Awakened to the Spirit
Being awakened to Holy Spirit, means allowing Him to do His work within you. His work is to work the nature of Christ into you. When you place your trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins working within you to change your very nature to reflect Jesus.
Romans 8:15-16,29 NASB
[15] For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” [16] The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, [29] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
The job of Holy Spirit is to work an awareness of who you now are deep into the fiber of your identity. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” -John 16:14-15 NASB. “But when the truth-giving Spirit comes, he will unveil the reality of every truth within you. He won’t speak his own message, but only what he hears from the Father, …” -John 16:13 TPT. See this by the Spirit. He is taking the nature and attributes of Jesus, the very essence of who Jesus is, and He is declaring this over you. He is speaking a new nature and a new reality over you, awakening you to your new position as a son of God most high. You are now reaping all the benefits of being a dual being with the exact same potential as Jesus.
2 Peter 1:3-4 NKJV
[3] as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, [4] by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
These two verses really sum up everything we were just mentioning. The Holy Spirit is our access to His divine power. Because we have Him, we have “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (those that walk in the Spirit will not fulfill the lust of the flesh -Gal. 5:16). He is the promise of the Father. Acts 1:4. As we learn to walk in the Spirit, the divine nature of God overtakes our lives allowing us to leave behind corruption. Living this way allows us to remain in the Father’s perfect love which also cast out all fear, shame, and condemnation. 1 John 4:18.
You may be pondering how we walk in the Spirit.
We are not practicing being perfect. We are not even chasing perfect consecration. We are practicing the art of saying “yes.” As we practice saying yes to what the Spirit says, God will grow our level of consecration until our practice becomes mature.
Everything goes back to hearing. The Father father’s us, Jesus mentors us, and Holy Spirit declares over us who Jesus is.
I got this illustration from Derek Prince. Our Spirit and our soul is like a great and vast city with many areas. Some areas are full of light and life. Other areas are under the influence of darkness. You may be a great mayor of your city yet certain areas are under the influence of gangs and violent men. Such areas need to be brought into submission to the flow of the Spirit.
“spirit” – ruach (in the Old Testament and pneuma in the New Testament) is the spirit, the breath, and occasionally the soul, but ultimately it is life force.
Proverbs 25:28 NASB
[28] Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.
Proverbs 16:32 NASB
[32] He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
As we become awakened to the Spirit, He sweeps through our city exposing the area of darkness we have allowed to lay dormant. As He exposes them, all that is required is that we repent and accept His truth as He illuminates the lies this darkness was founded upon. As Holy Spirit will breaths new life into darkened area, peace and joy will flourish the streets of our soul. Holy Spirit is the mirror of God reference in 2 Corinthians 3:18. His job, as always, is to reveal our true identity as sons of God. By His ministry we learn to see ourselves correctly, we learn to take off the false mask, the false veils, and we learn that we are accepted and embraced by God. Holy Spirit also is the manifestation of God’s emotions. As we yield to His ministry, we learn to yield to God’s wonder, and get to participate in His majesty. We are filled with wonder and God’s delight over us becomes our joy. It is also the job of Holy Spirit to drape the glory of God on our shoulders. He is the anointing of Jesus. Yielding to His ministry allows us to carry the same anointing that Jesus carried, because this anointing is Holy Spirit.
In order for us to say “yes” to the ministry of Holy Spirit, we must be willing to let go of our condemnations and unrighteous judgments.
You may have noticed that we have not even referenced yet the gifts of the Spirit or ministering in power. Many people chase these, hoping secretly for glory and fame. This is one of the areas of condemnation that must be yielded to Holy Spirit. You may be thinking that “I just want to see the captive set free,” and this is probably partially true. Oftentimes, those that desire to minister in power are afraid to “waste” their lives just loving on God. We are designed to be sons before we are servants. Search your motives and see if you are not secretly afraid of being worthless. You may find that there is a snake in the grass feeding you lies, hoping to get you to promote a more selfish agenda.
The beauty of focusing on becoming a son first and allowing Holy Spirit to minister to your heart is that He imparts Holiness deep into our marrow. A person that learned to yield to Holy Spirit will always find it easy to flow with Him in power. Such a person won’t have to chase an anointing or mantle. Holy Spirit will become his best friend, and releasing the power of God will be their grand adventure. The lie of success will not find a home in a person who abides in the fruit of the Spirit, and he can give that fruit away with authority. This person is in fact sharing with others the bounty of his relationship with God, rather than just ministering a gifting. If you still feel worried about “wasting” time, realize that Jesus waited till the time appointed by the Father.
A fully awakened son will be awakened to the love of the Spirit of God, and his faith will rest upon the love Holy Spirit gives. Let us learn to continually say “yes” to His ministry.