The Benefit of Having the Holy Ghost

St. Matthew 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance:  but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:  he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire”.

The synonyms for “Benefit” are:  profit, advantage, gain, good.  Each of these words is suitable for all the Holy Ghost is to and for us!  There is nothing better for us to have than having the Holy Ghost because it is God’s Spirit.  Holy because it is pure, perfect, and it is God Himself with us!  He is not just with us; He is in us.

Let’s take a look at Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”.  Then St. Matthew 1:23 states, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, “God with us”. 

When Mary gave birth to Jesus the Savior, that was Immanuel - God with us!  He is with us.  Therefore we do not have to go to heaven to be with Him.  He has made Himself available to us through Jesus the Christ by His Spirit (breath, wind).  It is a benefit because it is profitable for us; it is to our advantage; it is gain for us; and it is real good to have the Holy Ghost!  Why?  Because it sets us apart for the Master’s use, delivers us from sin and death, and gives us the right to the tree of life!!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. 

(VS 14) ”And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us"!  St. John 1:1, 14

Because He put on flesh and became a person, He also took on a personality.  This means He has character, individuality, and identity with special attributes, qualities or traits.

·       He has Emotions: 

Ephesians 4:30:  ”And grieve not the holy Spirit of God”. 

Genesis 6:6:  ”And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart”.

Hebrews 4:15:  ”For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”.

·       He is highly Intelligent (all knowing): 

Psalm 139:12:  ”Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day:  the darkness and the light are both alike to thee”. 

Romans 8:27:  ”And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit”.

The Holy Ghost is Divine!  He is the Godhead!  Contained in the Holy Ghost is God, the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son manifested as One Spirit! 

2 Corinthians 13:14: ”The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen”. 

1 Corinthians 12:4-6: ”Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all”.

The Holy Ghost culminates or brings together ALL the Father did through the Son, Jesus Christ, from Genesis to Revelation!

He is God-ship; omnipotent (all powerful); omniscient (all knowing); omnipresent (everywhere present); the Lord; Jehovah; Jah; Yahweh; the Supreme Being; First Cause (there was nothing before Him, there will never be anything after Him because He is Everlasting); the Beginning; the Ending; the First and the Last; the Author or Creator of all things; the Infinite; Eternal; all wise; merciful; Holy; Jehovah Jireh (our provider); Jehovah Tsidqenu (our righteousness); Shalom (our peace); Raah (our shepherd); Rapha (our healer); Shamah (right here).  Whatever we need Him to be to us, He is!  He is the Lily of the valley; the Rose of Sharon; the Bright and Morning Star; the Great I AM!

The SPIRIT was present and active even before Jesus was born as Mary’s baby. 

·       He was creator.  Genesis 1:1-2: ”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  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”.

It was God’s SPIRIT that “created” all things!  First He created (Genesis 1:1); then He made!  Genesis 1:26: ”Let us make man”.  In order to make something, you’ve got to have something already present to work with.  The word made is from the root word asah, meaning to appoint, advance, prepare, maintain, bring forth.  God took “man” (male & female), and advanced them or caused them to progress, go forth, arise in a place of power, authority and dominion by His SPIRIT!  

The male and the female had dominion over all the earth!  By God’s SPIRIT, He made them in His “image” or tse’lem, meaning phantom or representative!  A phantom is something which exists but has no physical reality; a ghost.  Listen, God exists; God is real; and God is Spirit (St. John 4:24), but it is His people that give Him His physical reality.  He was Jesus in flesh form!  He still has flesh in us, His people!  As Jesus was the “image” of the “invisible God”, so are we.

Colossians 1:14-15: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:   Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature".

1 John 4:17: "As he is, so are we in this world."  Also read Colossians 1:16-19. 

Romans 8:29:  "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren”. 

The HOLY GHOST operates in the visible and invisible realm.  There is a world going on around us that can’t be seen with the natural eye, but God can let us see in that realm whenever He wants to.  And He can and does allow those in that spiritual realm to walk in and out of that realm and minister as needed. 

 

Daniel 8:16: "And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision".

Daniel 9:21: "Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation".

St. Luke 1:19: "And the angel [messenger] answering said unto him [Zacharias], I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings.  (Verse 26) And in the sixth month the angel [messenger] Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth".

In 1 Kings 22, the Prophet Micaiah began to prophesy against King Ahab, King of Israel, and the man of God began to see in the spirit realm and said in 1 Kings 22:19: "Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD:  I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left".  The right side is the place of power where the righteous or the sheep are.  The left is a place of torment where the devils or goats are.  This is all in that invisible spirit realm Micaiah was looking into. 

God wanted a plan to destroy King Ahab, and asked in 1 Kings 22:20:  “Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramath Gilead”?   The host of heaven was deciding amongst themselves who would persuade Ahab and how.  Verse 21 tells us "And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?  And he said, “I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets’”. 

Now you can see just how real that spirit realm is.  The “good” spirits and the “evil” spirits are all right there.  Not the “good” ones up yonder and the “evil” ones down yonder.  If the “evil” ones are “down yonder”, my question is:  What is God doing down yonder (in hell) where the evil spirits are if He (God) is “supposed” to be up yonder beyond the blue (in heaven) according to “religious” teaching?  God is Omnipresent.  He is everywhere!  The Prophet saw those on the right hand (sheep; righteous; in a place of  power) and those on the left (goats; devils; in a place of torment).  "And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left".  (St. Matthew 25:33)  This realm is all around us!

2 Corinthians 5:18-19:  "AND ALL THINGS are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit (know), that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation".

Just as God was in Christ reconciling or bringing the world back to Himself, He has given the believers the word of reconciliation and is still bringing His people back to Himself by the HOLY GHOST!!  That is a great benefit!! 

      2 Corinthians 5:20:  "Now then we are ambassadors (representatives) for Christ, as though God did

      beseech you by us:  we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God".

Ezekiel 2:2: ”And the SPIRIT entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me”.

Job 26:13: ”By his SPIRIT he hath garnished (brightened) the heavens”.  “We” are God’s heavens.  Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God”.  Synonyms for declare:  affirm; proclaim; avow;

orate; communicate; recite.  Nothing out in the sky talks, but we do!

Psalm 50:4:  "He shall call to the heavens from above".  He has called to us from “on high”, and we

have responded to the “Highest” (God) by His SPIRIT.

Isaiah 44:23: "Sing, O ye heavens".

St. Luke 1:41:  ”When Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe (John) leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost”.  So was John!  (Luke 1:13-15)  

Even before The SPIRIT was given as a universal gift at Pentecost:

Job 33:4: ”The SPIRIT of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life”.

St. Matthew 3:16: ”And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water:  and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him”.

St. Matthew 4:1: ”Then was Jesus led up of the SPIRIT into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil”.

St. Luke 4:1: ”And Jesus being full of the HOLY GHOST returned from Jordan, and was led by the SPIRIT into the wilderness”.

St. John 1:32: ”And John bare record, saying, I saw the SPIRIT descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him”.

The Benefit of having the Holy Ghost gave JESUS the ability to do what He did!

PREACH - St. Luke 4:18-19: ”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, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”.

GUIDE -  Romans 8:14: ”For as many as are led by the SPIRIT of God, they are the sons of God”.

Acts 8:29: ”Then the SPIRIT said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot”.

Acts 13:2: ”As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the HOLY GHOST said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”.

TEACH - St. John 14:26: ”But the Comforter, which is the HOLY GHOST, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”.

HEAL - St. Matthew 4:24: "And his fame went throughout all Syria:  and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.  (Matthew 8:16)

TESTIFY - St. John 15:26: ”But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the SPIRIT of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me”.

Keep in mind here, Jesus said, “When the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, is come”!  He IS come to us so we already have Him, even the Spirit of Truth!  That’s a benefit because Jesus said in St. John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”!

What is Truth?  It is CHRIST!  St. John 14:6: ”I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life”!

TRUTH is from the root word ale’theia, meaning verity (real; genuine; authentic; proven; valid).  It also comes from another root word alethes’, meaning true (as not concealing).  It deals with that which signifies the reality lying at the basis of an appearance.  It is the manifested veritable essence of a matter.  It is the absolute (complete; perfect; thorough; sheer; fixed; positive; unrestricted; unbound; full; supreme).  Truth is that which accords (harmonizes; conforms; agrees) totally with God as THE DIVINE (holy; heavenly; spiritual); that which harmonizes and agrees that the SPIRIT God is our source of that which is, has been, and ever will be!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  (Hebrews 13:8)

 He lives in us, and we are ONE with Him by Jesus Christ in the Holy Ghost!  As we expand our awareness and connect with TRUTH, what seems new is but the unveiling of that which was in Christ Jesus and now in us by the HOLY GHOST!  Colossians 1:27:  ”To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”! 

The Christ is the Anointing, which is the HOLY GHOST!  This is a great benefit!!

He empowers us to combat the enemy: 

St. Luke 10:19:  "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you".

Ephesians 6:10:  "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil".  Continue reading Verses 11-18

Romans 13:12:  "armour of light"

2 Corinthians 6:7:  "armour of righteousness"!  We need the armour of “light” and the armour of “righteousness” to function properly and effectively with the other pieces of armour.

The Benefit of the Holy Spirit being here and in us:

We have the Father and the Son both in us - Romans 8:9: ”But ye are not in the flesh, but in the SPIRIT, if so be that the SPIRIT of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the SPIRIT of Christ, he is none of his”.

So we can’t separate ourselves from Him because we are ONE with Him by the Spirit.  But “religion” has God out in the sky, and we are down here on earth.  Not so; He is in us!  “Religion” says that Jesus is coming back to get us and take us where God is!  “Religion” believes we have the Holy Ghost, and we do!   But you can’t separate the Holy Ghost from Jesus!  Religion says, He (Jesus) is at the right hand of the Father, and He is when we understand what the right hand is.  The right hand is a place of power!

St. Mark 14:61-62: "Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?  And Jesus said, ‘I am:  and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven’".

“Sitting” (kath’emai):  abiding; steadfast; established; continuing; secured

“Right Hand” (cheir):  power

“Power” (du’namis):  force; miraculous power; might; mighty work; ability

“Coming” (er’chomai):  accompanying; appearing; arriving

“Clouds”:  We are the “clouds” of God!

Jesus told the “high priest” that he was going to see the Son of Man sitting (abiding, established, continuing) on the right hand (in a place of power) and coming (appearing) not “ON” the clouds but “IN” the clouds of “heaven” (ou’ranos), an elevated place of power.

At Pentecost, the high priest that Jesus spoke to - Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5) - were there, and they saw the “Son of Man” (Jesus) sitting (abiding, established, continuing) and coming (appearing) IN the clouds of heaven (those that had received the “HOLY GHOST”)!  Peter was the preacher:  Acts 2:16-21:  "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my SPIRIT upon all flesh……"

That same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41)!  God is a God of “multiplication” or “increase”!  That’s why He destroyed “Sodom”!  There is no “reproduction” in that place!  Two males can’t reproduce anything; neither can two females!  Only the male and female together can “reproduce” and bring forth!

He (Jesus) is still coming (appearing) today in the clouds of His people!  When God sends someone to you with His Word, He has arrived in one of His clouds (Hebrews 12:1; Jude 12).

In Acts 7:55, "But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God". Stephen had the Holy Ghost, so he was able to see into the “Spirit” realm (heaven) and saw (ei’do – knew, became aware; discerned with his eyes wide open) Jesus standing (his’temi – appointed; established; continuing; present) in the place of power in God!

God has established Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) in a place of power.  He lives in us, His Anointed, by that same power (dunamis), which gives us the power (exousi’a) to do what we do for God’s glory, and it is all by the HOLY GHOST!  HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!

St. Luke 10:19: "Behold, I give unto you power (exousia) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (dunamis) of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you".

Acts 1:8: ”But ye shall receive power, after that the HOLY GHOST is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

Some other scriptures to search out are:  Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; Luke 22:69; Colossians 3:1; Jude 7.

 So we don’t have to die to go see Him.  We see Him when we see each other because His Spirit dwells in us, and we are His body!  Colossians 1:17-18: ”And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  And he is the head of the body, the church”.  Ephesians 5:30: ”For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones”. 

In the natural, when people die, their body is still here, even though the spirit has moved out of it.  But when they buried Jesus in Joseph’s tomb and then He got up, His flesh and bones got up with His Spirit!  When Peter and John went in the tomb, His body was not there.  St. Luke 24:39: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:  handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have”.  (Verses 41-43) "And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, ‘Have ye here any meat?'  And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.  And he took it, and did eat before them".

When they touched Him, He told them that a spirit hath not flesh and bones; and a spirit can’t eat either.  That was JESUS HIMSELF!  I pray you will get what I’m about to say:  “It was the HEAD that died on the Cross; and when the HEAD got up, He got the BODY up with Him”!  Glory to God!!!  All we have to do is stay “up” or stay “raised” by the Holy Ghost through faith!  “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved:) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. (Ephesians 2:5-6)

He still has a “body” and that “body” is you and me, the church!  We are all one in Christ Jesus!  So the benefit of having the HOLY GHOST is that we have the Father in us, and we have the Son in us, and we are all one.  St. John 17:20-23:  "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:  that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast love me".

Therefore, we don’t have to wait for Him to come.  He has come already, and He is in us!

ANOTHER BENEFIT of having the HOLY GHOST:

Opens to us the “Revelation” (uncovering of things we haven’t known before) of God’s Word

1 Corinthians 2:10-11:  "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:  for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.  Read also Verses 12-14.

Ephesians 1:16-17:  "Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints".

The word “revelation” is the Greek word apokalupsis, meaning disclosure; be revealed; to enlighten; manifest; come; appear.  Our English word apocalypse means revelation or a revealing or knowing.  Those that are waiting for the APOCALYPSE to come have missed the REVELATION.  When we get hold of the Truth - the revelation of THE CHRIST - as Peter did, we know that it is the Apocalypse (enlightenment, recognition, acknowledgment, understanding who Christ is in us and who we are in Christ)!  WE ARE ALL ONE:  THE FATHER, SON, AND US IN THE HOLY GHOST!

Take a look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:3, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid TO them that are lost”.  He did not say it is hid "FROM" them that are lost.  If he had said hid "FROM" them, then it would have been a deliberate hiding, but he said, “it is hid TO them that are lost".  Those “lost” that he is speaking of are not those who haven’t accepted Jesus as Savior only but those who are “lost” in the house of God - those lost in philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men (Colossians 2:8).  Those who haven’t gotten hold of the “revelation truth of Jesus the Christ", nor will receive it even when they hear it. 

When we have scales on our eyes, we can’t see clearly.  It’s not that the Truth isn’t there - we just don’t see it yet.  But when the Holy Ghost takes the spiritual scales off of the eye of our “MIND”, then we can see clearly spiritually. 

St. Matthew 6:22: " The light of the body is the eye (ophthalmos – vision):  if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light”.  This “light”, the photeinos’ or phos is illumination.  Illumination means being provided with understanding and knowledge with clarity (clearness; transparency) of God’s Word by His SPIRIT.  Whatever you see in the “EYE” of your mind is what causes you to either radiate spiritually or intellectually with the glory of God or walk in darkness!  If we can see the Christ (the Anointed One) as Peter did, we are able to recognize the light! 

Peter knew it was God in flesh form, and He still is God in flesh form in you and in me!  (1 John 4:17)  "As he is, so are we in this world".

1 Corinthians 2:14: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:  for they are foolishness unto him:  neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned".

Philippians 2:5-6:  "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God". 

1 Corinthians 2:16:  "But we have the mind of Christ".

St. Matthew 16:17: “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona:  for flesh and blood hath not revealed (apokalupto) it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”.

When we take on Christ’s mind, this means our whole body is “full of light” or leukos’ meaning “white”!  This means we’ve become righteous in God’s sight.  We’ve become dressed in the Lamb’s wife’s attire (fine linen)! 

Revelation 19:8: "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white (lampros – limpid meaning transparently clear; bright):  for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints".  We’ve put on the “light” or “righteousness of God! 

2 Corinthians 5:21:  "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him". 

Romans 8:3-4:  "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the SPIRIT"!

Isaiah 61:10: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels".

Our vision has to change!  We must see Christ as Peter saw Him!  He was looking at the “Man” Jesus, but he saw the “Christ”.  In St. Matthew 16:13-17, Jesus asked the disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am”?  They gave Him their answer, “Some say John the Baptist, Elias, Jeremias, or one of the Prophets”.  But then He asked them, “But Whom say ye that I am”?  And Simon Peter answered and said unto him, “THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD”!  And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed [apokalupto] it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”.  Peter caught the REVELATION!  That is what it is going to take for all of us to see the Christ, the Truth, and the Light!

The eye of the mind can only see ONE thing, and that’s Christ.  Even in the midst of the “crisis”, you’ve got to know and I’ve got to know that it is working together for our good!! 

Romans 8:28:  "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”.

Matthew 6:23:  "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"

If the “eye of the mind” be evil means poneros’ or hurtful; evil (in effect or influence); ill, diseased; morally culpable (meriting blame) in relation to being derelict (neglectful in obligations; abandonment or desertion of duties as Christians, etc), wicked; malicious; vicious, mischievous; guilty; or harmful.  Another definition is pon’os, meaning to toil in relation to anguish or pain or pen’es meaning to toil for daily subsistence (earn bread by daily labor). 

Now you can better understand Romans 8:22:  "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now".  The PAIN  is the pon’os or the labor, drudgery, distress, and exhaustion one feels as a consequence of “toiling” for daily “subsistence” or sustenance (that which supports life as food, or provision, shelter, clothing, etc.).  Many times at the end of the day it is hard to make “ends meet” so to speak.  As taxes increase and the prices of material goods increase which are grossly needed by the consumers, there is no pay increase in wages for the “labor” of those trying to maintain a decent life style.  It’s amazing how there are those at the top of the scale making the rules who are the one’s benefitting at the expense of the “working man or woman” by standing on their shoulders.

If you’re waiting for the Beast of Revelation to come, you’ve missed it.  The Beast is already here in the form of much “governmental” control!  That’s why we must move into the “government” of God which is the KINGDOM (peace, joy, righteousness, power, dominion, authority, divine health, eternal life, etc.)!!  The KINGDOM OF GOD is a Kingdom of LIGHT!  If we do not open our spiritual eye to this awareness, we will walk in darkness, skoteinos’ which is obscurity or that which is not transparent or clear; dull.  This darkness is the exact opposite of “photeinos or phos” which is the “light”!  And Matthew 6:23 states "If the light  that is in thee be darkness (phos – understanding has been obscured), how great is that darkness?  Meaning the enemy has blinded God’s people to the point of destruction unless we refocus and see the True Light, who is Christ!

2 Corinthians 3:14: "But their minds (no’ema – thoughts; comprehension) were blinded (poro’o – petrified, fixed; immobilized):  for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ". Religion has fixed and immobilized the minds of many today, and they are stuck in vain deceit and tradition of men and dare anybody to try and move them!

2 Corinthians 4:3-4: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to (not from) them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded (tuphlo’o – dulled the intellect; obscured their thinking) the minds (no’ema) of them which believe not, lest the light (photis’mos – illumination, understanding; truth; revelation) of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine (auga’zo – beam forth; think differently) unto them".

As you study the structure of the “natural eye”, it has what is called a cornea.  Cornea is the Latin word Horn.  “Horn” in Hebrew is qe’ren meaning a ray of light; power!  In Greek, it is ker’as meaning the hair of the head; strength!  This is symbolic of “head-ship” covering, who is CHRIST - the Head and strength (power) of the body, the Church!  But this “cornea” that is in our eyes is transparent (lucid; limpid; clear; invisible) and convex (curved) to permit the passage and cause the refraction (bending) of incoming light waves.  The contraction of the pupil that sits in the center of the iris is stimulated by bright light, which constricts the pupil and diminishes the amount of light entering the eyeball.  The response to dim light dilates the pupil and permits more light to enter.

If natural light enters the body through the natural eye, how much more our spiritual eye of the mind allowing the power of the light of Christ to enter our bodies to give us the life God has ordained us to have?  GLORY TO GOD!!

The HOLY GHOST motivates (moves on; draws; inspires; prompts; incites; provokes; instigates; propels) us to want to know more about GOD!  2 Timothy 3:16:  "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness".  To be “inspired” means to be breathed into, spurred, stirred, or stimulated within the mind of some idea, feeling, or impulse which leads to creative action.  It is a Divine or Holy presence which moves us to go and do.  2 Peter 1:21:  "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:  but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the HOLY GHOST”.

We can do nothing of ourselves; for it is in Him we live, it is in Him we move, and it is in Him we have our very being (Acts 17:28)!  PRAISE GOD FOR THE HOLY GHOST!!

~ Apostle Gracie Perry