The Game Changer

BY JOEL CHELLIAH

The biggest breakthrough in my personal relationship with the Holy Spirit took place when I had a revelation that He was actually a person, and not a thing. This was a game changer for me.

I always saw the Holy Spirit as a dove, a fire or a fresh wind. As beautiful as that imagery is, it is so hard to connect with those things. How do you communicate with a dove? How do you draw near to wind? How do you have an intimate relationship with fire? It’s impossible.

The Bible describes the manifest presence of the Spirit ‘like’ these things but it is not ‘who’ He is.

In John 14:16, Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—”.

That word 'another' refers to “another of the same kind.” Jesus was comforting His disciples by telling them that though He was going, the Father would send another comforter….another just like Jesus.

He was inferring that the disciples could have a relationship with the Holy Spirit in the same way that they had formed a relationship with Him.

The Holy Spirit is not a thing but a person. He has likes and dislikes. He can be pleased or grieved by our actions. He has a will that we are supposed to get to know. He can lead and speak and move. These are all characteristics of someone and not something.

Benny Hinn wrote a book many years ago called, Good morning Holy Spirit. In it he recorded how the first thing he said when he woke up each day was “Good morning Holy Spirit.”

That was the first time I realised that we could have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. From that moment on I decided that I would spend the rest of my life getting to know this person more intimately.