Spiritual Growth

If you want the anointing of the Spirit to become evident in your life, it begins with an understanding of who He is, how He operates, and how you can enter into His fellowship. The Holy Spirit was not sent just to make you feel good. He’ll certainly do that, but He is much more. He has equality in the Godhead and deserves our worship just as do God the Father and God the Son. But that is just the start. Your spiritual growth is not different from that of a giant oak tree. It must be fed and nourished.

Recently a man told me, “Benny, I want to thank you for introducing me to the Holy Spirit in 1978.”

I said, “That’s great. Tell me what’s been happening since?”

His face was a blank as he said, “Well, nothing really. I just remember what it was like when I met Him.”

“Why do you think nothing has happened?” I asked.

I’ll never forget his reply: “I guess I didn’t know what to do.”

Perhaps I’ve expected every person who’s been introduced to the Spirit to respond as I did. I literally shut myself away with the Word and the Spirit and absorbed what He had to offer like a sponge. It took time, hundreds and hundreds of hours with the precious Holy Spirit.

I realize that for many people it’s nearly impossible to find the time to search and search the Scriptures. But just by reading this book you are receiving in a succinct manner what it took the Spirit years to share with me. But there is one thing I cannot do for you. I can’t wave a spiritual wand over your head and place an anointing on you. That only comes with a personal, deeply private encounter with the Spirit. And it continues and grows with a fellowship and communion that only you can establish.

Your growth in the Spirit will begin the moment you begin to see that the Spirit of God is truly God. I can’t repeat it enough because the mental picture of a weak personality has been drilled into our psyche from childhood. I remember seeing a book that said, “The Holy Spirit is a servant to the Body of Christ.” That’s the kind of error I’m talking about. He’s not a servant; He’s in charge. He’s the leader of the body of Christ.

Let me share something I have come to know. The Holy Spirit is not only God; He’s also the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before you say, “Now hold it there, Benedictus,” let me point you to the Word.

You say, “I thought God the Father was the Father of Jesus.” Well, you’re right, but you’re also wrong. Let me show you why. In the first chapter of the Gospels we are told that the Holy Ghost is the Father of the Lord.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).

Even Mary was concerned. Mary said to the angel, “‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35).

There you have it. He is called the Son of God, but it was the Holy Spirit that came upon the mother of Christ. That’s the closeness of the Trinity – a child of God the Father and a child of God the Spirit in one.

Even the attributes of Jesus were given Him by the Spirit. Speaking of the coming Christ, Isaiah wrote:

“There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord.” (Isa. 11:1-2)

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