Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit has many names and characteristics. After all, He is a person. If there were one truth that I pray you would grasp as you read this book, it would be this: The Holy Spirit is a person who can be known. If He is a person, that means He has a personality. He enjoys some things, and others He does not. There are certain people that He is closer to than others. It might make us a bit uncomfortable, but the reality is that God has favorites. If it were not so, He would not have favor. His favorites are covered with favor. Of course He feels closer to some people than others. It’s because He can trust them—and not just trust them with what He does; He can trust them with His feelings.
One of the ways He begins a relationship is by sharing His character with us. It’s sort of like an introduction. He begins to show us what He’s like and who He is. It’s no different than you meeting somebody and saying, “Hello” and giving that person your name. Once you’ve sat down and taken some time with that person, you would begin to talk to him or her about who you are, your history, what you like, and what you don’t like. He or she would then discover your character and your personality if you continue the relationship. This is no different than meeting the Holy Spirit, except He’s more wonderful than anybody else you’ve ever met in your life. In Isaiah 11:2, He begins to share with us seven beautiful characteristics of His person. We call this the “sevenfold Spirit of God.” Now, there are many other angles by which we see the Holy Spirit. He has many more names, but these seven are a beautiful place to begin exploring the depths of the Holy Spirit’s character.
Isaiah 11:2 says, “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (KJV). The sevenfold Spirit here is: 1) the Spirit of the Lord, 2) the Spirit of wisdom, 3) the Spirit of understanding, 4) the Spirit of counsel, 5) the Spirit of might, 6) the Spirit of knowledge, and 7) the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord
Let’s begin with the Spirit of the Lord. It is vital that we understand that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord. He is not beneath the Father or the Son. While He is His own person, He is still completely one with Them. Three in One—this is the mystery and beauty of the Trinity. The Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Father is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord. The Bible says, “Now the Lord is that Spirit…” (2 Cor. 3:17 KJV). While He is our friend, we have to remember that He is our Lord. He must be in charge of our lives. He is to lead the dance. Of course, He is the most loving person on planet Earth today. Yes, He is the most intimate being you will ever meet. He loves it when we cooperate with Him. He wants us to co-labor with Him. He loves to have conversations with us. He’s a beautiful friend; there is no doubt about it. However, we need to remember that He is God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and earth. Even the apostles knew this, as evidenced by the Apostles’ Creed. The Creed has become a foundational statement for the Church worldwide. Listen to what the apostles said regarding the Holy Spirit in the early Church: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”
Since the Church began, the Holy Spirit has been known as the Spirit of the Lord. The Greek word for “Lord” is the word kyrios. It means “one who completely owns something.” So, to say that the Holy Spirit is Lord of my life is to say that He completely owns every ounce of my being. It means that He has the right to tell me what to do and what not to do. He can tell me not to go somewhere. He can tell me whom to marry. He’s allowed to say “no” to me. In other words, my life is not my own if the Holy Spirit is to be my Lord.
Years ago, I had a secretary who was a wonderful strength to our ministry. One day, she called and said, “I’m so sorry, Michael, but my husband and I have decided to leave the church and go begin a church of our own.” I instantly knew that this was not the will of God, but I could sense in the tone of her voice—and being familiar with the situation, I knew—that her mind would not be changed. I knew her husband felt the same way. They were set on leaving our church and starting a church of their own. So, they moved across the country and started a church. We sent them off with love and a financial blessing, but something in me knew that I could not endorse it through the laying on of hands and a spoken commission because I knew deep in my spirit it was not the will of God. My conscience would not allow me to do so. I often thought about them when they left, stayed in touch with them, tried to encourage them. I wanted them to know that regardless of my perspective, love would always rule in our hearts toward them.
After a few months, I went into a dream. In the dream, I saw them in their apartment across the country with the lights turned off, and I heard them saying they did not have enough money to pay their utility bills. I actually saw them going through their checkbook trying to find the money to pay for basic necessities. I jumped out of bed so excited that God had spoken to me. I was so thrilled just to hear His voice. These were days of deep prayer and fasting. They were exciting days and discouraging days. This was the season that I was so hungry for God that the lack of immediate breakthrough would cause discouragement in my life. So, just to hear His voice in a dream meant the world to me.
I got out of bed and called them. They did not answer the phone so I left a message. I said, “This is Michael. I just had a dream that you guys are unable to pay your utilities. I’m going to send you a check to help you out.” I was still amazed that God would speak to me with such detail. I was on cloud nine. They called back immediately and said, “We’re so sorry that we could not get to you on the phone. We were on the other line with the utility company because they turned our lights off. We didn’t have the money to pay our electric bill.” How incredible is God! They were amazed too. They said, “We can’t believe that God would speak to you all the way in California and wake you up just to tell you that we have a need.”
That day I shared the testimony with those close to me. I was still completely blown away that God took time to talk to me. A few days went by, and I began to speak to the Holy Spirit. I said, “Lord, thank You so much for talking to me about these people. Thank You for Your voice, Lord.” Immediately, He said, “Michael, I’m glad you’re thankful, but you forgot to write the check. I didn’t talk to you just to talk to you. I spoke to you so that you would help them!” How the Lord puts up with us! He must have a sense of humor. Can you imagine—I was so excited to hear His voice that I forgot to send the check! This is a beautiful picture of how the Holy Spirit is not just our friend and lover; He is the Lord Himself, who wants to give us direction and waits for us to obey.
One day I was sitting with Reinhard Bonnke over lunch, and he began to tell me the story of how the Lord blessed his ministry with a rent-free office building in Orlando. It housed the headquarters of Christ for all Nations and saved them tens of thousands of dollars per month. The story I’m about to share with you has been shared by Rein-hard around the world. One day the Lord spoke to Reinhard and said, “Reinhard, I am going to give you a harvest home.” He said, “Lord, what does that mean—a harvest home?” Instantly, the Lord put on his heart, “I will give you a building, a headquarters, so that you can house the needs of the ministry, the staff, and raise up evangelists to go around the world.” Immediately, Reinhard got on the phone and called my dear friend Daniel Kolenda. He said, “Daniel, I want you to get ready. I am driving in to go look at buildings. Find me a realtor.” Being a Saturday morning, it was very difficult to find a realtor, not to mention that the Christ for all Nations staff was off for the weekend. They drove around and did not find a building. Many people would think that it was a failed day, that Reinhard might have been better off just enjoying his Saturday doing something a little more relaxing, but he had a different perspective. He said, “I drove in on a minute’s notice knowing I wouldn’t find a place today, but I wanted God to see that when the Holy Spirit speaks to me, I obey, and that I jump at His voice.” Hearing that story changed my life. Reinhard looked me in the eye, and he said, “God does not just wait for us to obey, but He watches to see how quickly we obey. And I want God to know that when He speaks to me, I jump with obedience.” This is somebody who knows the Holy Spirit is not only his friend, but the Lord Himself.
In the early days of Jesus Image, I was invited to preach at a conference in Bradenton, Florida. There were about 250 people there in the crowd. The last night, I taught on the need to know and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. The room was filled with electricity. I can remember it like it was yesterday. It seemed like every word was a holy break that crushed the hearts of the people in a beautiful way. They were sitting on the edge of their seats, yearning deep in their soul to encounter the literal presence of God. To be honest, all I really do in a meeting is surrender enough for God to touch His people, and this night was no different. They wanted God so badly you could smell it. So, the moment came, after teaching on the need for the power of the Holy Spirit for about an hour, that I called them forward. They rushed the platform. It was jam-packed with hungry hearts. The worship began, and I could feel the presence of God come upon me like electric power. I stepped off the platform to lay hands on the people in faith, that they would receive power from on high. I laid my hands on the first person—nothing happened. Second person—nothing happened. Third person—nothing happened. All of a sudden, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit instruct me and challenge me in the most childlike manner. This is what He said: “Michael, you’re laying hands on them with the wrong hand tonight. Switch hands.” Well, I had been laying hands on them with my right hand because I’m right-handed. Was I hearing God properly? Could the God of the universe really care about which hand I was using to touch the people? We’re talking about the God who created the atom. The Holy Spirit is the Creator, the Lord Himself. He is the Spirit that hovered over the face of the deep in Genesis 1 (see Gen. 1:2). He is the breath of God. And now He was telling me that I was praying with the wrong hand. It didn’t make sense to my sophisticated mind. I mean, after all, with all the verses in the Word of God and all of the in-depth study that I had done—all of the great theologians, the amazing sermons, the perfect hermeneutics, and the incredible orators I had studied—could God really speak to me about switching hands when I laid hands on people? It didn’t make sense to the natural mind, but to Him it made all the sense in the world.
Without telling people, I tried God’s voice out, and I said, “Okay, Lord, I’ll switch hands.” And the moment I switched hands it was like a bomb went off. Prior to the switching of hands, it was like a cemetery. After, it was like God Himself took the meeting. There were people on the floor crying, shaking, being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues. I was blown away. I didn’t tell anybody what was happening with me because I didn’t quite understand it myself. I thought God was way too busy and far too deep to use a hand switch as a vehicle to touch people.
After the meeting, my wife came up to me, and she said, “Hey, I want to speak to you. There’s something I need to talk to you about.” She said, “While you were laying hands on people, the Lord spoke to me, and He said, ‘Michael is praying for the people with the wrong hand. He needs to switch hands.’” Directly after she thought that, I switched hands, and the Lord began to move. What an amazing Holy Spirit! What a beautiful, childlike heart He is yearning to create in us. I learned then that following the Holy Spirit is about having a childlike trust in Him as a good Lord. The most simple act of obedience can change somebody’s life forever. Jesus is like that, you know? Remember when He multiplied the fish and the bread. Before He did, He said, “Put them in groups of fifty and one hundred” (see Mark 6:39-40). Why? I don’t know. Just because He wanted to. There are so many beautiful examples of the Lord asking us to do things that seem absolutely insignificant, and yet He uses them to be bridges that connect Heaven and earth in a second.
There is a passage in the Book of Acts that I absolutely love because I have found the principle it reveals to be true in daily life, in the ministry, and in a friendship with the Holy Spirit. The Bible shares an amazing truth with us in Acts 8:
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road— the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So
he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the [queen]. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?”
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
This is the passage of the Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can speak of His descendants? For His life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “ Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:26-39 NIV).
Think of this for a moment: Why would the Bible go out of the way to highlight the fact that Philip ran to chariot in verse 30? Why didn’t he walk? Why didn’t he sprint? Why does it specifically say he ran? It is because a person who walks with the Holy Spirit understands the importance of instant obedience to the voice of God. Had Philip walked, he would’ve missed the chariot, which would’ve meant the eunuch would not have come to the Lord and would not have taken the Gospel back to Ethiopia. Ethiopia has been a Christian nation since the first century because Phillip decided to run when he heard the Holy Spirit speak to him. He knew that the Spirit was the Lord Himself. How powerful is the combination of the voice of the Spirit of the Lord and our obedience!
I’ve heard many people say, “I just don’t hear His voice anymore. What should I do?” I’ll often ask them, “What did He say to you the last time you heard Him?” And they’ll tell me. I’ll reply, “Did you do what He said?” They’ll say, “No.” My reply is, “Why would He continue to speak and trust you with more of His voice if you did not do what He said to do last time?” This walk with Him is not complicated. It is simple and childlike, yet full of depth and joy.
I remember the first time I stayed with a friend named Brian Garin. I was preaching at another friend’s church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I woke up on Sunday morning to get ready to preach, and Brian had already been up praying. I did not know him very well at the time, but I had heard amazing things about his prophetic gift. Brian came to me in the morning and said, “I had a vision about you. I saw a man dressed in a camouflage outfit, and I heard a voice say, ‘Be strict with him.’” And then he was shown in the encounter that there would be a demonic standoff in the meeting that morning. Well, as exciting as that probably sounds to you, it’s not what you want to hear before you go preach. As powerful and as brave as we think we are, outside of the power of God, none of us want to deal with demons. I don’t know about you, but battling with demons outside of the presence of God is not my idea of an enjoyable afternoon.
We went to the church, and I preached the first service. It was a good service, but it lacked the “It” factor, the glory of God. Between the first service and the evening service, the church decided to hold a prayer meeting. Well, if you want things to go up a notch in your church, I would highly recommend gathering the church to pray. When we walked into the building that evening, you could feel God in the room. It was an entirely different ballgame, and we all knew it. As I began to preach, signs and wonders started to flow and amazing miracles took place—there was no doubt that God was in the room. In fact, there was a visible glow over the crowd. I will never forget it as long as I live. Yet in the back of my mind, I often thought during the meeting, “Where is the standoff that Brian talked about?” Just before I dismissed the meeting, a large man—about 6’4”, 260 pounds—walked down the center aisle with a very angry look on his face. He said, “I want to hear.” This deaf man basically said in front of everybody, “Open my ears now.” You talk about a challenge. In the natural, I have to admit I was a little intimidated and afraid, but I remembered that I did not make up the Bible; neither is it the Gospel according to Michael. This is Jesus’ Gospel. This is His Kingdom. This is His work. So, I simply committed in my heart to do what Jesus told us to do—to “lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18).
I put my fingers in the man’s ears and commanded his ears to open, and nothing happened. Again, I put my hands in his ears and screamed, “Open!” Nothing happened. Mind you, the entire church is watching this. I put my fingers back in his ears and said, “Open!” Nothing happened. The last time I did it, I looked into his eyes, and I saw that something was wrong. I instantly heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “He has a demon.” I put my hand over his head into the air and rebuked the demon. When I did, his body began to contort. He began to bend backwards, his back attempting to become parallel with the ground while his feet remained on the ground. It was a sight to behold. He wanted to yield his body to the Lord, and this demon was fighting tooth and nail for it. Instantly, the man flew back onto the floor when I rebuked the demon, and his eyes began to move in a crazy way. So the man lay there as the demon was fighting for His body and His soul. Brian walked up to me, and he said, “This is what I saw this morning in the vision. Remember, this a war. Be strict with this demon.”
I did the only thing I knew to do: to see what the Holy Spirit would have me do next. After all, I had nothing to lose. The whole church was watching, and the man’s ears were not opening. I remembered what Joy Dawson said to me when she was training me on how to deal with the demonic. Joy is one of the mothers of YWAM and has preached the Gospel in fifty-five nations of the world as a YWAM missionary. She was pivotal in forming the culture of YWAM in the early days regarding the character of God, the fear of the Lord, waiting on God, intercession, and a burden for the Gospel. For the last eight years, Joy has become a spiritual mother to me, and her words were ringing loud and clear in my spirit when I was dealing with this demon. I heard Joy say, “Use the name of Jesus, the Word of God, the blood of Jesus, and the power of the cross.”
So I said out loud, “The Word of God says you’ve been rendered powerless, demon. The blood of Jesus is against you. The cross of Jesus is against you, and the name of Jesus is against you. I command you to come out.” Immediately, the man started manifesting on the ground, hyperventilating, and shaking. His eyes were beet red. It was an intense moment, to say the least. Then I heard the faithful Holy Spirit say, “Remind him of the cross.” And so, I reminded that demon of the power of the cross. When I did, I looked down at the man’s face, and a single tear was streaming down his cheek. And I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Now command his ears to open.” So, we stood the man up, and I said, “In the name of Jesus, I command your ears to open.” And they opened in front of the whole place. I will never forget the look on the man’s eyes when he began to hear. His wife ran up to him, and the first voice he heard was the voice of his wife. What a beautiful moment. It changed my life forever. I began to see that the Holy Spirit is not a tyrannical Lord who’s merely telling us what to do for the sake of doing so, but He’s a loving Lord who can be trusted; obeying His direction results in experiencing the goodness of God. I remember seeing the young people in the church watch this man’s ears open. I don’t think they’ll ever forget that as long as they live. I’m so glad the Holy Spirit spoke to me that day. He is so wonderful.
My friend, you can trust the Holy Spirit even when He challenges you. The renewed mind begins to see a challenge as a bridge to greater breakthrough. The unrenewed mind sees a challenge from the Lord as a moment to fail. Our job is merely to obey. Once we obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord, He begins to take the matter into His own hands. I have seen this time and time again with healing miracles. My friend Paul Teske says, “Throw the pitch and watch God hit it.” So simple but so profound. He goes onto say, “We often think, ‘Well, what if I throw a bad pitch?’” His reply is, “You can throw any pitch you want to God. If He says, ‘Throw it,’ throw your best pitch, and God can hit a home run. If you throw it in the dirt, He can still hit a home run. You can throw it in the backstop, and He can still hit a home run with it. But if you don’t throw the pitch, you will see significantly fewer home runs from God.”
I pray you begin to trust the Lord. Trust His “yes” and trust His “no.” How often do we not feel peace in our hearts when we’re making a decision, and sometimes we see that as God’s disapproval. Many times His “no” is an approval of our life. It shows His care and His compassion for us that He doesn’t want us to make mistakes. A beautiful example of this is the Macedonian call that came to Paul the apostle. Just before Paul received a calling to go to Macedonia, he received a warning from the Holy Spirit not to go to Asia. Let’s read beginning in verse 4:
Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily. They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them (Acts 16:4-10 NASB).
This is a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit functioning as our Lord. If He tells you not to do something, it is because He has something better for you to do with Him. Remember, in His will is a greater manifestation of His presence. His presence invites us into obedience, and obedience increases the measure of presence that we experience. So, in the will of God, as we listen carefully to the Holy Spirit and trust Him as our Lord, we are promised more presence, and more presence brings more satisfaction and more breakthrough.
The Spirit of Wisdom
The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of wisdom. Acts 6:8-10 says, “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (NASB). As you begin to walk in the Spirit and treasure His presence, wisdom will become yours. There’s something I want you to understand: Wisdom is not something; it is Someone. It is the person of the Lord. In fact, the Bible says that “Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God” (see 1 Cor. 1:24).
Proverbs 2:2 says, “Incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding” (KJV). This is simply telling us to give our ear to the voice and person of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you’re saying, “Wisdom is something, Michael. I don’t agree with you. It can’t be Someone.” Proverbs 8:1 says, “Does not wisdom call, and understanding lift up her voice?” (NASB). Does a something call us? Of course not. Only a person calls. Proverbs 8:11 says, “For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her” (NASB). Moreover, listen to what the Scripture says in Proverbs 8:12-13: “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate” (NASB). See, wisdom here is speaking as a person.
Again, the Bible says in Proverbs 8:14-21:
Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, all who judge rightly. I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than the choicest silver. I walk in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries (NASB).
By the language of the Scriptures here, does this sound like some inanimate object to you or some ethereal concept? No, Wisdom is certainly a person.
The Scripture goes on to say:
The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before his works of old. From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth; while He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there. When He inscribed a circle on the face of deep, when He made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, when He set for the sea its boundary so that water would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth; then I was beside Him, as a master workman. [This is speaking of the presence of the Lord.] And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. Rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of men. Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death (Prov. 8:22-36 NASB).
My friend, we do not sin against the thought or the concept of wisdom. We only sin against the person of God. If wisdom can be sinned against, it tells us that it is a person, the person of God Himself.
The Spirit of Understanding
The Spirit of understanding is an awesome aspect of the Holy Spirit. While wisdom allows us into and unites us with the very thoughts and movement of the Spirit, the Spirit of understanding opens up His ways to us. The Holy Spirit begins to open the Word of God to us, and mysteries become available in a moment. Jesus expects us to understand and comprehend His words. This will only come as a result of the Spirit of understanding moving in our lives. Jesus said, “For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them” (Matt. 13:15 NASB). Notice the issue here is a heart issue, not merely a mind issue. The heart is absolutely connected with our thinking. Thus, it is connected to our ability to understand. The dull heart blinds us, deafens us, pushes us away from His presence, and keeps us emotionally sick. It is the desire of God to sensitize the heart first, then to trigger the rest of our spiritual senses. This is a spiritual issue that the Holy Spirit and He alone can fix. Once He touches the heart, He begins to open up the words of Jesus and we begin to understand the Word. Statements are no longer mere statements in the Scriptures. They become spiritual puzzle pieces that lead us into an encounter with God. As we begin to understand His ways, it becomes much easier to cooperate with Him, which leads to deeper fellowship. Without the Spirit of understanding, He can speak to us and we can leave having forgotten everything He said. The culture of Heaven becomes a reality to us as we discover the treasures of His Word. Authority is birthed in certain arenas because we see His ways clearly. Remember, a person is meant to be known, while a person’s ways can be understood. It’s like this: Wisdom sees the entire picture, the end from the beginning. Understanding helps us with the journey. Great visionaries often see Z from A due to wisdom flowing. They still need understanding to connect the other twenty-four letters that bridge the process. When the mind is renewed by the Spirit, it is evidence that the Spirit of understanding is beginning to operate in us.
The Spirit of Knowledge
Jesus knew the secrets of the hearts of men and women. We see this at work in the story of the woman at the well. He knew her thoughts and the details of her life. I believe the Spirit of knowledge opens us up to knowing God, to knowing His thoughts and His secrets. This was a marker in the life of the Lord. This is not the type of knowledge that “puffs up” (see 1 Cor. 8:1). Rather, it is the “knowing of God.” First and foremost, this is connected to intimacy. God’s desire is that we “know Him” instead of “facts.” Once we begin to know the Holy Spirit, He begins to share His thoughts and feelings with us. Before He shares secrets with us, He wants us. Before we hear from Him, He wants us to meet Him…or at least to meet Him in the process. Nonetheless, His priority is knowing Him. Once we encounter the Holy Spirit as a person, we will discover that He has a lot to talk about. However, He will never exchange intimacy for information. For instance, words of knowledge (see 1 Cor. 12:8) should be a byproduct of the knowledge of Him. When John was called into His encounter in the Book of Revelation, he heard, “Come up here, and I will show you…” (Rev. 4:1). To make it simple, the Spirit of knowledge leads us into the knowing of God, which opens our hearts to know God’s thoughts, which is meant to lead us into a deeper intimacy with God.
The Spirit of Counsel
The Bible says that the Lord is our counselor and only He has counsel. Proverbs 8:14 says, “Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength” (KJV). Isaiah 9:6 declares, “…His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor…” (ESV). The Lord is certainly our counselor. Can you imagine that God is ready to give you advice to help you decide on pivotal issues, to warn you, and to instruct you? To take it a step further, we are invited by the Holy Spirit into the counsel of God. We literally have been given an open door to hear the conversations of the Trinity.
Jeremiah rebuked the false prophets of Israel for continually releasing false words of prophecy. He repeatedly said, “Repent because the
Babylonians are coming. God is going to judge Israel.” Over and over, he warned them, with tears in his eyes, to come back to the Lord. And when he would release the Word of God to the king and the king’s counselors, they were outraged by it. Other prophets stood up and said, “The Babylonians are not coming, we will not be judged. God is going to bless Israel,” and Jeremiah rebuked them.
Take a look at Jeremiah 23:15-21:
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise Me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard His word? Who hath marked His word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed, and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied (KJV).
That is an amazing passage. In other words, the false prophets were false because they had not stood in the counsel of the Lord. They had not given God the time to lift their souls into the heavenly places so that they would be privy to the conversations of God. They spoke on their own accord because the Spirit of counsel was not flowing in their lives. Remember, Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit would not speak of Himself, but He will tell us of everything He hears that comes from the Father and the Son” (see John 16:13). As you listen to the Holy Spirit, you are listening to the will of the Father that is administrated by the Son through the voice of the Holy Spirit. To be clear, to receive the counsel of the Holy Spirit is to receive the counsel of the Godhead. We are literally invited into the plans of God. God has a plan for America. God has a plan for the nations of the world. God has a plan for every stay-at-home mom in the world. He has a plan for your pastor, and He has a plan for your children. He has a plan for everything and everyone, and God wants to share that plan with us. God has a perfect plan for every service, every Bible study, and every soccer game.
When the Spirit of counsel is invited in through a hungry, yielded heart, God begins to speak to us and share His plans with us. This is so precious for many reasons. Can you believe that God is eager to share His dearest and deepest feelings with you, His friend? The Spirit of counsel opens your ears to the Mighty Counselor.
I have learned that it is much easier to join what God is already doing than to attempt to get God to bless what I am doing. Early on in my ministry days, this was a real struggle for me. There was so much that I wanted to see happen in the meetings, and they were all wonderful ambitions. They were all biblical. I would strive and strive, and nothing would happen. I so badly wanted the sick to be healed. I wanted revival with every fiber of my being. I wanted the fire of God to sweep through our meetings. And to be honest, those things rarely happened. Finally, I realized that instead of trying to twist God’s arm, I could simply wait and listen to Him. Once I sensed, saw, heard, or felt what He was doing, I learned simply to yield to that plan. That combination became a combustible reward. The power of God was released in those services. What was once dead quickly came to life. I realized that God had a plan for every moment of every day. Saying “yes” to that plan was the bridge that connected Heaven and Earth in the moment. Once that connection took place, I simply had to hold on for the ride.
I’ll never forget telling Heidi Baker, “Heidi, I struggled for so many years, and then one day I sensed that Jesus just wanted to walk into our meetings—that if I could figure out a way to allure Him to walk through the services, He would come. So I just began to worship and wait, Heidi, and He came and did everything so much better, so much more powerfully.” Heidi looked at me with a smile, and she said, “That’s it. Isn’t it way better that way?” Experiencing the Spirit of counsel leads us into an awesome realm called the Spirit of might.
The Spirit of Might
The Spirit of might is awesome. There are times in our lives where we need breakthrough, we need God to do the impossible. Miracles are a vital part of our lives as Christians. We need miracles, and the world needs miracles. The Spirit of might is so needed in the Church today, and I believe God wants to pour it out in a huge way. Might is great strength, force, or power. Deuteronomy 3:24 says, “O Lord God, Thou hast begun to shew Thy servant Thy greatness, and Thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to Thy works, and according to Thy might?” (KJV). Let’s remember, in our own strength, we have no might. Psalm 24:8 says, “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” The source of power and might is God Himself. Job 12:13 declares, “With Him are wisdom and might…” (NASB).
Have you ever pondered the incredible victory that Jesus accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection? Just think for a moment about how when Jesus died, He descended into the underworld and took captivity captive. The Bible goes on to say that He embarrassed the devil himself. This side of Jesus is one of my favorites. I love the fact that He’s strong and mighty. Can you picture Him down there enforcing His greatness and victory? How about the Jesus who turned over the money tables? Or how about the Jesus who cast out demons with a spoken word? Of course we love the One who puts children on His knee and blesses them with His hand, but I love the Lion as much as I love the Lamb. Jeremiah 32:18-19 says, “…the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is His name, great in counsel, and mighty in work…” (KJV). Daniel describes Him this way in Daniel 2:20: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might” (ESV).
It’s important we understand that there’s nothing difficult for the Lord. There are no huge miracles or small miracles in the Kingdom. To God, everything is done, and everything is easy. At the cross, Jesus paid the price for every stubbed toe and every cancerous tumor. He purchased every healing and every miracle for every person that has ever lived. Every allergy and every dead body waiting to be raised, and everything in between, have been paid for by Jesus Himself. Yet the Bible does say in Acts 19:11 that “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul” (KJV ).
I believe there are different realms as it pertains to us in the miraculous and the Spirit of might. In other words, to God nothing is difficult because He has paid for everything. He’s creator of all things. When God speaks, it is completed. The question is, how do we walk in and experience what is already in our account? Well, there are many answers, but at the end of the day, I believe surrender and hunger are two of the greatest keys we could ever possess in accessing the Spirit of might, the Holy Spirit Himself.
Samson understood the Spirit of might after running miles carrying a gate to a city. Elijah knew the Spirit of might as he lived on no food for forty days and journeyed, and preached, and ministered. Paul knew the Spirit of might as he shook off a viper that bit him in the hand. Jesus understood the Spirit of might when all were healed in entire cities and villages. Just imagine—Jesus could cast a devil out of somebody in an entirely different city just through the spoken word. This is the Spirit of might in operation. It basically makes you a super Christian, where nothing is impossible. Jesus showed us the Spirit of might when He walked on water and multiplied bread and fish. The Holy Spirit will change you. The Holy Spirit will make you into a real man or woman of God. Your limitations will die when the Spirit of might touches your life.
When you think of the revivalists and the great voice of the healing movement, you think of Oral Roberts laying hands on ten thousand people in one night, many being healed as his hands touched them. Think of Kathryn Kuhlman, this frail, old woman traveling from city to city, preaching her heart out and ministering to the sick. Think of Maria Woodworth-Etter continuing in her ministry after losing five of her children to disease. As she would pull into a town, people would fall under the power a mile in each direction. How could this happen? The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of might. He takes your weakness and hides it in Himself. He then uses that weakness as space to fill you with His power.
How badly we need the Spirit of might today! Hospitals are fuller than ever. Nations around the world are waiting to hear the Gospel. Governments need to see miracles. Presidents and prime ministers have sick family members and their money cannot save them, yet they’re looking for somebody or something to deliver them. Churches are hungry for the genuine presence of God. Sickness stands and mocks the promises of God. All the while Jesus is waiting for somebody’s surrender to become the torch and the ignition for the Spirit of might to be on display. The Holy Spirit is more ready than we could ever be. He’s ready to touch the world. He’s ready to enforce what Jesus prayed for. What is He looking for? A life that recognizes its own weakness; somebody who says to themselves and to God, “I need You. I may not have much to give You, but if I get You, I get everything. Here I am, Lord. Touch me.”
I pray that like Paul in Romans 15:19, many will say of our lives, “Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God… [we] have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (KJV). And so, this is my prayer for you—it’s actually a Scripture that I would like to speak over you as you read this: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10 KJV).
The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
In 2008, I was privileged to be approached by one of the greatest women of God on planet Earth. Her name is Joy Dawson. I was assisting my father-in-law in those days. She walked up to me in a healing service in Long Beach, California, and said, “I would love to speak to you. I really believe that you and I are supposed to connect. When you have time, and only when you have time, would you come to my seat and chat with me a bit?” I was absolutely shocked that Joy Dawson had approached me. You have to understand, I grew up watching her on television, I had watched her teach, and she was a real hero to our family. Joy carries a real presence about her.
So, I walked up to Joy’s seat, squatted down, and for the first time had an in-depth conversation with her and her husband, Jim. Jim has gone on to be with the Lord now, and I miss him dearly. He was always in a wonderful mood, ready to laugh, and full of humility. At the end of the conversation, Joy said to me, “Here’s my phone number. Be sure to give me a call. I would like to begin speaking with you.” And so, we scheduled a call, and Joy and I spoke for the first time by telephone. The conversation lasted approximately two hours. It was riveting and full of God. I will never forget it.
Beginning with my mother, women of God have influenced my life in an amazing way. As you know, Kathryn Kuhlman, Basilea Sch-link, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Maria Woodworth-Etter have all deeply impacted my life. I would have to put Joy Dawson on that list as well. She has been a loving, faithful, truthful, and loyal friend to me for the last eight years.
That phone call was my introduction to the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. Joy carried it all over here, and it flowed from her mouth. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). This implies that without the fear of the Lord, we walk in foolishness and blindness before God. Our eyes are unable to see who He is. It is literally the gateway to the vision of God. The Bible says that Jesus was anointed with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord (see Isa. 11:2). The fear of the Lord is to be simply in awe of God. It is an awe that draws us to the Lord. It is an awe that creates a dependence on the Lord. The Bible says that those who fear the Lord have lips that are free from deceit (see Ps. 34:13). As Joy would say, this does not only mean that we tell the truth but that we tell all of the truth all of the time. There are no exaggerations or white lies in the fear of the Lord. It is an awareness that God is always there, always listening, and always watching. It is an absolute obsession with His presence and the understanding that we have His attention. As we grow in the fear of the Lord, we grow in wisdom. We begin to see the Lord for who He is. We understand that He is not just a lamb but is also a lion. That He is alpha and omega. That He is love and fire. A sobriety comes into our lives as we realize that we will give an account for everything done in this body, as Paul said in Second Corinthians 5:10.
When the fear of the Lord touches you, you begin to see the absolute holiness of the Lord. I believe this is what happened to John the beloved on the island of Patmos when he saw the resurrected Jesus in Revelation 1. This is why he fell dead at His feet. He saw into the Lord in a way that he had never seen before. This happened on the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, John, and James were afraid by what they saw: Jesus emitting flashes of lightning from His body, the cloud of the Holy Spirit hovering above them, the fire within the cloud, and the voice of the Father. What a scene as they encountered the fear of the Lord. Moses had this experience on Mount Sinai as he beheld the Ancient of Days, amazed by the fire that engulfed the entire mountain.
Perhaps you’re asking, “Then why would the Scripture tell us to approach the throne of grace boldly?” (see Heb. 4:16; Eph. 3:12). Let me explain what I mean by the word fear. As God moves into the scene and expresses Himself, our humanity realizes His absolute greatness. It is in holy experiences like this where we realize that God is everything, that He is pure and holy, and that He is absolute light with no darkness, or shadow, or turning (see James 1:17). While we are incredibly aware of His love for us, we also realize that He holds our breath in His hand and that we are but dust.
To be honest, I want a God whom I fear this way. I want a Jesus who is holy. I love the fact that He has eyes of fire and rod in His hand. I love the fact that He’s righteous and just. Understanding this makes me more amazed at the fact that this amazing God, who has no beginning and no end, would come and die for me. The Holy Spirit gives us the fear of the Lord. In fact, Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord (see Isa. 11:3). Jesus Himself was completely awestruck by the absolute holiness of His Father. How much more, then, should we!
I’m privileged to minister and have a relationship with many denominations and streams. I have preached to young and old, Baptists and Pentecostals, Catholics and Methodists, and everything in between. There’s something that has been concerning me as of late. It is the thought that because of God’s amazing grace, we no longer need the fear of the Lord. Proof that grace has touched your life is the presence of the fear of the Lord on your life. The Bible says that grace and truth come through Jesus (see John 1:17). In other words, they literally flow through the person of Jesus. He is the source and the means by which grace and truth come to our lives. Therefore, we should become more and more like Jesus every day if we are experiencing His grace.
The ancient fathers of the church used to say this about somebody who carried the glory of God: “He has been graced with the Holy Spirit.” In other words, grace was not so much a free pass to do whatever you want, but it was the power that bathed and wrapped God’s friends in the Holy Spirit. To put it quite simply, if you want to know that grace is flowing and winning in your life, you should be more like Jesus today than you were yesterday.
The fear of the Lord will challenge you. God will test you to see if you, like Jesus, will delight in the fear of the Lord. Charles Spurgeon says, “You are who you are when nobody is watching.” In other words, if you want to know the real you, the real you is the one who lives when nobody is watching. I’ve had God challenge me so many times in private with what might look like small things—like putting a shopping cart back that’s out in the middle of a parking lot, or picking up a piece of garbage, or giving a poor person a few dollars. Sometimes He challenges me to pick up somebody’s tab in a restaurant. Maybe you’re asking, “What’s that got to do with the fear of the Lord?” Everything! When His voice outweighs the opinions of men and your own opinions, you are beginning to walk in the fear of the Lord. The beauty of this is that God will begin to open up the treasure of wisdom as He sees that we can be trusted with the fear of the Lord. His wisdom is so precious that it must fall into the lives of those who are trustworthy and have shown Him that they value Him above all else. Character carries gifting and revelation. The fear of the Lord forges character in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to have the fear of the Lord, but with Him it is your promise.