We can discern with a solid confidence the work of the Holy Spirit.  His mark is visible on the submitted soul.  There are signs and tangible evidence of His divine presence. A genuine transformation occurs as He abides within to do all the changing. Many sincere believers  quietly wonder, “How do I know the Holy Spirit is actually at work in me? How do I know the difference between genuine spiritual transformation and a sophisticated performance of religiosity? How do I know that what is happening in my life is truly the work of God, and not merely the product of good influences, emotional experience, or my own best efforts at self improvement? These are the questions of honest faith.  Genuine seekers want a relationship, rather than a once in a life experience. The Holy Spirit delivers encouragement, wisdom, comfort, and joy.

The Holy Spirit does not work in silence. He does not transform a human life without imparting truth. He takes up residence in our soul with visible, tangible, and recognizable signs.  He leaves marks and He produces the fruit of love, joy, patience, compassion, and self-control. He creates conditions within and around the life He inhabits that are not dramatic, and not always in the ways we expect.  The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote to the believers in Rome with this assuring declaration. “The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:16. Yes, the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit. He speaks in a small voice, a quiet unction, a compelling to walk this way. He also speaks through the changes He leaves in our lives. We are sealed in Him forever.

After reading Gabriel Poirot’s book “18 days in Heaven” from page 22 of his testimony I embraced a new level of comfort in my faith walk. The Holy Spirit spread joy in my heart. ‘I don’t need to try to be righteous, Jesus purchased a new cloak of His righteousness for me. I just need to wear it with confidence that I am His beloved. Lord Jesus, I accept the truth as God had written in Acts 17:27-29 TPT “He has done this so that every person would long for God” — It is through Jesus that I live and function and have my identity as a child of God. ❤️ Holy Spirit speaks to me as I read the Word, hear fresh testimonies, and from His amazing daily grace. The Holy Spirit does not wait for us to become worthy of His work. He was given to us as an incomprehensible gift from our heavenly Father. We are loved beyond what we are now mentally able to comprehend. The work He is doing in us right now is not contingent on our perfect performance, or our flawless devotion, or our unbroken consistency. He is at work in us to glorify the Father and that in only contingent on His absolute faithfulness. Paul wrote from personal experience to the church at Philippi. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6. The Holy Spirit’s work in all who accept Jesus as Lord is most encouraging. We celebrate what He has already done in us, and how He is uniting all members of God’s global family. As we look deeper, we trust God more at His living Word, and surrender.  With gratitude, we rejoice that our transformation is based on God’s faithfulness, not our personal performance. The constant audit of our spiritual condition is put on pause as we accept that we are loved by God’s Spirit within. He is attentive to our every need. The most consistent signs that the Holy Spirit is at work in a human soul is outlined in the full breadth of scripture. This is not a measure to grade oneself, and certainly not to generate pride or despair. Let us remember all that God has been doing in us and be moved toward deeper trust, daily surrender, and genuine gratitude.

Our Father finishes what He starts. Holy Spirit picks up the work again every morning, even when we have spent the night in worry or wandering about our level of worthiness. Holy Spirit never grows weary of the long, patient, glorious business of making our souls into the likeness of Jesus.  Our Father adopted us and He sealed us with the Holy Spirit to help us work out, and accept the fullness of God’s love. His divine fingerprints of grace press into the substance of our unseen, but certain faith in He who is greatest.

One sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in us is when a profound hunger for God’s word surpasses any earthly motivation. We begin to hunger for the word of God in a way we never did before. The Holy Spirit produces this hunger in the life of submitred believers. It is not a religious duty. It is not to check a daily box for spiritual behavior.  It is a real desire to engage and learn from the Holy Spirit. You reach toward the living word, the way a plant reaches toward light. Not because of instruction, but because our new nature hungers for truth.  Before the Holy Spirit moves in a person’s life and opens the eyes of their understanding, the Bible can feel difficult to grasp.  This is not a judgment on anyone’s intellect, it is simply the reality of what it means to approach a spiritually alive book with a spirit that has not yet been fully awakened.
Students can read God’s word and even understand them at a surface level. The poetry is appreciated. The narrative power of the gospels are logical and the theological density of Paul’s letters are valued. But revelation remains a mystery. The living words have not penetrated into as a personal revelation, only information collected. The scriptures are on a page, but not moving in the heart until the Holy Spirit takes up His place as Teacher within us.  As the scripture promises He will change the way we encounter the word of God. The same verses that once felt flat suddenly open up with a depth and a vividness that startles. In the past a passage that was read gets applied. The text shifts within us as a life altering, belief sustaining dimension that was always there, but invisible until now. We wake up in the morning with a verse already present in our mind. We did not consciously choose it, but a verse that the Spirit placed there during the night.  We may be in the middle of a conversation, and a verse is suddenly on our tongue. That is the evidence of the Spirit at work.