Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

by Francis Chan

know only that when you surrender fully to the Spirit, Christ will be magnified, not you (John 16:14).

I asked the Spirit to make them “living and active” to me, though I’d been reading them for years. I asked God to “penetrate” the wrong and ill-conceived notions I’d collected along the way (Heb. 4:12 NIV). It’s a

Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her

and the person who does not?

Yet when those outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our integrity, our sanity, or even worse, our God. And can you blame them?

Right now, imagine what it would be like to have Christ standing beside you in the flesh, functioning as your personal Counselor.

First, the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not an indistinct “power” or “thing.”

The Spirit is grieved when there is a breach in relationship, whether it be relationship with God or relationship with other people. When

The most obvious and stated purpose of these manifestations is for the good and edification of the church.

The Spirit desires to use us when our hearts are aligned with this vision, when we are filled with genuine love for the church, and when we desire to see the church grow in love for God and others.

Let’s pray that God would empower us so radically that we would get no glory. That people would see our works and glorify God. “So

Those came when they were unexpected, when people were faithful and focused on serving and loving others.

My purpose in these questions is to get you to take 1 Corinthians 12 seriously, to believe that you have been given a manifestation of the Spirit and that your church, the worldwide body of Christ, and the world are crippled without your involvement. I write this because I love the church and want you to trust that you are more than just a helpful addition.

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

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).