Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Holy Spirit, how do I love thee, let me count the ways…

The Holy Spirit has completely turned my life around. He changed me from a frightened person to a strong foot soldier for The Lord! No wonder David pleaded with God not to take His Holy Spirit from him when he had sinned. He knew he would be nothing without Him. I feel the same way. I remember growing up attending worship services and only hearing His name mentioned when there was a baptism. I wasn’t taught about Who He is and His awesome power. He was speaking to me all along though. I remember there were many times that He told me to read the word, but I was resistant then. But once I started to study the word, everything changed. I started hearing from Him. I know that He was the One who guided me out of that false church.

When I had just left the campbellites, I was blessed with a wonderful spiritual mentor. She was always talking about the Holy Spirit. She would tell me that she was going to go and ask Him things. At the time, all this talk about the Holy Spirit seemed like blasphemy to me! But once she explained who He is and what He does, and I started to study about Him myself, it all changed for me.

I hear from Him in a variety of ways. A lot of guidance and answers that He gives me comes through the dreams He sends me. He is funny too. He blessed me with a hilarious dream that showed me what was about to happen in my life. He has blessed me with a few visions. Also, He speaks to me deep within my spirit which lets me know what He is getting ready to do in my life. Of course, speaking in tongues has been a great blessing. There is a whole thread on that. I love His revelations. One thing that I have learned with my experiences with Him is when He tells me to specifically pray for something or someone, it is a done deal, it will surely come to pass!

When He speaks, I definitely know that it is Him. I remember years ago when I was still a campbellite, He spoke to me during a worship service. There was a lady that attended and she usually sat next me, and her husband had recently passed away. I really did not know her very well. The Sunday after his funeral, I saw her outside before the services started and I asked her how she was doing. She said she was fine, but then I responded by saying, “but then here comes the holidays.” As soon as I said that, I regretted it. She went to sit down and then a little later I came and sat down next to her and saw her crying. I felt horrible because I knew that it was my fault. After a few moments, she turned to me and told me that she was leaving. I asked her not to go because I didn’t know what she could end up doing. I started praying and asked the Lord what to do. Then Holy Spirit told me to tell her to pray. I turned to her and said, “No, pray to God, and ask Him to help you, and He will do it.” I said that last part really loud. I watched her bow her head and after she ended her prayer, she picked up a song book and starting singing with joy. I was blown away that it all happened so quickly. Here was a lady in deep despair one minute, and in less than two minutes, she was full of joy. Only the Holy Spirit could do that! Then I started crying and continued crying the rest of the service because I saw His power. She never noticed me crying because the Holy Spirit had blessed her with such sweet peace. He is so loving.

I love it when I take any fears to Him and He tells me exactly what to do. One example of this was when I was living in a transitional living facility last year. I was in an apartment and I was to share a room with another person. The Holy Spirit kept telling me that another person was coming. Then a lady came and moved in on a Thursday afternoon. She instantly made me very uneasy. She had even stolen something of mine. I was sweeping the room and I saw my property in her closet while she was gone. I was upset. I asked the Holy Spirit what to do about it. He gave me my instructions. When she returned, I asked her had she seen my belongings and I didn't even have say anything about seeing them in her closet, she just handed them right to me. He is so awesome!

That night she went right to sleep, but I did not sleep well at all. Then the Holy Spirit told me to get up and pray. I got up and starting praying in tongues about the situation and the Holy Spirit told me “to pray her out.” I had never heard of anything like that, but I starting praying without ceasing. She was coming down from some kind of drug high and she slept for 19 hours straight! When she woke up, all she talked about was how badly she needed to get out of there! She left and I never saw her again!! Praise the Lord! The Holy Spirit moved again! He is so amazing!

He then let me know that someone else was coming after her. So about two weeks later, I came into the room and someone’s stuff was on the other bed, but the person was not there. I was going to go out to eat with a friend, but I texted her and told her that I could not leave until I met this person first. The Holy Spirit led me to pray over her belongings. He told me that this lady was okay. He even told me to write her a really sweet note welcoming her to the apartment and to the room. Then I did go out to eat without meeting her. He was right. We got along so great. We were drawn to each other like sisters. We still communicate.

That is just a few of the times that He has helped me. I have truly grown to love Him so much. He is so powerful! He has taught me to take every problem to Him and He will guide and direct me through every single one of them. He is teaching me how to be fearless, which is one of the things that He had me to pray for. He will allow me to be in such a tough situation and the only way out is for me to exercise faith. He has led me into a closer relationship with Jesus. He has taught me how to do spiritual warfare with three powerful weapons that will send the enemy running! While I was still a campbellite, He started showing me what my calling (purpose) is. He has taught me how to live on this earth and to have peace and joy, no matter what happens. Thank You Holy Spirit!

For those of you interested in getting to know Him, I included a link that lists many of His functions.

H**p://www.gospel.org.nz/index.php/articles/ar ... oly-spirit

Thank you for sharing your journey. You've shared from your heart and I deeply appreciate it.

The Holy Spirit blessed me to remember and to share those words. He wants everyone to know that if we seek Jesus, we will find Him. This is how everyone that meets the real Jesus can live. Right now, I am in the midst of what the world would think is a horrible situation, but the Holy Spirit has filled me with the sweetest peace.

Right now, I am in the midst of what the world would think is a horrible situation, but the Holy Spirit has filled me with the sweetest peace.

God loves us so much. Even in the darkest times God is always with us.

Yes, I love how God is just waiting to help us with everything.

Teresa, if you would like to share, how has the Holy Spirit changed your life?

In my late twenties I went from being an atheist to a Christ-follower. And it was because of the Spirit working in other people's lives as well as in my life. The woman who called the ambulance after I had an accident knew a relative of mine, and asked permission to visit me in the hospital. She gave me a book to read, and the part that stayed with me was that 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 was not just about how Christians should love one another, it was a description of how God loves humankind: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. With a new understanding of God, I committed myself to serving God.

As the years went by, I would often resolve to be "good", less reactive in my relationships, but it didn't work. I ended up gunny-sacking my anger until I would explode in rage. But God was at work in my life through the ministry of other Christians, a Lutheran chaplain and a Methodist pastor who demonstrated God's love to me in their patience with me as I learned to trust them with my failings, and learned to accept myself as beloved by God. I went from being secretly critical of other people, with a constant refrain of criticism in my head, to being accepting of myself and others with all our failings. This resulted in a dramatic change so over time I was no longer as reactive toward others and I was able to be more loving with them. I went from being fearful of other people, to desiring to be encouraging toward others.

When I went through a crisis of faith, during a time of great distress, the Methodist pastor and a American Baptist pastor ministered to me, as did a support group of other Christians. None of them were fundamentalist, but they were devoted Christians and believed that God still speaks today. Now I do my best to listen to the "voice" of God, and to do those things that would be helpful to others, rather than destructive.

That is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I love how God gets our attention in one way or another when He knows that we are ready to draw nearer to Him. I have started to look forward to those "times of great distress" because I know He is going to use that time to do something wonderful within me.

In what ways do you hear His "voice"?

A thought comes to me. For example, I had the thought to call a relative (with whom I had not spoken in perhaps a year) and tell her I was praying for her husband. I was both relieved to find out that they were not upset when I called them for this purpose --her husband asked me to say two prayers -- and dismayed to learn that his cancer had returned.

Another example, during a crisis involving drug abuse by a close relative I got a sense that the situation was coming to a head. About half an hour later we got a call to go to the hospital.

Sometimes when I am about to lose my patience or become defensive, the thought comes to me that what is needed is understanding, not more of the shame and blame that I grew up with.

It is wonderful that the Holy Spirit used you to help others like that. I love how He speaks to us with a "still small voice" just like His word says. When you starting hearing His voice in the beginning, did you question it? I know I did. I can be somewhat rebellious. I started to notice those thoughts after I started studying the Word. Years ago, I prayed asking the Lord to help me to be a better steward with His money. As I was sitting there studying, I heard Him say, "why don't you begin with balancing your checkbook". I remember screaming out loud, "NO!!". For me, balancing my checkbook was like climbing Mount Everest! I had tried and failed numerous times in the past. So I ignored it. That same week when I went to my bank, there was a new teller there that suggested that I should begin to balance my checkbook. He suggested this a few times before I realized that the Holy Spirit had placed him there to push me forward. So I asked for God's help and He blessed me to be successful!

At what point did you and your husband start the website? Was the Holy Spirit speaking to both of you about starting it at first?