Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

by Francis Chan

that you sat down one day seeking to find

God, read the Bible, and came to the conclusion that Jesus is the same person as Michael the archangel. No one could come to that conclusion. You only believe it because that’s what you were told, and I don’t want to stand here and spoon-feed you something else.” With that, I challenged them to read the Bible for themselves, rather than simply accept what they’ve been told about it.

Most of us assume that what we believe is right (of course we do—it is why we believe what we believe) but have never really studied for ourselves. We were simply told, “This is the way it is,” and didn’t question. The problem is much of what we believe is often based more on comfort or our culture’s tradition than on the Bible.

Within the context of relationship with other believers, seek out what God has said about His Spirit. Open up your mind and your life to the leading of the Spirit, regardless of what others may think or assume about you.

There is a huge difference between believing what God has promised and praying for things you’d like to be true.

Do you trust God that when He says no or “not in this way” to you, you still believe He is good and doing what is best?

1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Are you concerned about breaking this command? Do you know what it means to quench the Spirit?

The biblical response would have been to “test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21–22 NIV). Rather than rejecting the possibility of God supernaturally speaking through people, I should have tested what I was hearing in the context of faithful community.

Another valid test for

prophecy is the standard of edification. The purpose of prophecy is to encourage and build up the body of Christ. Like every other gift, if it is not done out of love,...

theology is still important—what you believe absolutely determines how you act.

First, the Holy Spirit is a Person.

Second, the Holy Spirit is God.

the Holy Spirit is eternal and holy.

the Holy Spirit has His own mind, and He prays for us.

the Spirit has emotions.

the Holy Spirit has His own desires and will.

the Holy Spirit is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

• The Spirit helps us speak when we are in precarious situations and need to bear witness (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:12). • The Counselor teaches and reminds

us of what we need to know and remember. He is our comforter, our advisor, our encourager, and our strength. He guides us in the way we should go (Ps. 143:10; John 14–16; Acts 9:31; 13:2; 15:28; 1 Cor. 2:9–10; 1 John 5:6–8).

• From the Spirit we receive power to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. It is the Spirit who draws people to the gospel, the Spirit who equips us with the strength we need to accomplish God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit not only initially draws people to God, He a...

• By the power of the Spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the body. T...

from the sins we cannot get rid of on our own. This is a lifelong process we entered into, in partnership with the Spirit, when...

Through the Spirit we have received a spirit of adoption as children, which leads us into intimacy with the Father, instead of a relationship based on fear and slavery. The Spirit bears wit...

• The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin. He does this both before we initially enter into right relationship with God and as we journey through this life...

• The Spirit brings us life and freedom. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom, not bondage or slavery. In our world that is plagued with death, this is a profound truth that ...

• By the power of the Holy Spirit we abound with hope because our ...

who fills His children with all joy and peace (Rom. 15:13). • As members of G...

each of us is given a manifestation of the Spirit in our lives for the purpose of the common good. We all have something to offer because of wh...

• The fruit of being led by the Spirit of God includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These attitudes and actions will characterize our lives as we allow ourselves to be grown and molded by th...

spend some time asking yourself why you want the Holy Spirit. Is it for power? Is it for your own betterment and purposes? Or is it because you want to experience all that God has for you? Is it because you love the church and desire to be a better servant to your sisters and brothers?

we are called to focus on the priorities He has outlined for us in Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to empower us as He sees fit. Ask Him to supernaturally enable you to love Him and others. And let’s trust Him to display miracles for His glory, in His time, and in His way.

what would your church (and the worldwide church) look like if everyone was as committed as you are? If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered? Or would it be weak and listless?

Each of us has to decide whether we are going to crucify the flesh, whether we will truly walk with the Spirit. It is a choice. And it is crucial.

We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and acts in and through us in ways that on our own we are not capable of. This is our purpose for living. This is our hope. “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5).

there’s nothing better than being absolutely sure that the most powerful Being in the universe adores you as His own child.

It is those who put their lives at risk and suffer for the gospel (Phil. 1:29) who will most often experience His being “with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NASB).

Our lack of intimacy often is due to our refusal to unplug and shut off communication from all others so we can be alone with Him.

spiritual discipline to be still, to listen, and to cut out the distraction and din of our world. And as we practice this stillness, this waiting, this being, it is then that we can experience deep intimacy and relationship with the Holy Spirit.

I think a lot of us need to forget about God’s will for my life. God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year.

this is what repentance is like when we meet Jesus: We totally

change direction.

When Jesus calls us to take up our cross, He is doing much more than calling us to endure the daily, circumstantial troubles of life.

It is a call to radical faith.

Jesus is calling us to be willing to suffer anything and forsake everything for the sake of the gospel.

Being filled with the Spirit is not limited to the day we first meet Christ. Instead, throughout Scripture we read of a relationship that calls us into an active pursuit of the Spirit.

Christians can’t ever lose the Spirit, but His filling is something we should constantly pursue. This business of sanctification is a lifelong process we are engaged in. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (TNIV). (See also 2 Thess. 2:13 and Rom. 15:16.)

walking in the Spirit requires action on your part.

when you are sinning, you are not simultaneously submitted to the authority and presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. He is still present, but you are most likely suppressing or ignoring His counsel.

Do you exhibit more kindness and faithfulness than the Mormons you know? Do you have more self-control than your Muslim friends? More peace than Buddhists? More joy than atheists? If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn’t you expect to be different from everyone else?