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Holy Spirit - Shhhh!


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There are times when I sense a strong presence of the Holy Spirit. During personal worship, corporate worship, Bible study, private prayer, witnessing, fellowship times (before/after services and here at OB too). There are other times when I'm just taking in the wonder of God's creation and recall scripture and know the Spirit is there with me; I just have to say thank you Lord.

I know we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in concert between us many times. We Baptists don't share acknowledging the Holy Spirit's presence among and with each other as much as we maybe should. I know I'm guilty of not saying I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit during gatherings when I feel His presence. Sometimes I think, why say something, everyone here has this same knowledge of His presence.

Is there anything wrong with saying, "I know and sense the presence of the Holy Spirit?" Or, is there anything wrong with saying, "I feel the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit among us?"

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The comments so far seem to lean toward the impersonal, I could be wrong. It brings to mind a scripture…

Matthew 16:15 "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?"

Possibly we (me to) distance ourselves from the Holy Spirit because of a perception about the “Charismatic and Pentecostal” Church?

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Distance & impersonal, I think not, yet keep it in its proper perceptive.

Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Which some do not, & they seem to think the only time the Holy Sprite is present is when the congregation, & or a portion of the congregation is acting like a bunch of drunks, instead of spirit filled Christians.

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There are times when I sense a strong presence of the Holy Spirit. During personal worship, corporate worship, Bible study, private prayer, witnessing, fellowship times (before/after services and here at OB too). There are other times when I'm just taking in the wonder of God's creation and recall scripture and know the Spirit is there with me; I just have to say thank you Lord.

I know we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in concert between us many times. We Baptists don't share acknowledging the Holy Spirit's presence among and with each other as much as we maybe should. I know I'm guilty of not saying I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit during gatherings when I feel His presence. Sometimes I think, why say something, everyone here has this same knowledge of His presence.

Is there anything wrong with saying, "I know and sense the presence of the Holy Spirit?" Or, is there anything wrong with saying, "I feel the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit among us?"


Matthew 18:
20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Like you, there are many times when I have to say Thank you, Lord! in the same situations you gave in your opening paragraph. Some time ago, I adopted the words "aware" and "awareness" to help describe His presence in my life, in my being. And, as John81 said "What could be wrong with acknowledging the Holy Spirit?".

I suppose the real question is how do we acknowledge His presence when we are with a group of people in a way that's pleasing to God? Especially, when considering the larger the group, even in a worship service, the more likely there will be some who haven't truely received the Holy Spirit into their hearts.

In my humble opinion......

First and foremost, our daily lives should reflect His presence in us, individually. That gives us credibility when we express our awareness of Him in any setting. And, especially when unsaved are possibly in the gathered group of people and are watching us.

IMHO, shedding a tear can be a much more powerful witness to His presence than a shout that raises the rafters of the church. As can a quiet, soft spoken, prayer that includes a reference to Matthew 18:20 while giving thanks and praise to our Lord. That's just two of the ways, that come to mind, as I type, of how we can acknowledge His presence during a church service.

It's not whether we should testify to His presence in our being, but how should we convey our awareness of Him to others.
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Matthew 18:
It's not whether we should testify to His presence in our being, but how should we convey our awareness of Him to others.


Yes, crying would be a form of praise, joyful crying can and is done. There are other ways to praise God the Holy Spirit, reverence, thanking Him, publicly and privately. I don't see running around the church and blabbering like a blooming idiot as a form of praise...just adds to confusion. But, when we learn something new from the word or understand a doctrine clearly, things obviously stated by Jesus that would occur; then, a sincere thank you Holy Spirit is a correct response.


Jerry,
"Distance & impersonal, I think not, yet keep it in its proper perceptive."


I suppose impersonal is strong. However, the distancing I suggested was from being thankful and praising, suppressing our gratitude because of the appearance of those folks who as you say..."acting like a bunch of drunks" God forbid we ever cause confusion like that. Many of us however have taken it to the other extreme because of activities just like that. We don't say, "Thank you Holy Spirit." We ask him to help us understand in our prayer, to indwell us when we go to witness. I seldom have heard, of late at least, someone say, "Thank you Holy Spirit for giving me the understanding or the power." That's what, in part He came to do.
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Yesterday I had a very enlightening and precious moment with the Spirit and I thanked Jesus for sending His Spirit and all the blessings that flow from having the Holy Spirit with me.

Most often for myself, I'm most aware of the Spirit's influence and closeness with me when I'm alone with the Lord. That's not to say I never feel the Spirit or sense Him with me at other times, but the most intense and the closest moments tend to be when I'm in my prayer closet.

That said, I've been in church services where I've noticed the Holy Spirit moving in a special way, I've been worshiping the Lord and felt the Holy Spirit in a powerful way, I've been listening to a preacher and could tell when the Holy Spirit really started speaking through him.

I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit and would hate to even contemplate going through this life without Him. Yet as Scripture says, all the Holy Spirit does is to point us to Christ and He never seeks to exalt Himself. We are never told in Scripture to specifically address the Holy Spirit, but it's clear we are to give the Holy Spirit all due honour, respect and reverence as a full member of the Godhead.

The best way we could honour the Holy Spirit and show our appreciation, would be to yield to the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit.

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