Make Room – The Spirit of God

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason and Liz Burns in Access Church in Lakeland and Bartow, Florida.

For more information, visit Access.tv.

A few days ago, I was flipping through my phone through some old pictures, and I stumbled across a picture of someone that I love so much.

It was my grandpa.

I called him Papa.

I don't know if anybody had a papa, but I had the best one, and if you disagree, I will fight you for it.

He was the best.

And I love my papa, and he lived this amazing life.

He was born in 1925.

And I was thinking, man, like what a crazy time to be alive.

He lived 95 years.

And in those 95 years, think about how different the world was.

I was just thinking about it.

Like, okay, according to Google, uh, there was no air conditioning in 1925, there was not refrigerators in 1925, there was not television in 1925, and radio was just kind of becoming a thing.

So he went from none of that technology to living until the very beginning days of artificial intelligence.

Like, can you think about all that?

Think about all that change.

And one of the things I so thought was funny about my grandpa was he was always like on the cusp of getting the new stuff.

Like he wanted to see what was new and he enjoyed having the new gadgets and toys and technology.

And I'll never forget the first time he got an iPad.

And it was cool because now he could play solitaire and hearts in his living room instead of having to walk all the way to the couch, you know.

And so he now he could do this.

But then my favorite thing though was when he got the iPad, he learned that he could FaceTime with somebody.

Now, we've had FaceTime for many, many years.

For my kids, they've never grown up in a world really without FaceTime.

But for him, it was so cool that he could hold an iPad and look at the person he was talking to.

I'll never forget the first time I talked to him.

He's holding the iPad and he looked at me and he looked at it and he said these words.

He said, That's not possible.

Like his whole life, he can never talk to someone face to face through a device like this.

He could talk on the phone, but never like this.

And he said, That's not possible.

Now, because he's a grandpa, he didn't say, That's not possible.

You know this.

Grandparents don't talk like that.

They hold the iPad down here where you can see up their nose.

That's not possible.

That's what he said.

But to him, it wasn't possible, but I want you to see this, but it still happened.

Like you get this, right?

Like, just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's not true.

Now, this this is true for so many of us in most parts of our lives.

Like, I have no idea how my TV last night showed me college football games.

I don't know how that happened, but I know that it happened.

So very often what we tend to do is we tend to just accept things that we don't understand because it's it's working.

But for some reason, when it comes to God, a lot of Christians flip it.

And what they do is they say, if I don't understand him, I can't follow him.

And if there's one place that I think you need to make room in your life, if there's one challenge that I could have for you as we start this 2026 year of pursuing God, it's that you and I would become people who really know and love the Holy Spirit.

And for whatever reason, so many people they they put they stiff arm him, they have a block, they don't really want to know the Holy Spirit because he is weird to them.

I'll never forget some years ago our church was relatively young, and I had this new couple in the church that came up to me after a service and they said, We got to talk to you.

Can we can we meet up?

And I said, Sure.

So we met up at a coffee shop one day that week, and I get there, and they're both sitting there.

Their Bibles are both open to the book of Acts, and they asked me this question.

They say, Jason, look, what is it?

Like, what is what?

They said, What is it?

What is what is what?

They said, What is the Holy Spirit?

What is it?

And I was like, Well, first of all, it's not an it, it's a person.

He's a person.

And I think this matters because for a lot of us, we stiff arm what we don't understand about the Holy Spirit, but you need to understand he's a person, and why does it matter?

Because you can't have an a relationship with an object.

You can only have a relationship with the person.

He is the person of the Holy Spirit.

And I went on to talk to them, and what I found was they had come to Access from a whole lifetime of being in a great church, but it was a it was a Baptist church, and the Baptist church taught the Bible, but they didn't like teach the whole Bible.

Like they taught the parts that feel good and that are about grace and all that, but they would skip over the parts that maybe felt uncomfortable or felt like it was outside of their theology.

So every once in a while, someone will say to me, Jason, what does Access believe about the Holy Spirit?

I'm like, easy.

We believe the Bible.

They're like, Yeah, yeah, but tell me more.

I'm like, we just believed the whole Bible.

Like all of it.

Like, what about this?

I'm like, yeah, we if it's in the Bible, we believe it.

And it's like some people will say things like, Okay, cool.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, but when the Holy Spirit was there, it was like right after Jesus left.

But when all those people, all those disciples and followers of Jesus, when they all died, the Holy Spirit left with them.

And I'm like, cool, I believe that too.

Except it's not in the Bible.

Like, I just believe the Bible.

Now, for whatever reason, a lot of people they they grow up with this hesitation.

Like, we're good with God the Father, we're good, we're good with that.

And we're good with Jesus, God the Son, like He saves us and changes us, we're good with that.

But the Holy Spirit, for whatever reason, it's like he's gotten some bad marketing, like it's it's hard to get our minds around who the Holy Spirit is.

Like you read the Bible in an old translation, like the King James Bible, and he's not called the Holy Spirit, he's called the Holy Ghost.

And I'm like, even spirits and ghosts, that feels like Halloween.

It doesn't, it doesn't seem normal to me, but I would like to do this.

Would you do me the favor of giving the Holy Spirit a clean plate page, a fresh slate today?

And let me teach you from the Bible who he is, because I want you to make room for him in your life.

Let me say it as clearly as I can.

If you fall asleep during the message, the Holy Spirit is a person, he is a gift from God to you, and I don't think you should live one more moment of your life without his presence in you.

It's a big deal, okay?

Now, when you read the Bible, the Bible's very clear.

First of all, the Bible, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek.

The word Holy Spirit or Spirit of God is found over 800 times in the Bible.

In the Old Testament, here's the word, it's the word ruach.

You gotta say it like you got some popcorn stuck in the back of your throat.

Ruach.

And ruach means a wind, a breath, a violent exhalation, a blast of breath.

This is the picture of the Holy Spirit is is is not like a ghost, it's it's like a breeze, it's like a fresh breath.

That's that's what the Bible says.

We meet the Holy Spirit like in the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:1.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1 verse 2.

Genesis 1:2

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the ruach of God was hovering over the waters.

Like from the very beginning of time, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have all been active in our lives.

He's an active part.

Now, in the Old Testament, the word is ruach.

In the New Testament, the word that we would translate from Greek, the original language, to English, is this word pneuma.

Now, this is a big deal because pneuma means a current of air, a blast of breath, or a strong breeze.

Now I want you to see this.

Like, think about this.

Even the word pneuma, it's it's the root that we would transliterate into words like pneumonia, because it has to do with our breathing, it has to do with our breath.

Both of these words really don't feel like what some of us have as a misconception of who the Holy Spirit is.

Jesus was talking about him one day in John chapter 6, and he said, The words I have spoken to you, they are pneuma and they are life.

John 6 · chapter mention

It should be like a breath of fresh air.

The Holy Spirit indwell in you should feel like wind at your back, like power in your sails.

It should feel different than many of you really have come to think of when you think of the Holy Spirit.

So if both words mean wind or breath, what are the characteristics of those things?

Write these down because this is important.

Number one, wind is unseen.

And just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not active.

Are you with me on this?

And a lot of people will hear this and think, well, well, Jason, you're just talking about serving God based on your feelings.

I'm absolutely not saying that.

In fact, let me say it to you like this: feelings are not always truth-tellers.

Sometimes they are good indicators, but what you need to know about feelings is we're not led by our feelings, but it's nice sometimes when the feelings follow our decisions.

And so I want you to see this.

Wind is unseen.

Uh, in the book of John, Jesus is talking in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

This is during the Lord's Supper, or like what we just took communion a moment ago.

Jesus said the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

The promise of the Holy Spirit is that Jesus says he'll be in you.

That if God the Father is God for us, and Jesus is God the Son and He's God with us, Emmanuel, God the Holy Spirit is God in us.

And I want you to understand this.

A lot of people struggle because they're like, I I know, I hear you, but I I can't I can't explain it.

And I want you to understand this.

There's some things in our lives that can be explained.

There's some things that just have to be experienced.

And the Holy Spirit, I mean, I can try to make an argument.

In fact, that's what I'm doing today.

I'm gonna walk you through the Bible and explain who the Holy Spirit is, but I won't be content, and you'll never fully understand until you've experienced him for yourself.

He is a gift from God to you.

Let's go back to talk about wind, okay?

I need you to know wind is unseen.

Another thing about wind is wind is unpredictable.

You don't know which way it's gonna go.

Jesus himself even said that in the book of John, chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

He answered, the wind blows wherever it pleases.

You can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Jesus said, the Holy Spirit is active in the earth, and he doesn't always do things the same way.

Now that's hard for some Christians because we like our Christianity to fit like in a little box.

Like we like to show up, sing three songs, not really lift our hands, not really get engaged.

Like we want to keep God in this little tight-knit, clean box.

The Holy Spirit doesn't seem to work that way.

Like, for example, if we were to go back into the Old Testament, remember when God delivers the people of Israel out of years of captivity to Egypt, and as they're leaving, they get stuck at the Red Sea.

God speaks to Moses, and Moses lifts his rod, and the Red Sea parts.

Like, if that was the way God speaks to humanity, every church would be called the first church of the Red Sea, second church of the Red Sea.

But it's not.

God speaks in those kinds of moments, God speaks at burning bushes, and God speaks lots of different ways.

We can never really predict the way he's going to do it because he's God and we are not.

Here's another one wind is powerful.

You understand this.

Wind can turn a turbine, wind can propel a ship that's catching the wind by its anchor.

Wind also can be destructive, when like a hurricane, it can bring all kinds of damage.

But you know wind is powerful.

And Jesus, he was talking about the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, and he says this.

He's telling his disciples, God's sending a gift to you, and he says, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

The word here in Greek for the word power is an interesting word.

It's the word dunamis.

It's the word that we would use and translate into English as dynamite.

So God, Jesus is saying to his people, like, when the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, it's like this dynamite power.

It is a strength to do what you can't do on your own.

Let me take it a step farther for some of you.

There are some of you, every time we say to you, like, we want you to share your faith, invite someone to church, there's this little part of you that kind of withers.

You think to yourself, like, good, like I hope everyone else does it, but like I can't do it.

You know what the rest of that verse says?

Jesus says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus says, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is he gives you power, and it's not power to just get through your day, it's power to share what he has done in and through you.

One more, I need you to know this wind is refreshing.

Now, uh, one of my favorite things about living in Florida for so long is when people who are not from Florida come to Florida and they move here and they get to like June and they're like, Woo! How much hotter can I get?

And I want to be like, honey, listen, it's still preheating.

Like, we're not even there yet.

Like, come see me when you're medium well.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, but every September there's a day.

Come on, you know this.

For me, it's I go to the gym early.

There's a day, it's like you walk outside and it's like, ooh, someone turned on the air conditioning.

It's not cold yet, but it's like, ooh, and you just walk out and the the air feels different, the sun feels different, everything feels different.

You ever had a day when you just spend a day at the beach and you and you just felt so refreshed?

This is another picture of what wind does for us.

In the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing a church in Corinth and he says, For the Lord is the Spirit, the Pneuma, and wherever the pneuma, the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

But what a gift.

He says, So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord, and the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

I need you to understand that the Holy Spirit is a gift from us.

Your life will never be the same.

It'll go from boring and predictable to this unpredictable, supernatural kind of life when you are filled with and living by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I want this for you.

Now, earlier today at all of our locations, we had this beautiful moment where we took communion together as a church, as homework and just for fun.

I'd like you to go home and read John, starting in chapter 13.

John 13, Jesus gathers his disciples and washes their feet.

It's like the day before he's going to be crucified, he's serving others.

John 14 through 17 is the Lord's Supper.

Jesus gathers his disciples for this last meal.

And what's interesting is if you read it quickly, you'll see that Jesus talks a lot about the Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because the Holy Spirit is God's gift to us.

At one point, as Jesus was teaching, Jesus said, It's literally better for me to go than for me to stay.

Why?

Because life is better with the Holy Spirit in us.

Anyways, after this meal, Jesus, you know the story, he's crucified, he rises again from the dead, and for just a short period of time, he shows up talking to people, and there's this moment where he shows up and his disciples are in a room.

This is when he has that moment with doubting Thomas.

And then it says this in John 20, verse 22, and with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20:22

Why would Jesus say this?

Because he knew it was for their good.

Now in the Bible, we have four accounts Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These are the four accounts of Jesus' life.

We call those the gospels.

But Luke, who wrote the book of, Luke, it's really easy.

Luke, who wrote that?

He wrote the next book, the fifth book of the New Testament called Acts.

And Luke, it's like he picks up where this moment leaves off, and it says this, on one occasion, while he was eating with them, this is right before Jesus is gonna leave and go back to heaven.

It says he gave them this commandment.

He says, Hey, don't leave Jerusalem.

Stay here.

Do not leave Jerusalem, but I want you to wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

Notice he calls the Holy Spirit a gift.

And he says, Here's what's gonna happen.

He says, For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And then something unbelievable happens.

The disciples they gather in a room upstairs.

We call it the upper room.

I have been in the room that we believe it was happening in.

And all of a sudden the Bible says there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind.

It's the sound of wind, and the wind comes rushing through.

And all these 120 people who are there have this same dramatic experience.

It's dramatic.

All of a sudden, they're speaking in a language they can't explain.

They see like fire.

It's this really beautiful, kind of hard to explain moment, but they all experienced it together, and then they leave the room, and then in Acts chapter 2, it picks up here.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

It says amazed and perplexed, which is like how we would be.

Did that just did we just like I wasn't making that up, right?

Like we all had that same experience.

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, well, what does this mean?

Some, however, made fun of them and said, They have had too much wine.

And this is the reason you need to understand this principle is that people who don't have haven't experienced it will always make fun of it until they experience it.

The story goes on.

It says, Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.

Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain to you this.

Listen carefully to what I say.

He says, These people are not drunk as you suppose.

It's only nine in the morning.

They haven't had time yet, is what he's saying.

He says, No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

And when he says this, I think everyone in the room goes, Oh, because in those days, children from the beginning of the education system were taught the words of the Bible, which at that time would have been the Old Testament.

And they would have heard about prophecies by a man named Joel.

And Joel says things like, Um, God promises he will pour his spirit out on all flesh, all people can receive the Holy Spirit.

He says, This gift is for you and your children.

And then he goes on and he makes it even more clear.

He says, Your uh young men will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams.

He makes this beautiful moment, and all these people are like, Oh, this is what's happening.

God is doing this supernatural thing where the Holy Spirit is coming and he's changing people.

And then the story goes on.

Peter just confronted this group of people, and then remember Peter?

Like Peter was this interesting character because he had some epic highlight moments with Jesus, and he had some really, really dark low moments with Jesus.

Like Peter was the one who walked on water, but Peter was also the one who like denied even knowing Jesus when it came time for Jesus' crucifixion.

And Peter, who was too scared to even speak to a little child about his relationship with Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, the power, the dunamous power of the Holy Spirit, steps outside and he says to everyone, Repent and be baptized.

Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

And he says, And you will receive the gift.

Over and over is this word, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

He says, This promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.

Peter says to all these people, thousands of people he's speaking to.

This man who was too timid to talk to a child now gets up and speaks to all the people.

Why?

Because he's encountered the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has changed him, has made him different.

There is a new power, a new authority.

There's a new audacity in him because of what he's experienced.

And I want that for you.

Okay?

So here's what I want to challenge you to do.

I'm gonna give you two challenges, and then I'm gonna ask you a question that I think will change everything.

Okay?

Write these down.

Number one, I challenge you to let go of fears and misconceptions.

Just start over.

Just say, God, I trust that you're a good father and I want your best from me.

In the book of James, James says it like this.

He says, Every good and perfect gift is where?

It's from above.

It's coming down from the Father of the heavenly light who does not change like shifting shadows.

What James says is the person of the Holy Spirit and the gift of his power and his presence, it's a gift from God, and you need to know that everything good, it's a gift from your father who loves you.

Do you believe that God is a good God who loves you?

Then why wouldn't you want his best?

Second thing I want to challenge you to do is I want you to pray this.

Say, God, would you give me all that you have for me?

I just want all that you have.

Whatever your best is, I want it for me.

I think a lot of us, I said it earlier, we like to kind of confine God into this neat package, like this neat little box where we understand everything.

In the book of Ezekiel, there's this interesting prophecy.

It says this, it says, as the man went eastern with the measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through the water, and the water was ankle deep.

I'll explain it in just a moment.

It goes on.

It says, He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through the water that was knee deep.

So the water goes up about 18 inches.

He measured off another thousand and led me through the water that was up to the waist, and it goes on, and he measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in, a river that no one could cross.

I think this is a picture of a lot of our relationships with God and specifically the Holy Spirit.

We we have this like moment where it's like, okay, I need to do this, I want to pursue what God has for me.

So we step in, but like we step in ankle deep.

I want you to think about this.

If you were standing in a river up to your ankles, what's happening?

Are you in?

Yeah.

But you're still in control.

He says, then I measured off another cubits and I stepped in and the water was up to my knees.

What happens?

You're still taking a step, like you're not fully in, but you're just kind of in, but you're still in control.

And then there's the waste, and it's the same thing.

But then he says, then there's that moment when you just go all in.

You just kind of just trust and you step in.

And I think a lot of us we've we've settled for the ankle deep experience with God.

Instead of asking for all that He has for us, we just settle for this and we never pursue it.

And I want to challenge you.

Maybe don't even go all the way, but maybe just take a step.

Just say, God, I'm choosing to take a step.

What does that look like?

For some of us, it means worshiping the way He wants to be worshipped.

What does that mean?

It means instead of showing up and standing there, you lift your hands.

Why do we lift our hands?

It's not because it was my idea.

I think it's an interesting idea, but it was God's idea.

He says, Lift your hands and worship in the sanctuary.

I didn't make that up.

He did.

It's take a step.

Maybe for you it's start the process of serving other people.

Maybe for you it's start the process of living open handedly and generously.

But take a step to Towards him.

And when it comes to the person of the Holy Spirit, I challenge you.

Make this decision that this year I'm going to get closer and closer and closer.

And I promise you that if you will let go and go all in, you'll experience God in a way you can't even understand.

Let me end with this thought.

At the end of his letter to a church in Corinth, Paul writes a benediction, kind of the end of a prayer.

And he says, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

He he names all three parts of the Trinity.

And I love what he says.

He says, May the grace of Jesus, because really our whole connection to God starts with what Jesus did for us, the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, which is this beautiful picture of our Father in heaven who loves us with a perfect love.

And then he says, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Fellowship is just a fancy kind of a churchy word for friendship.

A man named Eugene Peterson translated this verse, and it's a paraphrase in the message translation.

He says, The amazing grace of the Master Jesus Christ.

The extravagant love of God talking about the Father.

And the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit.

I want that for all of you.

And that's what I want for all of you.

I wonder how many of you have settled for a God the Father and God the Son kind of relationship with God.

But you've missed the intimate friendship with the Holy Spirit.

Here's the question I want to ask.

Who wouldn't want that?

In fact, think about that question as I show you three things the Holy Spirit does.

Who wouldn't want the Holy Spirit?

Who wouldn't want him?

Let me show you three things he does as a part of that close friendship.

Number one is he convicts me.

Notice I don't say condemn.

Condemn is about shame and it leads you away from God.

Convict is to point out the areas where you're not living right to point you to God.

In fact, some people are like, why don't you preach harder?

Why don't you preach hell and turn and burn?

And I'm like, the Bible says it's the Holy Spirit's job, not my job.

If I can get people to the Holy Spirit, he'll convict them.

And by the way, the Holy Spirit's been speaking to some of you.

Like there's some stuff you do that you've written off is fine, or I can handle it.

It's not that much to drink, it's just a movie, it's not real life, and you've justified some sin in your life, and the Holy Spirit's like, hey, no, no, go not this way.

He convicts me.

I'll show you what the Bible says about it in the book of John.

Jesus said, and when he, the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world of its sins and God's righteousness and of the coming judgment.

This is what the Holy Spirit does.

He convicts.

The second thing he does, because he's a close friend, is he guides me.

Let me say this to you.

The number one question I get as a pastor is what is God's will for my life?

Good news, you don't have to figure it out on your own.

Jesus was talking in John again, John chapter 16.

John 16 · chapter mention

This is during the Lord's Supper.

Because when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you.

He's your guide into all truth.

He will not speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears and will tell you what is to come.

Oh, that's pretty cool.

Like you serve a God who's going to tell you what your life's going to look like with him at the steering wheel.

Final one, and then we're done.

The Holy Spirit, my best friend.

And in a world where loneliness has become an endemic, in a world where we're more connected through technology, but we're more disconnected because of distance, you never have to live another day without a best friend.

Let me show it to you.

Jesus was talking in John 14.

Again, this is at the Lord's Supper.

He says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.

This word helper, depending on the translation of the Bible you read it in, it could be translated helper, a comforter, or advocate.

This word is an interesting word, and it's kind of hard to translate from Greek to English.

The word is parakletos.

It literally means someone who comes alongside you, someone who lives alongside you, and someone who helps you through life's challenges.

So for example, imagine that I had a large heavy case and I had to pick it up and I had to carry it for 10 miles.

Maybe I can't do it in my own strength.

Maybe I could lift up one side and muscle it a little bit on my own, but I can't get it on my own.

The picture of the parakletos, the Holy Spirit, is I take one side and he comes along and he picks it up, he's helping me through this life.

One more time, ready?

Who wouldn't want that?

Who wants to like slug out an existence in your own strength?

Why would you want that when the power of the Holy Spirit, check this out the wind, the breath of God can be at your sails?

Who wouldn't want it when the Holy Spirit can empower you to live the life God created you for?

Who would want to do it alone?

Not me.

So let's not let's make room for Him.

I want to invite you at all of our locations.

Would you stand up with me right now?

And I'm gonna ask you to do this.

Would you open your hands like this towards heaven for just a moment?

We're gonna pray together now.

And as I pray, would you just say, Holy Spirit, fill me?

I can't live without your presence.

Holy Spirit, all across our church locations right now, that's our hearts cry.

Fill us, change us.

We can't live without your presence.

We can't live without your strength.

We can't live without you indwelling us.

So, Holy Spirit, we submit our hearts to you.

May we never live another moment of our life without you.

Breath of God, breathe on us, propel us into all that you have for us.

We love you, we worship you, we need you, Holy Spirit.

We thank you for all that you do, and we thank you for who you are in Jesus' name.

Amen.

As a sign of love to God, can we put our hands together and thank you, everybody?