According to God's Word, the Holy Spirit is not present in everyone; He is only present in individuals who have invited Jesus into their hearts and lives, allowing him to lead and guide their lives each and every day and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Sadly, there are many who know there IS a God, but they've neglected to admit that their sins have spiritually separated them from God, and that is why we need Jesus to save us. We simply cannot drag our sins into a holy heaven. The good news is, when we come to Jesus and ask him to forgive us of our sins, he is happy and quick to do so, which cleanses us of all unrighteousness and immediately brings us back into right standing and fellowship with God the Father. Not because of what we said or did, but because of Jesus' "work" on the cross, to pay for our sins, IF we will allow him to.
Even Satan knows Jesus is God, but he refuses to acknowledge Jesus as Savior and repent of his sins. Jesus it's not willing that any should perish, but have everlasting life in heaven. His purpose in coming to Earth, was to save all the world from the condemnation that sin placed on each and every one of us. God is love, and wanting to save us; sin only wants to keep us condemned and separated from God forever. If we neglect and refuse Jesus' Plan of Salvation to save us, we will have chosen to refuse the only person who could have saved us, and thereby, have condemned ourselves to an eternity apart from God the Father. However, the second you say yes to God's plan to save you, He forgives you of your sins and remembers them no more. Sin can no longer condemn you because Christ has redeemed you to a New Life in Him, and you are now a part of God's family....your sins washed away by the blood of Jesus and as His child, you have inherited the Kingdom of Heaven. That is His promise to you and He turns no one away.
When someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit "indwells" them, guiding and empowering them in their faith journey. Upon your confession of faith, commitment, and trust in Jesus as your Savior, He immediately sends His Holy Spirit to dwell inside you, which transforms your life as a new believer in Christ. You now have a constant friend that will never abandon you, and will lead and guide you through life. What you cannot do, He can do. Nothing is impossible for God.
The Bible teaches that non-believers do not have the Holy Spirit residing in them.
Receiving the Holy Spirit after accepting Jesus as your Savior, is referred to in the Bible as being "born again". That is, first you were born of the flesh, from your mother's womb. That is called your physical birth...of the flesh. However, Jesus gives you something much better. A spiritual birth, which is called the "second birth" and is referred to as being "born again", after accepting Jesus as Savior. This time you are "born of the Spirit" ...the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit of God is something that occurs automatically, once you have invited Jesus into your heart and life as Savior.
The Holy Spirit is a real person, which dwells in the saved. The Godhead consists of three separate people performing as One, which is called "God". One never operates or does anything without the consent of the others. They are all called "God" and they all work in perfect harmony, making all the decisions together, never apart. It is the Holy Spirit which dwells in every believer, that empowers us to live a much better life and make much better choices, as the Holy Spirit leads you.
The Bible verse that best explains the Holy Spirit dwelling in a born-again believer, is Ephesians 1:13-14:
"Having believed, you were marked by God with a Seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who guarantees our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of His glory."
So what does that mean, exactly? This verse states that upon receiving Jesus as Savior, a believer is "sealed" with the Holy Spirit, signifying that the Holy Spirit has taken up permanent residence within them. It is nothing short of a miracle! Something that only God can do.
Key points about this verse:
"Marked with a seal": This represents a definitive and permanent mark of belonging to God.
"Promised Holy Spirit": This highlights that the Holy Spirit is a gift given to believers upon accepting Jesus. It cannot be earned. Only received, and how thankful we are for salvation through Christ, who loves us more than words could ever say, and He proved it on the cross.
"Deposit guaranteeing our inheritance": This emphasizes that the Holy Spirit serves as a guarantee of our future inheritance in heaven.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving us so much that you provided a way for us to be in heaven with you, through Jesus your Son, even though we have sinned. I also thank you that anyone in the world, who wants to invite Jesus into their heart and life as Savior, can do so. I pray that they will give some thought to this and not neglect their soul, because once we cross over into eternity, there's no changing our minds or choices.
Thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, who saves us from all our sins and welcomes us with open arms. Thank you, Father, that salvation never depends on our performance or trying to win favor with you, but that you already love and accept us, just as we are, and will save all who come to Jesus for salvation. Amen.
I still remember the year 2020, December 24th. I was Born again in 2020. So, it was MY FIRST CHRISTMAS as born again and so This Christmas was special to me but It was COVID lock down and I was not aware about the calender of The Church. I wanted to go to Church and celebrate his symbolic birthday and I could not. With that, I wanted to have cake because Lockdown just tore down the moving and gathering ability. It was night around 10:30 PM when the last local shop also got closed and with that my hopes to have Cake. Didn't have anything sweet like Cake for a while.
And I exclaimed to God, Celebrating Birthday without a cake? Happy Birthday Lord and i went to bed. I was sleeping and my brother's car came in. It was not a surprise because he had to come anyways for winter vacation.
But what surprised me was *what was inside his car travelling more than 230 miles to get to me, After my brother arrived at around 11:30PM-11:45PM, he send someone to my bedroom with A BIG WHOLE CAKE. That SOMEONE woke me up and handed over this CAKE to me.
I looked up barely opening my eyes and said, "Still 15 minutes for your Birthday" and Then I lit all the candles by my bedside and had the Cake and I said, "Thank you Lord"
Important point here is that My Brother is not a Christian. Noone in my family is. And they have no Christian friends. The cake he brought to me was not Because he gave me a Christmas Cake but "just like that"
It was the conversation between me and Lord only and cake was delivered to me not knowing why.
Having said that, being a NEW BORN AGAIN, It was the very first pleasant thing and this is when I decided to write all the wonders of The Lord in my life in a diary.
Holy Spirit is so wonderful. I am very blessed to be born again. Unimaginable experience.
@DanielsASJ What a lovely testimony. Thank you so much for this. It really made my day. Looks like the Lord got His birthday cake after all, Haha, and you were able to celebrate together. What a blessing and what a great God we have. Always by our side.
