What Does The Holy Spirit Feel Like?
I have sensed His presence so much lately and as I was basking in it today I did my best to put it into words. {Though words always fall short.}
But I want everyone to know Him.
Not just Father,
Not just Son,
But Holy Spirit also.
God is Trinity,
Three-in-One,
yet with very different roles.
For a long time I paused in my sharing about Him, because I was insecure.
I am not a theologian.
I don’t know Hebrew or Greek
or the nuances between all the present words and all the original texts of the Bible.
I don’t have huge chunks of scripture memorized.
I still count on my Bible and the Spirit to guide me, and I still call upon leaders who are further along in their faith journeys to pray alongside me and help me clarify when any confusion comes up and I want to make sure I didn’t hear wrong.
Some days when God nudges me to share something I resist.
I give Him excuses
like “They have heard that before.”
Or “So and so says it so much better.”
Or “This is something your Spirit prompted in me, it’s not talked about in the Bible {though it does align with Biblical Truth and what others have testified and what I have experienced over many years of walking with you}…but I’m afraid that some may pick it apart and call me a false prophet.”
And then He reminds me-
that no matter how many times we have heard something, sometimes we all need another encouraging reminder. {Lol. The irony that He was giving this to me as He was telling me to give it to others wasn’t lost on me.}
He reminds me that-
All the books in the world couldn’t begin to describe His awesomeness, but the testimonies burn holes on our insides if we don’t try! 🔥 They’re too good to keep in! They’ve gotta go somewhere!
He reminds me that-
I’m not claiming to be a prophet. I’m not claiming to be a theological expert. I’m not trying to be anything I’m not. I literally just like the song- am just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, all about the Somebody who saved {and keeps saving} my soul. 🎶
So- here goes- let me tell you about Him.
Just a glimpse of the Holy Spirit part.
Just a facet of His indescribable-as-a-whole
personality.
In my own words.
He is PRESENT.
PALPABLE.
You can FEEL HIM.
Do you know that feeling when your eyes are closed and you’re sitting alone in a room, and someone else joins you, and you know it?
And without even opening your eyes you may even be able to distinguish which family member of yours it is.
Or if you’re in a public place you can sense if a stranger has joined you in the space, and maybe even sense a vibe they are giving off…
I can sense Him like this.
Many people can.
He wants you to be able to as well.
Family.
He feels like family.
In the VERY BEST SENSE of that word.
{Or if you don’t have a good experience with family, imagine what you wished they would have felt like. This is Him.}
Holy Spirit helps as our Comforter.
Our Guide.
The Communicator.
The Connector.
God is Heavenly Father.
The Church is the Bride of Christ,
so Jesus- I have learned to relate to as my Heavenly Husband.
Faith isn’t about feelings — that is true,
But one thing I feel like many churches neglect sharing is that FEELINGS VERY OFTEN
{but not always} FOLLOW FAITH.
The Holy Spirit helps us FEEL
Full-Filled.
God says that we have all we need in Him,
which is great,
I put faith in this.
{And some days it takes more faith to believe this than others!}
But Holy Spirit- when I ask Him to-
helps me FEEL IT.
Holy Spirit helps us feel God’s Fatherly {Perfect Parental} love.
This can help us at times when we need our parents and they can’t be there. For instance, sometimes I still need my Dad or my Grandpa, but they are in Heaven. When I really need that sense of Dad-love, I’ve learned I can just ask. And I don’t know how to describe how He does it, but He fills me. Like a warm hug. I can sense Him there.
This kind of love, where you can come to Him like a child climbs up on their parent’s lap and just melts…
The kind of rest that feels childlike and just trusts that Dad’s got it…
Like- He’s in the driver seat,
so I’m not afraid of traffic.
Like- He’s got the finances covered
so I’m not afraid of lack….
Even when I quite literally AM in the driver’s seat and anxious,
or AM responsible for our family’s finances and wonder how ends are going to meet and I feel nervous about that…
He comes in when I ask Him to be with me in it,
And I feel an inexplicable peace,
that even if my involvement is necessary,
even if I do have to drive
on a four-Lane highway,
or even if I do have to do a job,
HE is with me and helping me
and I’m not going through it alone.
“Adulting” is hard, but mainly because we believe we have to carry the weight of our entire families on our shoulders.
And we don’t. We aren’t alone.
It’s not all on us.
It feels like it,
until we realize He’s got US in His hands.
Our Heavenly Dad’s got us.
What a weight that lifts!
————
Holy Spirit also helps us feel Jesus’s husbandly {Perfect Partner} love.
I’ve seen this help in so many ways.
In my own life, when I got pregnant with our last baby after five losses, I felt a tremendous amount of anxiety and fear.
Every time I would go to the bathroom.
Every time I got ready for an ultrasound or appointment.
Every time I felt a pain in my stomach, which inevitably happens as your belly stretches to be able to accommodate the growing baby.
If you’ve experienced miscarriage, you know what I mean.
I wasn’t able to call my human husband at work every time it was time for a bathroom break, for comfort.
He wasn’t able to take a day off for every single appointment, which because of my high-risk was every two weeks and required four hours drive time back and forth.
He wasn’t able to talk me down every single time I felt panicked. I’m sure there were times he was freaking out inside too. We are both human.
One day I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to call upon Jesus instead. To ask Holy Spirit to help me feel Him with me.
He said – and I’ll never forget-
“One husband got you pregnant, and the other Husband, your Heavenly Husband, will keep you that way. We will walk you through all your fears. Just like we walked you through your grief.”
That was the first time I ever related to Jesus as a husband-figure.
But since then, it’s come in handy so much.
It’s taken the pressure off of my marriage to Brett, because sometimes I’ll be honest- I can be needy.
Sometimes as a stay at home mom, I NEED to talk to a grown-up. And sometimes when my husband gets home he is wiped and he listens his best but his capacity is limited.
When I converse with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, it relieves my need to get some things off my chest and then I can share the “abbreviated / pre-processed version” with my husband when he comes home.
My husband is my best friend and I talk to him about everything. But there are times when our differences as woman and man create conflict and since I don’t like venting to someone else about it, having the Holy Spirit so I can talk to Jesus about it AND get sound Biblical guidance has been a game-changer for our marriage!
And also- as a girl with the top love language of words and gifts- whose husband’s love languages are NOT words and gifts, Holy Spirit helps with this too. He prompts my own spirit to see the gifts in the things my husband does do for me, and He fills me up with encouraging words of His own. He calls me beautiful, chosen, beloved. He shows me my husband feels this way about me even if he forgets to say it sometimes. And because I’m secured in Jesus’s love, I’m not so needy from my human husband- so I probably do act more lovely most of the time to him, than I used to when I depended on him to be the one to fill me up. He also helps me speak my husband’s love language, and my kids’, better- because on my own it’s not natural.
I’ve also seen women who have lost their husbands- because of death, divorce, whatever the reason. It’s a void that’s hard to imagine. And certainly it’s not easy. But I’ve seen them cope and receive love, comfort, courage, peace, opportunities for provision, and all they need, day by day, by relying on Him.
——
Learning to depend on Him takes so much pressure off our human relationships-
whether parents
or spouses
or children
or friends
or pastors.
NOBODY can full-fill us {fill us to fullness} like He can.
Expecting them to squeezes the life out of our relationships.
Expecting ourselves not to need full-filling-
Trying to be ok without it,
Or resigning ourselves to do without it
from anyone {including Him}
squeezes the life out of us.
Thankfully we have a God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- who can resurrect lifeless things!
As soon as we let go of these expectations
we have of people
and of ourselves
and place our needs in His hands,
and ask Him to help us feel Him
we can begin to feel life flow back into us again!
And that’s why I share these things like I do.
Not because I claim to know it all.
Nobody knows everything about God-
He is too infinite for our finite brains to imagine!
But because I do know Him,
personally,
thanks to Holy Spirit!
And even growing up in church
I never really understood
that that was an option this side of heaven,
or what it might look like.
And I just want to help others come to know Him too!
Because life is heavy.
But having a friend-
a Father-
A Partner-
Especially the One
In Heavenly Places-
Lightens the load!
——
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.””
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’”
John 16:12-15 MSG
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