I've been talking with a middle school kid during the last week about the Holy Spirit. It's been a great conversation. I though the thoughts given might be helpful to others too. Enjoy.
Dear ____________,
I’m really glad that you’ve had the chance to read through the verses in Romans that I passed on to you. I’m also glad that they helped you! The best source of truth is to go to the Bible, because it IS the truth for those of us who have decided to follow Jesus in our life as Christians.
So you’ve discovered that you don’t have to have “felt” the Holy Spirit in an emotional or some physical why in order to get to heaven or be called a Christian. The verses that you read have shown you that. But here is the cool news: when you become a Christian (when you’ve accepted his forgiveness for sin and embraced the Lord as the god of your life) Jesus gives a gift to you ... the Holy Spirit! There are a few bible verses that will help you understand this: John 15:23-26, John 16:26 and Ephesians 1:13,14.
So the Holy Spirit is a gift that Jesus gives us when we are saved. He is a deposit in us of what is to come.
When the Holy Spirit fills our life he does things in our life (like leading us to the Bible so that we can learn more about obediently following Jesus, like convicting us of our sin so that we repent, and like giving us boldness to speak about Jesus when we lack courage).
When the Holy Spirit fills our life he changes who we are so that we act more like Jesus. He causes “fruit” in our life that changes our character and how we act. You can read about these things in Galatians 5:22-26.
When the Holy Spirit fills our live he also can bring “gifts” for us from Jesus and the Father. These gifts can be all sorts of different abilities both in how we are able to act and treat others (like in serving people or being a better leader or a great helper) and also in supernatural ways (like prayer languages, able to heal, able to speak prophecy). Holy Spirit does not give every gift to every person, but rather just a few to each of us that we can then mix with the gifts He has given to others in our church in order to be unified and complete. You can read about some of these gifts / abilities in Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28 and Ephesians 4:11 to name a few.
So in summary, if you have embraced Jesus as your God and your rescuer from sin (and it seems you have), Jesus has already given you the gift of the Holy Spirit! He is alive in you! The presence of God is already at work in your life (He’s probably responsible for causing you to ask all these questions, because He knows if you do you will grow in your faith!!)
You may not “feel” like the Holy Spirit is in your life, but it is a fact! Sometimes you will, indeed, “feel” him, and that is cool too!
So first pray and ask Jesus and Holy Spirit to lead you to understand the Truth. Then read all the verses above. Then thank God for what you learn. Then we can talk more if you like.
Peace,
::danKing::
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