Welcome Holy Spirit:

In church this last week, we sang the song, “Holy Spirit,” by Francesca Battistelli.  While I have always enjoyed this song, it has never been my absolute favorite.  However, listening and singing in church this morning gave me a new and better perspective over this song.  This song has some pretty amazing lyrics, and those lyrics can almost be used like a prayer for how we should live and act in our lives.  This son also shows how we should view the Holy Spirit and the work/impact that it can have in our lives.  

One of the first lyrics that really struck me is “Holy, Spirit, you are welcome here.”  This is the main lyric which is a very good thing because these particular lyrics are very important and have a lot of wisdom.  The Holy Spirit is always inside of believers, but does that mean it is truly welcome all the time by the believer himself/herself?  If I am honest, I know that there are times that I just don’t want to listen to the Holy Spirit.  I would rather listen to my own voice and my own thoughts, which also may not be the most Christian or the most holy.  However, they are the ones that are on the brain at the moment.  Therefore, even though the Holy Spirit is there, that may not mean it is necessarily welcomed. Do you take the time to really pray over whether or not the Holy spirit is really welcome in your heart?  Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is truly welcomed in your heart all the time?

“Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.”  This also struck me.  I had always thought about the Holy Spirit as something that is a personal piece.  However, the Holy Spirit does have the ability to fill the glory of the whole world and everyone.  I don’t always spend time praying over others and to pray that there is protection and the coming of the Holy Spirit over others.  However, that is something that I also should spend more time doing.  We are always surrounded by people.  We see people at the place that we work, where we go to school, the store, etc.  We also often know that there are many people who are struggling, even including those who are spiritually struggling.  How often, then do we spend time praying to God over others to really have them feel as though they are filled with the Holy Spirit.  

Another lyric is “Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for.”  Do I really long for God’s glory all the time?  There are very many times when I may not fully be having God’s glory as the forefront of my brain.  I can often spend time thinking about getting glory for myself and only doing selfish things. This lyric reminds me that one of my biggest prayers should be working for God’s glory.  No matter what I am doing, if I am exercising, at work at the school or doing some volunteer work, I need to spend time thinking about God’s glory.  Similar to the verse that my blog is based on of Colossians 3:23, I need to do everything for God.  I often look at this song as a very long prayer.  This part of the prayer is remembering to ask the Lord to pray that I seek his glory in all things.  

Another line that pops out to me is, “I’ve tasted and seen, Of the sweetest of loves, Where my heart becomes free And my shame is undone.”  I really enjoy this lyric because it talks about how sweet God’s love is.  His love and kindness is so sweet that it also makes many people feel free, free even to love and show kindness to others.  His love is so great and sweet that it even can take away our shame.  Shame is something that I have been struggling with as I struggle through all of my different sins, including my anxiety.  I believe there are many of us who have become ashamed of ourselves in some ways, and that can be really hard to live with.  However, with God’s love, even though he is perfect, he is able to help clear away any anxiety that we may have.  

The last lyric that I want to highlight is the Bridge of the song, that says, “Let us become more aware of Your presence.  Let us experience the glory of Your goodness”  I love this prayer.  With the Holy Spirit, we can experience even more of the Lord’s presence.  The Holy Spirit is the only reason why we have the ability to experience God’s presence and therefore we are experiencing more of that sweet love and goodness.   I hope that I can remember to be aware of God’s presence.  I pray that I continue to become more aware, and I hope that I can pray for others to be more aware of the Holy Spirit that is always around us.