Drawing Near by John Bevere

When we study we often pore through our texts and studiously make notes to help us memorise and understand, yet I realised that this is something which I fail to do when it comes to reading Christian books, and is perhaps one of the reasons why even though I always feel so enlightened while reading, what I learn from the books more often than not fails to remain in my memory. Thus I was thinking that it was high time that I started studying books instead of merely reading them, and to that effect I have decided to summarise the main points of books which i've read, to enable me to understand them a whole lot better, as well as for future reference. Furthermore, just as how we often shared notes in JC, I figured this would be useful for fellow brothers and sisters in christ, that we can learn from what each other have read about.

So I've been reading this book titled "Drawing near" by John Bevere recently, and here are some lessons which i've learnt.

1) The holy spirit isnt an "it".

we often have the impression that the holy spirit isnt a person, but more as a dove, or something intangible, unlike the Father and the Son whom we view more as people? But in fact the holy spirit is the closest companion that you will have, and one that will be communicating with you constantly and guiding you.

"...the holy spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead." acts 20:23
"The spirit said to Philip 'go near and overtake this chariot' " acts 8:29
"...they were forbidden by the holy spirit to preach the word in asia" acts 16:6

to quote john bevere: "new testament servants were very aware of the spirit of God's constant companionship with them; it was never a spooky or out of the ordinary occurrence to interact with Him. they expected his involvement in their lives just as we would expect any other person's involvement in our lives if we lived with them 24/7 "

i think this really change my perception of the holy spirit, as i've always imagined him as a mystical spirit, smth like the force in star wars? like smth thats around us, but not really a person? but in actual fact the holy spirit is more like a person, your best friend who yearns to be in constant companionship yup.