An Encounter With The Holy Spirit

By LOUIS ADJEI DANSO

AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

One of the most misunderstood persons of the trinity is the Holy Spirit, many Christians don't have a proper understanding of who He is and how to engage Him, In this book I explain the basics of who He is and how we are able to live a fulfilled life through the leading of the Holy Spirit only if we are able to have an intimate fellowship with Him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LOUIS ADJEI DANSO
• Release date: Mar 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393638872

Book preview

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my beloved Mrs Adelaide Adutwumwaah for inspiring and challenging me to write this book.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank Ama Berkoh for designing the front cover artwork.

I want to thank Apostle Sylvester Arhin for his mentorship and guidance in completion of this book.

I also want to thank Pastor Emmanuel Sekyere-Marfo of the church of Pentecost Australia.

I also want to thank Osei-Poku Junior and everyone who helped in making this book a success.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this book is to help believers in their understanding of the Holy Spirit and urge them desire to know Him personally. This would allow them to clear any misconceptions about who the Holy Spirit is, what happens when you receive Him and how to receive Him.

The book further explains what happens when one receives the Holy Spirit and how to have a continual fellowship with Him. Before we proceed to study about Knowing the Holy spirit let us take a moment and say this prayer and ponder over the words carefully.

Come Holy Spirit, come and reveal yourself to me today.

I want to know more than I have ever known about you.

Change my life as I seek to learn more about you.

Teach me more about you throughout my study.

Reveal yourself to me through your names and titles.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit I pray Amen.

Introduction

AS CHRISTIANS WE BELIEVE that God eternally exist as three persons, Father, Son and Holy spirit. However, the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood Person of the God head. As a result of this most churches today lack the tangible presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit played an important role in the life and ministry of the early church therefore, it is impossible to understand the explosive growth of the church without understanding the important role of the Holy Spirit.

We have limited the power of the Holy Spirit today due to our indifference and limited knowledge of him. Prior to the writing of this book, I discovered that whenever I had a discussion with other believers especially the youth about who the Holy Spirit is, the topic of speaking in tongues and the manifestation of the gifting of the Holy Spirit was dominant. I believe that while speaking in tongues is good for our spiritual growth it is not all there is to know about the Holy Spirit. I desired then to know more about Him and began searching through the scriptures to know him personally.

The Holy Spirit plays an important role in our lives in regards to our salvation, Christian faith and the general spread of the gospel. Without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for individuals or the church to experience and truly know Jesus as he reveals him to us. Jesus Himself promised us one who would teach us all truths.

After a careful study of the book of Acts there are three attributes that made the early church as Luke describes it in the book of Acts experience the Holy Spirit therefore, instead of waiting for a divine moment when the Spirit will fall upon you, develop an attitude to have a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit by observing what the early did.

●  They spent ample time studying the word of God.

●  They were generous and donated to the needy

●  They fasted, worshiped and prayed.

Chapter 1

Who Is The Holy Spirit?

THE WORD OF GOD IS not a matter of opinion, while the application of the word of God may vary based on our present condition and cultural setting, the interpretation of the word of God is always the same, therefore I want to start by emphasizing that while there may be a lot of misconceptions about the Holy Spirit and a lot of teaching about Him I pray that as you search the scriptures and go through this book you are able to know more of Him and have a personal encounter with Him.

As we go through the creation narrative it is immediately evident the power and the significance of the Holy Spirit and His role. God spoke and the Spirit carried out the words of the Father. After God had created everything he said, "let us make man in our own image". God then created man out of dust, but he breathed His Spirit into man and man became a living soul. Man, then became the image of God. God is made up of three persons, Father, Son and Spirit so also is man-made of two part as many refer to as dichotomy body and spirit.  Genesis 2:7And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living thing

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26

God is Spirit, and He created man in His own image. This means all human beings are first and foremost spirits, not bodies.  On the inside of every living human body there is a human spirit.  That is the real person, the one created in the image of God and He reveals Himself to those whose Spirits are quickened in Him and are connected to Him. The natural man cannot receive the things of God unless His Spirit is in them and they are connected to Him.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit and therefore it is by the spirit of man that God communicates with him or her.  God does not communicate with humans through their souls because He does not live in the realm of the soul. God does not communicate with humans through their bodies because He does not live in the physical realm.  God is Spirit, and He lives in the spirit realm.  Therefore, He communicates with humans through their spirits.

From the Genesis narrative God instructed Adam that the day he eats of the tree of good and evil they would die, what they lost or the death was the ability to have an intimate fellowship with God directly. When they sinned and were driven out of the Garden by God the Spirit of God and the presence of God was no longer with them. They became what we call spiritually dead meaning they could not communicate physically with the God as they did in the garden; they could no longer hear the voice of God nor have a continual fellowship with Him.

God sent His only begotten Son to come and die on the cross to restore us to the eternal glory of the Father. Jesus came and when He was leaving, he left us with the Holy Spirit that is now indwelling in man. The indwelling of the Spirit enables Him to guide, teach correct and comfort us. John 20:21-22 "Then the Lord said unto them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive Ye the Holy Ghost".

The Holy Spirit is often perceived as a separate person of the triune God. We say and believe that God is the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit but we do not associate the same power of God the Father and God the Son to God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not less significant in the God head because he comes third, neither is the attributes and nature of God less in him they are all equal in essence. Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily

The Holy Spirit is God equal to Jesus therefore everything Jesus is in flesh so also is the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17 referring to the King James Version it reads Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Here we learn that the Lord is that Spirit, making us aware that the Holy Spirit is also Lord. The Holy Spirit is God and has the same attributes as God the Father and God the Son. They work together for the common good of a believer.

On the contrary in our era the Spirit of God is much more quickly evident than the second person of the Godhead, God the Son. When we talk about the Holy Spirit many straight away associate Him with the New Testament. Some Christians seem to think that the Holy Spirit was a stranger during the Old Testament.

The first thing we should note is that the term, Holy Spirit, seldom occurs in the Old Testament. Actually, it is found only three times which can be found in Isaiah 63:10 and 11Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people, where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them and also in the book of Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me

The most frequently used terms or expressions for the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament are but not limited to:

●  The Spirit of the LORD

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. (Isaiah 59:19)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted... (Luke 4:18)

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

●  My Spirit

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. (Joel 2:28)

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh...

(Genesis 6:3)

●  The Spirit of God

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. (Ekekiel 11:24)

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (1 Corinthians 3:16)

●  the Spirit of ... (Judgment, fire, justice)

Regardless of the infrequency of the use of the precise term, Holy Spirit, in the Old Testament the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament times was much more prominent and evident than one would suppose. The Spirit of God is almost immediately introduced in the Book of Genesis (1:2), and He becomes a frequent focus in the writings of the prophets. The Holy Spirit had a significant role in the creation of the world. He inspired men who revealed God to men, either in words,