Good Things
by Terry Wane Benton
Jesus said the Father knows how to give good things, and in Matthew he compares it to parents giving good gifts to their children (Matthew 7:7-11), while Luke specifically mentions giving the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:9-13). When Peter told the 3000 what to do to have remission of sins, he added that “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38-39) and that this promise was to you and your children…even as many as the Lord our God shall call. So, this is a very good gift. There is a problem here. If we asked a dozen preachers what this gift is, you would probably get a few different answers. I confess that as I read through the New Testament, I have not always had one steady answer. Think of several things associated with the Holy Spirit that could fit the bill of good things involved with the “gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Already in the context of Peter’s message, he had mentioned that when the new revelations started coming through the Spirit poured out in the last days (as prophesied by Joel 2:28f), the result would be “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:16-21). Salvation is what the Holy Spirit was revealing through the new prophecies, dreams, and visions. These helped us see the most wonderful opportunity to “be saved from this perverse generation”.
We don’t have to live a meaningless life like so many others, or be trapped in the misguided, dark lives of so many people around us. The Spirit helps us see a way through this world that “saves” us from aimless living that only carries people to eternal separation from the Creator. The gift of the Holy Spirit saves us from aimless living now, and from eternal ruin and separation from God and all that is good when this life is over.
So, when I think of this gift of the Holy Spirit, I think of the hope it gives me, the fellowship with God it gives me, and the seasons of refreshing that it gives me. I see in the revelations poured out for us by these prophecies, dreams, and visions that have accumulated into our New Testament, the “word of His grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance” (Acts 20:34). What a powerful word the Spirit has given us! It gets down to our deepest thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4:12). It works on me as it works mightily in me. It exposes when I let myself drift into what I call “stinkin’ thinkin'.” When I have been grieved and depressed, it has been a constant reminder of others of faith who went through similar or worse things. They handled it by faith, and I am not using faith as I should. It challenges me to rethink what I am allowing to take over my mindset. I think “salvation” holds a lot more than my initial remission of sins; it carries me through the day-to-day tests of living. It saves me from hopeless depression, from feeling sorry for myself when I have much for which to be thankful. It is a gift that keeps on giving as it helps to train my heart to be thankful and learn the secrets of contentment. It helps to save me from unthankfulness. It saves me from plunging headlong into covetousness and fleshly lusts, as it steadily reminds me that the hunger for righteousness can help me to be filled with a greater and lasting satisfaction within.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is also salvation from guilt, a conscience that carries guilt when forgiveness is so available to me if I would but ask. The Spirit also knows my inner groanings in ways I don’t even realize how to express to God (Romans 8:26-27), thus saving me from my own sense of inadequacy. It seems to me that I haven’t even touched the hem of the garment of the great riches in Christ that the Holy Spirit came to reveal. Letting the Spirit teach me through these wonderful revelations of “all scriptures” is certainly involved with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and as I file through His 27 newer books, I am refreshed and excited to know that He is teaching me more and more about the good and perfect gifts that have come down from the Father of Lights (James 1:17).
Indeed, our Father knows how to give good gifts unto His children. Let us know them and enjoy discovering and enjoying them. May God bless your day and bring peace to your heart in the Holy Spirit!
