Have you ever experienced this scenario? You want to help someone. You give a poor person something they need.

But the next moment you realise that it was just a 'drop in the ocean'. That there is so much more to be done. It's unsatisfying, isn't it?

Perhaps Jesus felt this way sometimes when He lived on this earth as a human being. Like us, He was limited by space and time. Not because He had to be limited, but because He chose to be limited by becoming human. He renounced the privileges He had previously enjoyed in heaven with God. Perhaps it was at such a moment that He said to his friends:

"It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:7).

This came as a shock to His friends. What could be good about Jesus being gone? But Jesus saw the bigger picture. He saw the needs of all humanity. It was time for God to work in a new way! And it had to do with the Holy Spirit.

Who or what is this Holy Spirit? We can usually imagine the Father and the Son, but the Spirit? Isn't He a bit of a mystery?

The Bible uses many images to describe Him: Fire, water, oil, or wind. One almost gets the impression that the Holy Spirit is something like a primal force or divine electricity.

But there are other expressions that show that He is a person: the Biblecalls Him a counsellor or advocate, He teaches us, He reminds us of what Jesus said. He is the conscience that lets us know when we are wrong. He sends people out. He gives talents and abilities, just as He wants.

He inspired the prophets and Bible writers to write down what was shown to them. He gives us the right words to say in difficult situations. And He even translates our prayers when we don't have the words.

That's a long list for someone who seems so much in the background! But the Holy Spirit was there from the very beginning, mentioned at creation. Again and again, we are told of special people through whom the Spirit of God worked.

Jesus now promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to all believers, not just a few chosen ones. He would give the early Christians the power to spread the good news throughout the world. This would be even more powerful than if Jesus were still living with them on this earth.

This all happened almost 2000 years ago. So what does it mean to me today? What is the Holy Spirit doing in my life?

I particularly like this comparison from the Bible: The Holy Spirit is like the wind. You can't see where it comes from or where it goes, you can only see its effects.

How do you feel the Spirit? Certainly not like in a science fiction film, as in an electrifying surge of energy running through you.

That's not how I experience it. But I feel a new inner joy, a certainty, and a peace come into my heart. Suddenly there is an interest in God. Suddenly a thought won't let go of me. A text speaks to me in an inexplicable way. I see myself in a new light and want to change.

Have you ever wished that you were more patient? More loving? More restrained or kinder? These are just some of the qualities the Holy Spirit wants to bring out in us. The character of Jesus rubs off on us.

The Bible says, "...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). He wants to set us free from the burdens of the past, from failure, from worry. Jesus says that He and the Father want to 'live' in our hearts (John 14:23). This is what happens through the Holy Spirit. We receive a new heart. Not in a way that we are no longer ourselves, but in a way that we become who we were always meant to be.

How do you receive the Holy Spirit? He lives where you make room for Him! Jesus said that God is happy to give him to us if we ask for it. That's what you can ask today: "Dear God, may your Spirit change my life!" I am sure that God will be happy to answer this prayer.

---

Bible texts for in-depth study:
Genesis 1:1-2; 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalm 51:13; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 1:35; 4:18; John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26; 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 10:38; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Peter 1:21