Ecclesiastes is not necessarily your most cheery book of the Bible, that is for sure. But understanding it in its context, the words of King Solomon - now turned Teacher - can give great meaning to our lives that otherwise may feel meaningless. And the One who gives us meaning and purpose? The Holy Spirit!

Advice in our culture is as available as a Google search. Unfortunately, Google is not rooted and grounded in Scripture. Solomon dropped nuggets of wisdom and advice all throughout Proverbs, and we would be very wise to trust the Holy Spirit’s advice.

As a young father, I was certainly not perfect in my parenting. As a maturing father, I was actually concerned that my failures would define me. As an older father of adult children, I stand amazed at how they define my “success.” I praise God for His great grace. My quiver is full!

King Solomon wrote the wisdom-laced Proverbs about 1,000 years before Pentecost occurred in Acts 2. But the more you read and study, there definitely are Holy Spirit connections with both. Here, Solomon points out the pride that can build up in our human spirits when we do not allow the Spirit of God to humble us and reign in us.

It shouldn’t surprise us that we are made of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. While Solomon was writing those nuggets of wisdom for everyday practical purposes, we also have to believe the Holy Spirit was directing him to something even deeper. It’s a game-changer when we become aware of how truly intimate the Holy Spirit desires to be with us and where He actually lives.

Taking a hard look at our culture today, it may be relatively obvious that wisdom as we define it is lacking. But even more important would be to understand wisdom as the Bible defines it. And that wisdom may be even more lacking in today’s world. From the very first chapter, Solomon makes it clear where we can go and get all the wisdom we need… from the Spirit of God!

How we as Christians observe the day of Pentecost ranges from complete and woeful neglect to a full-blown celebration of God’s Holy Spirit. But until we truly get a grasp of the historical context from Joel’s prophecy in the Old Testament, we may still not have a clue as to why Pentecost is so critically important in the Kingdom of God. May you celebrate the Spirit well by allowing Him to be poured out into your life!

Jesus famously told Nicodemus that it would be impossible to fully explain how one is born again or born from above. But Jesus emphatically declared that one must be born of the Spirit to enter to Kingdom of God. While we may not be able to explain it, we certainly should know if we are born again!

Here we find King David turning to God once again in a moment of crisis, and again, we find David trusting God because of His utter faithfulness. One reason for that trust might be found in verse 10 as David declares being taught and led by the good and gracious Spirit of God. May we continue to learn of God’s goodness as we are led by His Spirit.

Try outrunning your shadow on a sunny day; it’s pretty much impossible. Do you know what’s even more impossible for us as Christians? Going anywhere without the Spirit of God with us. Wow. King David declared that 3,000 years ago, and it’s just as true today!

This God of creation of ours is pretty spectacular! From tiny drops of dew to nourish a single blade of grass, to arranging stars and planets, sun and moon into a major eclipse – wow! God is all-knowing and all-powerful when it comes to all creation, and that is a major theme as King David writes Psalm 104. But perhaps the more remarkable theme of all is that He is willing and able to renew us with His Holy Spirit!

King David had made a mess of things with Bathsheba, and unfortunately, he didn’t own up to it until the prophet Nathan called him on it. But when David finally felt the sting of conviction, he rightly turned to the Lord and asked for the Holy Spirit to help him. Only then did David fully take ownership of his sin.

It may top the list of most “unliked” books of the Bible, and for good reason – Job challenges us with what we do know and what we do not know. While his friends certainly tried to comfort Job in his distress, they failed at speaking truth to him. But we can still find beautiful nuggets of truth about the Holy Spirit in the pages of this ancient story.

Taking a short departure from finding the Spirit of God in the Old Testament, we take a look at the Holy Spirit during Holy Week. It’s utterly amazing and critically important to know that a majority of Jesus’ teaching on Thursday night, the last night of His earthly life, was spent on the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit of truth, peace, conviction, and unity fill and flood you with His grace and power!

In Nehemiah 9, we are witnesses to a six-hour worship service that centers on the confession of sin. But is that the same as repentance of sin? Too many times, we misunderstand the two terms, which then makes us misunderstand the character of God. We must allow the Spirit of God to lead us rightly in these areas so that we can rightly worship God!

Imagine a worship service where you stood for at least six hours doing nothing but listening to the Old Testament being read out loud. (And, yeah, let’s go ahead and make it the book of Leviticus!) Now imagine the Holy Spirit moving you to tears, to worship, to fall on your knees, and to ecstatic joy! That’s exactly what happened in Nehemiah 8, and that’s exactly what the Spirit of God still wants to do in your life using the Word of God!

As a 7-year-old king, Joash needed a man of God to influence him and keep him on the right path. Enter the priest Jehoiada. For as long as Jehoiada lived, Joash was loyal to the things of God. But as soon as the priest died, things went south quickly. So bad in fact that God executed judgment on Joash and had him killed in battle at only 47 years old. Life lesson: The only way we can stay loyal to God and His ways is by being filled with His Spirit.

King Jehoshaphat didn’t always make the best decisions when it came to alliances with other kings and leaders. But in this moment when faced with perhaps the biggest threat to Judah, Jehoshaphat went straight to God seeking His guidance. In response, God sent His Spirit to speak through a prophet named Jahaziel to declare victory by way of praise and worship. Don’t you want to be the person who people can trust for God’s guidance because you have allowed the Spirit of God to fill you and use you?

Many of us know the story where Elijah was whisked away by the original “chariot of fire” while his understudy Elisha stood and watched his mentor leave him with “a double portion.” But a double portion of what? Or better asked, of who? None other than the Holy Spirit of the Living God! Have you asked lately for a double portion of the “Ruach Ha Kadosh”?

King Ahab didn’t like him. In fact, he hated Micaiah. Why? Because despite any and all consequences, the prophet had the reputation for only speaking what the Spirit of God told him to speak, and that flew in the face of Ahab’s desire to hear what he wanted to hear. Let’s commit ourselves to be counted in the ranks of Micaiah. We will speak only what the Holy Spirit tells us to speak.