As humans, our feelings are based on emotions, and our emotions fluctuate, today we may be happy, tomorrow we may be sad, even the next minute we may feel excited and the next second we are moody. Yours is to believe that you have the Holy Spirit living in you whether or not you feel him because, as believers, we walk by faith and not by sight.
Some may feel his warmth enveloping them, some a powerful presence enfolding them, some a tingling sensation, or a gentle vibration. Even if you don’t feel any of this, rest quietly in the confidence that he is with you and dwells in you, as you listen to his still small voice, speaking to your heart, leading and instructing you.
Knowing the Holy Spirit
This reminds me of the scriptures:
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived in Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:1-6).
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive (John 7:38-39).
And because you believe the Holy Spirit, he bears a witness, since he dwells in you. You hear him instructing, guiding, teaching, and bringing to your remembrance scriptures, he intercedes on your behalf, that is the knowledge that you have the Holy Spirit.
Several instances in the Bible show that once a believer receives the Holy Spirit, he dwells within us as a witness, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, ours is to obey his leading and voice. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s Children” (Romans 8:16).
If you doubt you have received the Holy Spirit, because you do not feel him, then you have not, as a child of God when you ask for his Holy Spirit believe that you have him and he dwells with and in you. Jesus confirmed this by saying,
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13).
Following the Holy Spirit
Do not allow the devil to trick your mind into believing that you have to feel the Holy Spirit before you know he is with you, the Holy Spirit is already in you, working in you and through you to do the things that you never expected you could do.
For example, when Peter received the Holy Spirit, he preached with all boldness. Saul had an encounter and his life never remained the same again. Not feeling the Holy Spirit does not mean he is not there, that is one reason, Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God…”
You have asked God for the Holy Spirit, you, therefore, have the Holy Spirit, believe he dwells in you. Rest in this confidence, and see his fruit manifesting in you daily, in your walk with God, your thirst and hunger to know him, your continual desire for a fellowship unlike before. Your prayer and study of God's word increases, your actions are transformed in and out, even people around you can evidently see, you speak in tongues, your character changes.
Your words are kind, full of grace and edifying, you intercede for people you know and don’t know, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit. People even ask you what happened because they see a different you. If you have been disrespectful, arrogant, or rude, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as seen in Galatian 5:22-23, replaces those. Your thoughts are checked and aligned in purity and holiness. These and more are the clear working and the presence of the Holy Spirit in you.
So, when you think you should base the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in your life on emotions or feelings, you can ask yourself these questions:
If I feel the Holy Spirit today and I don’t feel him tomorrow, does that mean that the Holy Spirit comes and goes?
If I feel low, weak, and unhappy today and I don’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit does that mean he is not with me?
No! Far from it, he dwells in you. God has given him to you because the gift of the Holy Spirit was Jesus’ promise to us.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you (John 14:16-18).
This is our belief as believers, he dwells in us and works through us, his Spirit in us bears a witness that we are his sons and daughters — and because we believe this, we do not need the proof of feelings for our belief and faith is all that matters, and that was what the apostles also had — faith and belief.
What Does This Mean?
Nowhere in the Bible was it recorded that the apostles had to feel the Holy Spirit before they knew he was with them, after the encounter in the upper room they needed no other conviction that the Holy Spirit was with them, even when scolded and thrown in prison, they never for once asked, we are not feeling the Holy Spirit, is he with us at all? Instead, they rejoiced in their chains, because they were being persecuted for the gospel of Christ.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Wavebreakmedia
Jolaade Olatunbsoun is an experienced Christian writer, having written for clients, local churches, and youth fellowship. Jolaade’s focus is on expounding biblical passages and expressing God’s love through writing. Her writing infuses faith into daily life, helping readers grow in the knowledge and love of God and His words. Desiring to help people understand the Bible, maximize their potential, and have a deeper fellowship with God, Jolaade develops content for Sunday school materials, Christian material for books, devotionals, eBooks, articles, short stories, and poems. Her blog may be found here.
