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Holy Spirit Our Friend

There are moments in life that change the entire course of your future. For me, one of those moments happened in 1992 while serving in the U.S. Navy off the coast of Egypt in the Red Sea. I had just given my life to Jesus three days earlier. I was a brand-new believer, young in faith, and still trying to grasp what salvation even meant.

But one night, as I was lying in my rack, half-asleep, I encountered something I had never experienced before—both the reality of spiritual darkness, and more importantly, the reality of the Holy Spirit as my closest Friend.

That night I heard voices.  They mocked my new faith. They cursed at me. They told me I wasn’t saved and that my conversion to Christ wasn’t real. Fear gripped my heart. The voices tormented me. Some how I finally drifted into a restless sleep.

And then, in the middle of that night, something powerful happened. From deep within me I heard words that woke me like a thunderclap: “Abba, Father.”

Galatians 4:6 came alive in that moment:

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”

It wasn’t me speaking—it was the Spirit of God within me. Suddenly, I felt the floodgates of heaven’s love pour over me. It was as if the weight of glory itself pinned me to my bunk. My whole body tingled with waves of God’s presence. For the first time, I realized the Holy Spirit wasn’t just a doctrine or a distant influence—He was a Person, and He was my Friend.


Forgotten but Present

Sadly, many believers today overlook this Friend. We talk much about God the Father and Jesus the Son, and the Holy Scriptures and rightly so, but often the Spirit is treated as an “it”—a vague force, a feeling, or worse, a forgotten member of the Trinity.

But the Holy Spirit is not an “it.” He is God. He is a Person. He has emotions, desires, and a will. And He has chosen to make His dwelling inside every believer.

1 Corinthians 3:16 reminds us:

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

The Spirit’s address is not some distant throne room—it’s our very lives. He longs to walk with us, speak with us, and shape us into the image of Christ.

Yet too often, He becomes the “forgotten One.” We forget to acknowledge Him. We confuse Him with His gifts—tongues, prophecy, healing, wisdom—without recognizing that the greatest gift He gives is Himself.

Philippians 2:1 says, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit…” That “common sharing” is fellowship with the Spirit. His primary gift is communion, friendship, and relationship.


Three Desires of the Holy Spirit

Over the years, I’ve learned that the Holy Spirit carries three great desires for every believer. If we can recognize these and respond to them, our walk with God will be transformed.


1. The Spirit Desires Relationship

From the moment He cried “Abba, Father” within me, I knew the Holy Spirit was not a distant force but a Friend who wanted to walk with me daily.

Proverbs 18:24 says:

“Some friendships don’t last for long, but there is one loving friend who is joined to your heart closer than any other.” (TPT)

The Spirit doesn’t just want to visit us on Sundays or when we feel spiritual. He wants to live in constant fellowship with us. He wants to be talked to, acknowledged, and honored.

Think of the friendship between Jonathan and David in the Old Testament. Jonathan was loyal, sacrificial, and deeply attached to David, even though David was chosen to replace Jonathan’s father Saul as king (1 Samuel 18–20). Their friendship was rooted in covenant, loyalty, and love.

That is only a shadow of what the Spirit desires with us. Just as David and Jonathan walked in covenant friendship, the Holy Spirit longs for us to walk with Him in intimacy, loyalty, and daily fellowship.

And yet, how often do we treat Him like the “elephant in the room”? He is within us, waiting for communion, but we live as if He isn’t there.

The first desire of the Holy Spirit is to be recognized and received as our closest Friend.


2. The Spirit Desires Sanctification

When we are born again, our spirit is instantly made alive. But our soul—our mind, will, and emotions—remains in need of transformation. And our body still carries the weaknesses of the flesh.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says:

“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Sanctification is not a one-time event; it’s a process. It’s the Spirit’s work of making us more like Jesus day by day.

Jesus explained it in John 15:1–8 when He described Himself as the Vine and us as the branches. Branches don’t produce fruit by striving—they bear fruit by abiding. Our role is surrender; His role is transformation.

Romans 12:1–2 makes it clear:

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice… be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

We present. He transforms.

As Pastor Vlad Savchuk has said:
“Salvation came when Jesus died in our place, but sanctification comes when we let Jesus live in our place.”

The Spirit loves us too much to leave us as we are. His desire is to purify, renew, and shape us until Christ is formed in us. Holiness isn’t about trying harder; it’s about yielding deeper.


3. The Spirit Desires Empowerment

The Christian life was never meant to be lived in our own strength. Jesus didn’t just give His disciples a message; He gave them His Spirit.

John 21 tells a story that captures this perfectly. After the resurrection, some of the disciples went fishing. All night they caught nothing. But when Jesus appeared on the shore, He told them to cast the net on the right side. When they obeyed, their nets overflowed with fish.

The difference wasn’t in their effort—it was in their obedience to divine direction. That is the role of the Spirit in our lives: He directs us, empowers us, and causes us to bear fruit that we could never produce on our own.

The Spirit empowers us for:

  • Direction → guiding us in decisions (Jeremiah 10:23, Proverbs 14:12).

  • Protection → strengthening us against darkness (Isaiah 59:19).

  • Breakthrough → releasing God’s power through us (Isaiah 10:27).

The Spirit within us is for us—transforming us. But the Spirit upon us is for others—empowering us to serve, to witness, to bring freedom, healing, and deliverance.

Acts 1:8 declares:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…”

This is His longing—that His power would not only preserve us but flow through us to impact the world.


Living With Your Closest Friend

The Holy Spirit is not distant. He is not silent. He is not forgotten. He is here—within us, among us, and upon us—longing for friendship, sanctification, and empowerment.

Revelation 3:20 gives us a picture of His invitation:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

The Spirit is knocking. He doesn’t just want a Sunday visit; He wants to move into every room of your life. He wants to enter the kitchen of your heart, to sit at the table of your daily decisions, to walk with you in every detail of life.

Your heart is always being filled with something—either with the Spirit of God, or with the things of the flesh and the world. The choice is ours.

When we choose the Spirit, we discover that He is more than the Giver of gifts—He is the Gift Himself.


Final Thoughts

The Holy Spirit is our Friend. He is not an “it,” not a force, not a forgotten idea. He is God living within us.

  • He desires relationship—to walk with you daily.

  • He desires sanctification—to transform you into the image of Christ.

  • He desires empowerment—to release His power through you for others.

When you live in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, you are never alone. He is closer than a brother, more faithful than a friend, and more powerful than anything this world can offer.

So today, don’t just acknowledge Him. Talk to Him. Yield to Him. Walk with Him.

Because when you do, you’ll discover the greatest reality of the Christian life: the Spirit of God is not just with you—He is your Friend within you.

Love Pastor Steve