Advantage I

John 7:^37-38 “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

I remember years ago; I was in Northern Nigeria for over a year or thereabout. One day, I was speaking to a group of students, telling them about the Holy Spirit. They had a lot of questions like I did. And because I knew where they were coming from, I said to them, “If I answer all your questions from the Bible, you will believe.” They said they will believe if I show them in the Bible. They started firing the questions, one after another. By the time we were done, they did not have questions again. I said, “Let us pray” and boom! The Holy Spirit hit the room; I did not lay hands on anybody, they started speaking in tongues. I was not ready for it because I did not even know what was going to happen.

The benefits of walking with the Holy Spirit are enormous. I just want to whet your appetite and open your mind to the possibilities of the Holy Spirit in your life, in your ministry, in your business. Open your mind! When the Holy Spirit is in charge you can go to sleep because The Person that is in charge does not sleep nor slumber. Folks have asked me several times who my assistant Pastor is. My response is, “I am actually the assistant Pastor.” They usually think that I am joking. Typically, the next question that follows is, “So, who is the Pastor?” “The Holy Ghost!” And because the Holy Spirit is the Pastor, His assistant can be in Cape Town, Kenya, or in Canada. However, since the Pastor is always around, the church will keep thriving and moving forward. I can give you loads and loads of benefits of walking with the Holy Spirit. Over the next few days, we will touch on some of them.

The first benefit is, The Holy Spirit Teaches Us To Pray And Gives Us A Prayer Language. Rom. 8:^26-27 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Have you gotten to a place or had situations in your life where you did not even know what to pray? And if you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you probably have experienced times when you are just groaning, you do not even know what is going on. But God is just praying through you. Jude 1:²⁰ “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” (KJV, emphasis added). If you are you struggling to pray, you need the Holy Spirit!

The Second benefit is, The Holy Spirit Comes Bearing Gifts. 1Cor.12:^1&4 “Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.” When you receive and embrace the Holy Spirit, you are embracing all His gifts.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I receive and embrace You; I pray that the benefits of walking with You will be evident in every area of my life, in Jesus Name. Amen!