text: The Holy Spirit's heart brings life in Christ to those who seek him. Isaiah 32.15-17 tells us that "till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. The Lord's justice will dwell in the desert. His righteousness lives in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever." "The human heart" is like a wilderness until the Holy Spirit renews it, and it becomes first a green pasture and then a mature forest. ✞
  Heart Transplant
  This new life in Christ is like having a heart transplant and receiving a brand new human heart. The prophet Ezekiel 36.26-27 confirms that in the new order, "the Lord will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." The prophet Ezekiel foresees that individuals will be renewed with a Holy Spirit's heart when he comes upon the people. Their human souls will be regenerated spiritually by God. ✞
  Pour Out My Spirit
  In Joel 2.28-29, the Lord says, "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." This prophecy indicates the renewal of the human heart. It also suggests that in new covenant times, the renewed life in Christ will be given on a broad scale to women, men, girls, and boys, in fact to all his faithful people. ✞
  Come Holy Ghost
  In the Ninth Century AD, Latin monks wrote some beautiful words about the Holy Spirit's coming. They were translated into English by John Cosin (1594-1672) in 1627. The lovely words begin, "Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
  And lighten with celestial fire.
  Thou the anointing Spirit art,
  Who dost thy seven-fold gifts impart." "Come Holy Spirit" is our prayer today! ✞
  Indwelling Holy Spirit
  The Holy Spirit lives in, motivates, resources, and directs the Christian moment by moment and day by day. Pat Robertson (1930-present) of the 700 Club once wrote, "When you come to Jesus Christ, you receive Christ into your heart. Jesus does not physically enter into your chest cavity and live there, but the Spirit of God comes and joins with the spirit of the believer." Saint Paul pulls no punches when he writes in 1 Corinthians 3.16, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" In other words, you have a Holy Spirit heart! The indwelling Holy Spirit reproduces the life of Jesus in the believer. ✞
  New Life in Christ
  Isaiah 44.3-4 announced a great blessing hundreds of years before Jesus came, "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams." The followers of Christ are to have the same promised Holy Spirit poured upon them to refresh and renew them in their new life in Christ. They are like fresh grass in a meadow or green poplar trees by flowing rivers of freshwater. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are the virtues of this new life in Christ. Zechariah 4.6 declares, "So he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty.'" A Holy Spirit's heart is the key to a fulfilled life in Christ. ✞
  Resources of God
  Max Lucado writes, "The Wizard of Oz says look inside yourself and find self. God says, look inside yourself and find the Holy Spirit. The first will get you to Kansas. The latter will get you to heaven. Take your pick." Our power and strength are insufficient, but the Holy Spirit calls on the rich resources of God for those who have abundant life in Christ. 1 Peter 1.10-11 adds, "Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow." The Holy Spirit's heart indwells the prophets as they forecast his coming. ✞
  New Covenant Outpouring
  Joel writes of the Christian era when God will pour out his Spirit on all people. Sons and daughters, old men, and young men will be filled. The New Covenant outpouring of the Holy Spirit is general rather than individual. The Holy Spirit's heart fills the prophets intermittently but will be permanently in us in our new life in Christ. Saint Paul confirms this in Romans 8.9 "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the Spirit's realm, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ." ✞