Originally publised on Blogger 3/24/12
"Higalamashunda, higalamashunda...", she would say. It seemed weird to hear these words because they were completely alien to me. As my mother uttered these words I sat there and for the life of me could not understand what she was saying. Next thing I know her friends started talking in tongues so our living room became a very interesting place to be for a teenager who didn't understand what was going on. To be real, this freaked me out because I really didn't understand what was going on.
Maybe my lack of understanding was because I was a teenager who just was a little aloof. Maybe my mom didn't really explain what talking in tongues amounted to. Either way I was not getting it because it was gibberish to me and led me to think of God as something far off. Had I been properly taught who the Holy Spirit was I might not have been so ignorant and would have enjoyed a much fuller walk with God at that time. Don't get me wrong because my mom taught us who God was but in not teaching young people that God is real, even that God has a sense of humour we lose them to the ignorance of the world or the seduction of a "independent" life.
You see the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who allows the believer to talk in unknown languages/utterances, and that He prays for us in that language when we don't know what to say, and is an extension of the Godhead. He is there to whisper to us things God wants us to do, or a word of encouragement that will move us forward in life. He is not a ghost who comes to spook us but a real, living extension of God in our lives, who ministers to our spirit.
The Holy Spirit is like a midget wrestler who is standing on the outside of the ring, while we are getting our teeth kicked in by life, the Holy Spirit is sitting on the outside begging us to be tagged in. Pleading with us to be tagged in so he can kick the tar out of that thing or situation. Its up to us as to whether we welcome Him in our lives. If we don't we limit ourselves in our walk with God and ultimately cannot be fully actualized as children of God.
I will honestly say that walking with Him, the Holy Spirit, is so sweet but hard. There is joy in knowing that you are empowered by God's spirit as it powers your soul. Unfortunately its hard for most of us to submit to God and to welcome the Holy Spirit in our lives. Many of us, including myself, have a tendency to try and to do everything ourselves. We try to live up to God's Word even though that's not what He wants of us. We don't want to welcome the Holy Spirit in our lives and ultimately this leads to us being lost and lacking.
I encourage parents to be real with who and what God is, and to let their kids know who the Holy Spirit is. Otherwise, young people will be turned off from Him. They have to know that the still inner voice is the Spirit whispering to them, and must be taught how to recognize and respond to that voice. This will only happen if we can properly let people know who and what He is an honest way what He is.
With the Holy Spirit we can walk fully in God, with God walking us from glory to glory. Without the Holy Spirit in our lives young people, or anyone else, cannot be complete in God. Don't be scared that kids will be freaked out, be honest and tell them about the Godhead. Tell them about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you don't then someone who doesn't know who and what He is will, and your child could be lost to God because of your own inaction.
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