reference: Luke 11:13 New International Version (NIV) "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

This Scripture is talking about "GOOD" and "PERFECT" gift. The Bible says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17 ESV). The Holy Spirit is that perfect gift. He is beyond the greatest description of any good gift we could ever think of or imagine.

If you give good gifts to your children, it means that you're taking good care of them. Now watch this: Jesus says, "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" In other words, the Holy Spirit in our lives means that God's presence has been given to us as a perfect gift. More pointedly, by revealing the Holy Spirit in us, it denotes that God is always with us, taking good care of us, more than just exactly as humans respond nicely to their own children, although their judgment can be wrong and can harbour evil thoughts. This truth suggests that the cognitive limitations of the human mind can be as significant, an influence in distributing the best of gifts, as the limitations of evil.

Admittedly or simply put, in comparison to human beings, God's gift is always superior, on account of the designs, sacrifices, responsibilities and efforts humans make to satisfy their children's need. God always gives us His best and the best gift from God that changes everything in a man's life is the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we receive this perfect gift, we become immersed in God's love and get awakened to the actuality of our oneness with Christ. Beloved, have I ever informed or enlightened you that the Holy Spirit is the fragrance of God's love? Did you know that He makes everything smell beautiful as we get to know Him, such that we begin to approach life from the glorious angle of divine realities?

True spiritual growth and maturity in every Christian's life is as a result of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Firstly, He makes us realise that we are in inextricable union with the Godhead and He is the One that hosts and transmits our fellowship with the entities of Divinity. As we experience the governing influence of the Holy Spirit, we undergo a personal transformation and embrace the beauty of divinity. He helps us to experience the true light of God within us, and positions us to respond to others with the same light. More so, as a perfect gift, He guides us into all truth, which no human being can do for anyone.

John 16:13-14 reads, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you" (NIV). The Holy Spirit is the perfect gift that grants us access to every other good gifts. This truth is made clear in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love him - these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (NIV). This veracity cannot be testified or mentioned about any other person, aside from the Holy Spirit.

For our spiritual understanding, with this elevated vision of the Holy Spirit as a perfect gift from God, we can embrace and develop the love of Christ and care about others genuinely without any evil attachment, unlike the carnal minds, though being evil, still know how to give good gifts to their children. Through the influences of the Holy Spirit, we can become extraordinarily loving and selfless beings, committed to helping others and impacting them positively, especially with the perfect gift of sharing the Good News with them, and leading them to Christ. Stay tuned for part 2 of this wonderful topic. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Psalm 85:12; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 11:29.

Exuberant Declaration: Through my peculiar faith in the inspiration of the glorious gospel, I have received the perfect gift from God, who is the Spirit in my inward being. The Holy Spirit equips me with every good thing that empowers me to continually fulfil God's perfect will for my life. He is working in me mightily to produce the thoughts and actions which are pleasing in God's sight through Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.