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DO YOU HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?

  • Writer: Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
    Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
  • Dec 17, 2022
  • 4 min read

 

Today’s Readings:

Ephesians 1:15-23; Psalm 8:2-7; Luke 12:8-12

 


Do you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit? I am sure that you are thinking that a relationship with the Holy Spirit is different from a relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. And no, because the Holy Spirit is God. So, if you have a relationship with God, you necessarily have a relationship with the Holy Spirit.


For most of us, a relationship with God seems like something that is very far away. It looks like something that is not very practical. When people ask me, “Father, how do I develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit?” The very first thing I say is, “Acknowledge the reality of God”. Some years ago, in this country, we all made fun of the First Lady when she said, “There is God o!” But that is very important. It is, in fact, the foundation of a relationship with God – to acknowledge the reality of God. This is the beginning of the rise or downfall of every Christian believer. We must acknowledge that God dwells in me, with me and He is always there for me. And the absence of that recognition and realization is the reason for the presence of sin and evil in a person’s life. You claim that God is present in you, but if your actions contradict what you say, is to live a lie.


I am not saying that we are not going to struggle with sin. I am saying that if you have a fundamental understanding that God is in you, and that you have a relationship with Him, the struggle with sin will not linger for a long time because you will constantly look for an opportunity to be reconciled to God. So many times, you hear people out there say, “This person claims that they go to Church but they are not living the kind of life expected of a Christian”. To be a Christian and your life does not bear testimony or witness to Christ is TO LIVE A LIE. This is why Jesus begins today’s Gospel by saying: “If anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of the angels” (Luke 12:8, 9). If your life embodies Christ’s teachings (especially the commandment to love God and your neighbour), He will say to the Father, “dis one dey follow me”. To bear testimony to Christ is to walk in the Spirit.


What does it mean to walk with the Spirit?

  • It is to be aware that you are a child of God and that you are going somewhere. Not to have a relationship with the Spirit is to DESPAIR OF SALVATION (a sin against the Holy Spirit). Despair says, “I cannot make heaven because the struggle is too much”. To condemn yourself in this way is to be a coward, a “fear, fear”.

  • The second sign that you are walking with the Spirit is that you strive after perfection every day. The Scriptures encourage us to “work out our salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). It is a daily struggle. You are going to struggle with it as a single person, as a married person and as a consecrated person.

  • Temptations and trials will come your way. Things are going to come that will shake you. But you are never to give up because God is walking with you. Not to do is to PRESUME GOD’S SALVATION (PRESUMPTION is another sin against the Holy Spirit). Presumption says, “God will always forgive me”. Don’t do that. You don’t know the day or hour when God will call you to Himself.

  • The third sign is that you continually follow the teachings of the Church on every ground. What we find today is that we contradict the teachings of the Church and set it aside in favour of our selfish ideas. It is a sin against the Holy Spirit to RESIST THE KNOWN TRUTH.

  • If you are living in communion with the Holy Spirit, you do not ENVY A PERSON’S SPIRITUAL GIFTS. When you envy another’s gift, you are saying that God does not love or care for you and this is not true. Rejoice with those whom God has blessed because it is a sign that God is close to you. He is in your neighbourhood. Celebrate others when God blesses them.

  • A sign that you are keeping close to the Holy Spirit is that you try to reconcile with God in the sacrament of Penance. Come to God and say, “Lord, I have sinned. I have hurt you and others. I am sorry”. The opposite of this is to be OBSTINATE IN SIN. This is not God’s will for you. Flee from the occasions of sin.

  • Finally, it is the way that you live your life that you are most likely to end it. Because your character determines your destiny. Watch what you do, it is determining where you are going to. If you keep close to the Spirit, you will always remember that you are going somewhere, you are going to heaven. And you walk towards it. The opposite is FINAL IMPENITENCE. It means that you are preparing yourself for failure.

REFLECTION: WHAT ARE THE SIX SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?

JUDE-MARY OWOH


 

Prayer:

  1. Lord God, open the eyes of my heart, to see the Holy Spirit dwelling in the inside of me, in Jesus’ name.

  2. Father, daily reveal to me Your loving will and divine favour, in Jesus’ name.

  3. Father, may Your grace abound in my life always, through Christ our Lord. Amen.


 
 
 

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