THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (1)

I shared on Facebook recently, that as I began to pray the old chorus came to me,
Sweep over my soul, sweet Spirit  sweep over my soul,  my rest is complete as I sit at Your feet, sweet Spirit sweep over my soul. I sang it, and made it a prayer that the Holy Spirit would do just that.
The Holy Spirit has many and varied operations and manifestations. It has pleased the Lord that the Holy Spirit be symbolised. These varied symbols set forth the nature, character and function of the Spirit. This chorus suggests to me the symbol of WIND. The Greek word for Spirit is “pneuma” which can be translated wind, breath, or air,( even a blast of fresh air). We get the old word pneumatic (as in tyre) from this picture.
Jesus said in John 3:8,The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes, so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. As an unbeliever we hear the Word of God preached, until that moment, we have little desire for the things of God, then the wind of the Spirit begins to blow, and we come under conviction, that we are sinners on the road to hell, and the Holy Spirit, draws us to that place of repentance, and as this verse declares we are born again. The wind symbolises the life-giving breath of God in its regenerating  power. The Holy Spirit is invisible, yet the effect of His work can clearly be seen in a changed life.
We come to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:2 and we read, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven  as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. This made me think of the process of winnowing, in the old days the farmer would throw a sheave of wheat in the air, and the wind would take the chaff and blow it away, leaving only the wheat. In Acts 2, the Disciples had been praying for 10 days, asking the Lord, for the power Jesus had promised them as recorded in Acts 1:8. SUDDENLY the Holy Spirit came, and they were transformed. When you ask God to come as Wind, it may not happen when you initially ask, keep asking and SUDDENLY  He will come, and you will never be the same again.
I prayed as I sang the chorus, Lord, let the Wind of the Spirit blow over and through me, winnow out every bit of chaff in my life.
If we  want to experience the Wind of the Spirit, we must be available and ASK the Holy Spirit to send a “blast of air” and blow away the chaff. He needs to be invited, and we must be willing to let Him do whatever (and whenever) He wants to do in our lives.
I talked recently about the need for us as individuals and as a Church to experience Revival. Many lives are saved because mouth to mouth resuscitation how the Church in this day and age needs to be resuscitated by the Wind of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember this old hymn.
Breathe on my breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love the way you love, and do what you would do,
Breathe on me breath of God, until my heart is pure, until my will is one with yours, to do and to endure.
Breathe on me breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with you the perfect life, for all eternity. (written by Edwin Hatch D.D.)
I will share about other symbols in the coming days, but let us start praying TODAY for the Wind of the Spirit to blow in our lives Amen.