Who is the Holy Spirit?

Many years ago, a book called The Helper by Katherine Marshall fell into my hands through a good friend.  The book, probably now out of print, was about the Holy Spirit and all the ways He "helps" us.  Marshall had spent an entire summer researching her topic, spending an hour a day just looking up biblical references --Old Testament and New---to the Holy Spirit and taking notes. 

Marshall's book opened my eyes to all the ways the Holy Spirit ministers to us on a daily basis, even when we are not aware of His Presence.  It was such a gift to hear and see the Spirit at work, and it made me more willing to pray to Him about the little things that make up living.  And being willing to consult Him about the little things made me even more aware of how present He is---and how active He is---at all times.  We are not alone!  Ever!

On our own, we would not dare to ask or to expect the Spirit's help minute -to -minute.  Somehow, we think that we are supposed to help ourselves as far as we can, and then when we are desperate and helpless, ask for God's intervention.  What I have discovered is that we do not have to wait until we have exhausted all of our own resources.  If we walk with the Spirit from the beginning of each task, seeking his direction in the small things, we do not have to reach the point of desperation.  And having a Helper along the way is like a marriage, where we are free to ask for help even in the little things----will you pour the beer while I finish the steaks?  No one thinks that he/she should call for help from one's spouse only the ladder has fallen and we are hanging from the roof!  But that's the way we treat the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, even though you might still be able to purchase Marshall's book online, I would like to make available her insights, maybe with some examples from my own life---as she did from hers.  My greatest desire is that everyone I know would have the courage to cultivate a day-to-day relationship with the Holy Spirit, asking for His help in everything, in every little thing, and would thereby come to know His continuing Presence as The Helper.

This morning, for example, as I sat down with a cup of hot coffee, the Spirit immediately began to bring to my mind a couple of things that I wanted or needed to do today.  I picked up a notepad to jot down the list so that I wouldn't get distracted during the day and forget---which I am wont to do.  As I wrote each item, though, I found that another one would pop into my mind.  Suddenly, I realized that the Spirit was directing my day, rather than allowing me to roam around aimlessly with regret that I was not doing the things that needed doing.  Does anyone know what a gift this is to a scatter-brained person like myself?

Jesus told the woman at the well, If you knew the Gift of God [the Holy Spirit], you would ask, and I would give you, Living Water. 

Tomorrow I will begin to unfold some of what Katherine Marshall discovered about the Holy Spirit.  I am sure she will not mind my doing so, because she wrote the book "out of [her] own spiritual need to speak to those who share [her] longing for thirst-quenching quaffs of the Living Water." 

The Gift of the Holy Spirit is so great that I cannot keep it to myself; I want the same Gift to overflow into the lives of all those I love.