From Residence to Rivers: Embracing the Holy Spirit Within

When I was five, my dad told me we were moving. He was building a nice, new house on the other side of Huntsville, Alabama, where we’d have lots more room and a bigger yard. My bedroom would be decorated with everything “space” (Dad worked for NASA, and this was the late 1960s, so of course I was into space). But I didn’t want to move. I was so sad. I loved our house. All my memories were in this house. I didn’t want to leave, but leave we did, and soon we settled into our new home. 

Then, six months later, about the time I got used to the new house, we moved again, this time to Georgia. And this time, I was devastated. All my church friends and kindergarten friends and neighborhood friends were in Huntsville. I’d have to say goodbye to the space museum, too. But away we went. Starting with that new house in Alabama, we lived in five houses over the next four years. I became an expert at taking up residence in a new place.

Taking up residence is what we’ll be talking about in this post. Jesus taught us something incredibly profound in John 14 – God’s Holy Spirit resides not in heaven, but in us. He lives, he dwells, he takes up residence in each of his followers. 

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)

He’s not only with us, he’s in us. When Jesus was on the earth, he ministered, taught, and impacted people from the outside in. But the Holy Spirit ministers, teaches, and impacts us from the inside out. That’s huge.

The Bible tells us that anyone who has a relationship with Jesus has the Holy Spirit within them (Romans 8:11). He’s not just here for a time, he doesn’t come and go. This isn’t a situation where he’s within us at times but leaves us occasionally, like when we commit certain sins, for example. He dwells within us permanently.

We might not feel his presence at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s here. Jesus promised that the Spirit would abide with us forever (see John 14:16 above). If our sin caused God to move out, then we’d lose our salvation, since not having the Holy Spirit would mean we’re not saved (Romans 8:9). That’s why the doctrines of the security of the believer and assurance of salvation are directly linked to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Our sin does not affect the presence of God in our lives. It affects our fellowship with God and how his Spirit works in us, but not his residence in us. When he moves in, he moves in to stay. That means that every believer on the planet has the full power of God inside them. The power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you!

Sadly, we don’t always live in that power. 

A few years ago, our family had the opportunity to visit Jamaica, and on that trip, we took a river ride. What we did was float down a river in tire innertubes. It was calm and relaxing for the most part. There were times, though, when it got interesting. Like when the woman beside me floated into a huge spider web containing an equally huge spider. If you’ve ever had a perfect stranger scream and grab your innertube, begging for your help, then you know what I experienced. 

Far too many Christians float through life like they’re on a lazy river. They don’t work on their relationship with God, and really only pay attention to him when they’re afraid or hurt. Our eternity is secure, so we ignore the Holy Spirit within us. We just float along in life, knowing one day we’ll be in heaven but never making a difference in anyone’s life here. 

The problem is we never float our way into holiness, into helpfulness, into God’s will, into close fellowship with him. We always float away from all that.

Jesus has something to say about rivers and floating and the Holy Spirit:

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.” When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory. (John 7:37-39)

This event took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, which was an annual seven-day ceremony that included praise and prayers for rain and water. Each day for seven days, priests would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and carry it in a golden pitcher to the altar in the temple. As the people would sing Psalms 113-118, a priest would pour out the water on the altar as a sacrifice to God. 

Maybe it was at that exact moment that Jesus cried out, “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink!” He was saying, in effect, “Do you understand that this water and this ceremony point to me?” 

Jesus was promising the purifying, empowering, life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who turned to him. The Holy Spirit would bring eternal life to all believers. Not only that, but through the Holy Spirit, the living water “will flow out.” When we allow the Holy Spirit to flow in our lives, when we surrender to him and allow him to change us, we naturally become blessings to others who need Jesus. When we allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in us, he’ll use us to impact the people around us.

If you’re a believer, you have the Holy Spirit within you. He took up residence in you the moment you believed, and he will never leave you, no matter what you do. He’s flowing through you, there to provide you with strength, endurance, comfort, and purity. He’s there to give you whatever you need to be who he’s calling you to be and to do all he’s calling you to do. All you have to do is let him flow. 

You can stop the Spirit from flowing through you with things like sin, or indifference to him, or by not spending time with him in his Word. Don’t stop the flow. The Holy Spirit is within you. Let him flow.

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