Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God, so that we might experience the things that are freely lavished upon us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:12

Many years ago a group I was with got caught out in the woods on a moonless night without flashlights. It was pitch dark, so we held hands to try to not run into anything. The problem was, none of us could see where we were going so though we were together we kept stumbling into briars, prickers, trees, and so forth.

That memory comes back to me when I think about much of my early ‘training’ about the Holy Spirit. It’s not that my teaching about all God has for us was out of sync with all the other teachers I knew, it was just that none of us had enough “light” to be of any use to ourselves, much less anyone else. And even today, many Christians are in the same situation. Plenty of company, but collectively no further enlightened than my friends and I when we were walking in the dark.

Let’s start with the basics. The Holy Spirit is with us from the moment we invite Jesus into our lives and become born again. Problem is, a lot of Christians stop right there. Yes they’re headed for heaven someday, but meanwhile, they miss out on all that could be theirs through the deeper experience of the Holy Spirit (“things that are freely lavished upon us”).

Then there are Christians who testify to a second impartance of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Many Christians attest to that experience and stop right there. But again, they miss out on all that could be theirs through the deeper experience of the Holy Spirit.

So these Christians, realizing that they are missing out on something vital or life-enhancing in their Christian walk—reading the Bible and noticing the promises it makes about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christians—make tacit attempts to get some Holy Spirit in their lives. Often that starts and ends with a fascination with the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ or the ‘Gifts of the Spirit’—both allusions to the Spirit’s personality, but not the Spirit, Himself.

According to today’s verse, beyond salvation, beyond a second experience, the Holy Spirit wants to meet us personally and shower us with more of all God has for us.

So since we’re sticking to the basics right now, if we want the Spirit to meet us personally and shower us with more of all God has for us, two obvious things to start doing are:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to meet with us and reveal Himself to us in personal ways.
2. Ask people we know who seem to walk closer with the Spirit than we do to pray for us to receive more of the Spirit’s tangible presence in our lives.

Now we have received… the Spirit of God, so that we might experience the things that are freely lavished upon us by God (1 Cor 2:12).