Christian Writers Circle

Life from the Spirit by Judy Hitson

Acts 19: 2 NASB “and he (Paul) said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

“First things first,” I heard while considering Acts 19: 2. Assuming this was the Lord, I was impressed to read, Maturity in Christ, a devotional outline posted in this blog, February 2015. I wrote, “As Christians, we may talk about being born again, about our conversion experience or being Spirit-filled. It is vital to know Christ by His Spirit who gives life, John 6: 63; 2 Cor. 3: 6, and grow in Christ from a babe to maturity.”  Pause a moment.

As Paul asked believers,  “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

From childhood, my experience was going to church every Sunday with my family, attending a church school first to twelfth grade, proclaiming to be a Christian and doing all I knew to do. Confessing my sins was a weekly practice with a fear of hell and damnation. My desire was to know God and be heaven bound. It was alarming to discover that I practiced a religion without a living relationship with Jesus Christ. I believed but did not receive the Holy Spirit until I was 36 years old crying out, “Jesus come into my heart.”

When I received the Holy Spirit, everything became new. Trees looked greener, the sky looked bluer. Under conviction, I couldn’t talk like I used to talk or dress like I used to dress. While Christian music drew me to the Lord, music I once enjoyed became repulsive to me. When I read the Bible, it was like the Lord spoke to me personally. It was a new life.

Family and friends saw a change in me but did not understand what happened. They thought I got religious because I had been in a car accident. The truth was, I received the Holy Spirit. I was born of the Spirit. John 3: 6 NASB “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

     God blessed me with Divine connections. First, an invitation to a women’s weekly prayer group that met in a home. The women impacted my life to mature in Christ as they mentored me in prayer, took me to visit a home Bible study where I embarked on my first Bible study and took me to my first Women’s Bible Conference. Revelation and understanding that God speaks to His people through His word astounded me. This new lifestyle led me to life in the Spirit.

The bottom line is, without the Spirit there is no life. If you have not received the Holy Spirit, I encourage you, invite Jesus into your heart, ask to receive the Holy Spirit who gives life. If you received the Holy Spirit when you believed, share with others life you receive from the Spirit.