2 Cor.13:14 – The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).
There are so many opinions given about the Holy Spirit and the present day ministry of the Spirit many of those opinions come from people with no personal experience with the Holy Spirit themselves. Some approach Him with a predisposed theological idea and have no understanding from a practical aspect about the ministry of the Spirit. Others may have experienced a touch from God and view Him just as that, some sort of an experience or just a touch. I think for many years I may have fallen into both of those ditches. I remember thinking that if I ever had an encounter with the Holy Spirit in a special service that would be okay, but after that that would be it. Everything would just go back to normal. What changed all of that for me? I think part of it was beginning to see the Holy Spirit as a person. As I experienced His overwhelming presence again and again that began to convince me; His presence was more than an experience, a person was there with me. I became aware that the Holy Spirit was a person. That changed everything. Here is how Dr. Cho describes this relationship with the Holy Spirit.
“ I returned to the Scriptures often and read that the Holy Spirit came to abide with us forever; to bring all things to our remembrance that He said to us in His Word; to testify of Jesus; to guide us into all truth; to show us things to come; and to glorify Jesus in everything and to show that glory to believers. One day the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: “If you want your church to grow you must develop a greater communion and fellowship with Me. Don’t preach about the Holy Spirit as an experience only. He is an awesome Person! Preach about the person. Develop a communion and fellowship by waiting in My presence after prayer. I want to talk to you also.”
I think the thing that has affected me the most is the constant awareness of the presence of the Lord that became a part of my life. His presence was even more prominent to me in our church gatherings, but He was ever present with me in a whole new way. Acknowledge the Holy Spirit in your daily life, you may be surprised when you find you have a brand new Friend.