We hear a lot of preaching about the Holy Spirit in some circles of the modern Church, but the message being preached today is very different from what used to be preached.

Today we come to be blessed by God, but in the past they came to be possessed by God. Today we come to get ‘stuff’ from God, but in the past they came to lay down their all for God. Today we come to be healed, but in the past they gave up their lives so God could heal the world through them. In the past people came to altar to lay something down, but now were supposed to come forward to receive something new.

Because we don’t meet the Spirit of God on the same conditions as our forefathers, He in turn does not meet us like He met them. We are blessed, but afterward we do not obey. The Bible states we should ‘walk in the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16), yet as soon as we get out of God’s house, we begin to walk in the flesh again. We set our minds on what we want, need or feel, and the Spirit is grieved. Where are the men and women of the Spirit?

In the 1930s, Rees Howells taught the staff at his Bible College to allow the Spirit to enter and take full possession. They had all lived sacrificial Christian lives for many years, but the Holy Spirit showed them, “There is all the difference in the world between your surrendered life in My hands and I living My life in your body.” When they considered the cost, they realised that the Spirit never lives for self, but for the will and purposes of God the Father. Therefore, if they responded, He would lead them into a deeper life of crucifixion, in order for Christ’s resurrection to be manifested through them.

‘Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?’ (1 Chronicles 29:5).

This is an excerpt from the book ‘Holy Spirit Power! Knowing the Voice, Guidance and Person of the Holy Spirit’ by Paul Backholer and is used by permission.