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Episode 24 SUMMER SCHOOL: Who is the Holy Spirit? with Jeannie Cunnion
96 Plays3 years ago
Jeannie Cunnion is an author of several books. She is also a frequent speaker at women’s conferences and parenting events around the country.
Jeannie's passion is encouraging women to live in the freedom for which Christ has set us free, which is something her own heart needs to be daily reminded of. Her message is woven with humility, transparency, wisdom, and a contagious love for the Good News.
Jeannie's work has been featured on outlets such as The Today Show, Fox and Friends, Fox News, The 700 Club, and Focus on the Family. Jeannie has a Master’s degree in Social Work, and previous to writing, she worked in the counseling and adoption field, traveling the country (48 states to be exact) speaking about adoption and parenting.
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This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction to Root Like Faith Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Hi, I'm Ruth Schwenk and I'm so thrilled you're listening in with us at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's Word, transformed by the love of Jesus, and moved by His mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.
Guest Introduction: Jeannie Kunyan
00:00:20
Speaker
Well, I just know you're going to love today's episode because it is with a very good friend of mine. I've known her for years. She's been a contributor to my blogs. Her name is Jeannie Kunyan. And we are talking about we're continuing the summer school mini series and talking about in particular, the Holy Spirit in this episode. Honey, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about this conversation you have with
Jeannie's Book: 'Don't Miss Out'
00:00:45
Speaker
you?
00:00:45
Speaker
I mean, Jeannie is fantastic, and so our listeners are just going to love this conversation. She was such a joy to talk with, and so smart, articulate, and you just sense the Holy Spirit when you're talking to her. There's just some people that you just go, oh, that person is full of the Spirit, and Jeannie's one of those people. And so that just comes through, I think, in our conversation, the way she
00:01:05
Speaker
talks about just her journey or understanding of who the Holy Spirit is. And of course, her brand new book called Don't Miss Out. And so it just is such a great conversation. I know it's going to be an encouragement. I know it's going to just bring greater understanding to who the Holy Spirit is and what he does in the life of a believer and what's available to us because of the presence and the power of the Spirit in our lives. And so genius fantastic. The book is extraordinary. And so I just know our conversation.
00:01:35
Speaker
is going to be a blessing to our listeners.
Jeannie's Background and Social Media
00:01:37
Speaker
Well let me just share a little bit about Jeannie. Jeannie Cooneyan is the author of Parenting the Wholehearted Child and Mom Set Free and a sought after speaker at conferences around the country. Her work has been featured on outlets such as the Today Show, Fox News, The 700 Club and Focus on the Family. Jeannie and her husband Mike live in Connecticut with their five boys and like I said I've known Jeannie for a long time and I know I just know
00:02:02
Speaker
You're going to love her. So you're really talking a lot about what she shares in her book. Don't miss out. Daring to believe life is better with the Holy Spirit. And I think I just wanted to mention that in case you want to pick up the book and her Instagram handle, if you want to follow her on Instagram is Jeanie Cunyan, J-E-A-N-N-I-E. Cunyan is spelled C-U-N-N-I-O-N. So let's get this going. I know it's going to be awesome. Let's go.
Book Release Journey
00:02:32
Speaker
Well, Jeanie, welcome to Root Like Faith. Well, thank you for having me, Pat. First of all, I just want to say congratulations on the release of your brand new book. I know it just released last month. The book is called Don't Miss Out. And so congratulations on the recent release of your brand new book. Thank you so much. It feels so good to have it. You know how it is. You spend so many months, years writing something, and then you finally get to release it and have conversations about it and see how God uses it. It's so exciting.
00:03:01
Speaker
Absolutely. I think for a lot of people, they, you know, I know I felt this way before we had written our first book, like writing a book sounds so glamorous. And, you know, it just sounds like everybody dreams about, you know, writing a book and being an author. And then when you actually get the opportunity to do it, you're like, this is a lot of work. It's a lot of work to write it. It's a lot of work to release it.
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah. And, um, you have no idea. Yeah. I remember I have to tell you this really quickly. My, um, when I felt called to start writing, I was an adoption social worker and it made no sense, this nudge in my heart to start writing. But my older sister is a prolific writer author and I called her and I told her my dream and she said, Jeanie, I've been waiting for you to figure that out, which was such a blessing and an affirmation. But I said to her, what do I do? And she said, just start writing. And I said, no, no, no. But like, what else do I do? And she said, just start writing.
00:03:51
Speaker
And it was so wise of her, because to your point, Pat, if she had said, well, you write, and then you do this, and then you do this, and then you have to have the, right? If she had named the full journey from the idea in your heart to it being published, I don't know that I would have had the courage, right? Absolutely. Because, yeah, I knew I was ill-equipped, but then to have known all the steps that goes into getting to this point, I might have been like, okay, you know what? Adoption social work is good. That's it. I think I'll stay there.
00:04:19
Speaker
I'm going to opt out of that, Lord. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, but no thanks. Thanks, but no thanks. Yeah. I know I said I'd do anything for you, but I just discovered this is one of those things that doesn't land in that category. That's right. No, but you're right. It's such an honor to serve him in this way. It really is. I'm so grateful that he has allowed me to write this book. I'm really excited about it. Well, it is a fantastic book and I know we're going to link, of course, to your full bio and our show notes and also to the book and where folks can go.
00:04:46
Speaker
and get a copy. And I really do hope that our Root Life Faith family, you know, takes the opportunity to purchase the book and read it. I just think it's going to be, it's a message that we need to hear. And it's going to be such a, I think an important book for so many people.
Understanding the Holy Spirit
00:05:01
Speaker
You know, it's interesting to me. I, you know, I'm a church history nerd. I'm not an expert by any means, but you know, Ruth and I, Ruth has always given me a hard time.
00:05:10
Speaker
about my church history books, and I love church history. I love to read just about those that have come before us, and it's really fascinating to me. When you read church history, I think a lot of Christians are more familiar with the debates early on about who Jesus was or who he is, and the humanity, the deity of Jesus, and how a lot of that was being worked out in the 300s.
00:05:33
Speaker
the Council of Nicaea, but we're probably less familiar with the debates about the Holy Spirit. And a lot of that was being worked out really at the same time or just after that. And I think it was Basil of Caesarea who was kind of became known as the theologian of the Holy Spirit in the fourth century. And he was the first one to really write a full volume on the Holy Spirit. And he was reacting against false teachings about the Holy Spirit all the way back in the 300s.
00:06:01
Speaker
And so the reason I bring that up is that there's a long history. I just think there's a lot, as you know, you've written a whole book on the Holy Spirit. There's just a lot of misunderstandings, misconceptions about who the Holy Spirit is and how we're to relate to Him. And so that's a long, I mean, it goes all the way back. And so just so fascinating to me. And so I'd love for you as we get started just to kind of share your journey and really what led you to write this book.
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I was so I was raised as a preacher's kid and I've been following Jesus since I was eight years old. And it was a Presbyterian church, but it was a charismatic church. And so the Holy Spirit was not new to me in recent years when I began writing this book. But what I did discover is that I had really put him in a spiritual gifts box.
00:06:56
Speaker
In my mind, the Holy Spirit was for spiritual gifts. That was kind of the extent of his role in my life, in the Christian life. And so I think like a lot of us, we casually recite those seven words in the power of the Holy Spirit. We recite those in creeds or we recite those words in worship music.
00:07:20
Speaker
not many of us actually know how to live in that power, the daily equipping that God sent the Spirit to do in our lives. And so several years ago, I was praying a very simple prayer, which was, Lord, I just want more of you. I want all of you. Like I can't get enough of you, right? I just, I want you to fill every room in my heart. And soon thereafter,
00:07:43
Speaker
I just became incredibly curious about the Holy Spirit and realized, oh, this is how he's answering that prayer. He's reintroducing me to God the Holy Spirit because I have a very intimate relationship with God the Father. I have a very intimate relationship with God the Son, but I know so little about God the Spirit.
00:08:07
Speaker
And as I write in the first chapter of the book, I discover that much of my posture with the Holy Spirit has been where we hold one arm out saying, stay right there. And then we have the other hand saying, okay, come a little closer. Wait, stay right there. Wait, come a little closer.
00:08:22
Speaker
And because there's so many, as you said Pat, so many misconceptions, so much baggage that is attached to the Holy Spirit, so much controversy that for some of us we keep him at arm's length because we assume he's either for the extremes, either the super spiritual or the super strange.
00:08:41
Speaker
And so if we are theologian without the letters after our names, or if we wouldn't put ourselves in the super strange category, or we've seen things done in the Holy Spirit's name that are not of the Holy Spirit, then we don't know what to do with him. And then, like me, I think there's a lot of us that just didn't know. I just didn't know all that he was intended to do in my life. I didn't know the full scope of his purpose
00:09:10
Speaker
in my life. And so as I began to just study scripture in search of the Holy Spirit from Genesis to Revelation and read books by theologians who have gone before me like you said and have unpacked a lot of what scripture teaches about him, I just realized I had been missing out. I was missing out on this beautiful third person of the Trinity. And then I began to have conversations with people who walk closely with Jesus and many of whom said, I think I'm missing out too.
00:09:40
Speaker
And so I knew I had to write the book because God was using it to change my life and introduce me afresh to his spirit and the beauty of having his daily companionship and empowerment. And it was too good to keep to myself. Yeah, that's so good. I think that is so well said. It's interesting as you're sharing just a bit of your personal story. It's not entirely different than what I
00:10:08
Speaker
I was born and raised in a Baptist home and church. Ruth and I went to the Moody Bible Institute, did our undergrad there, and then I did graduate work at Grace and Biola University. And so I feel like that for most of my life, I've had a really good theology of the spirit. I was taught and I praise God for that, just in terms of that biblical theological foundation of who the Holy Spirit is.
00:10:36
Speaker
and what he's supposed to do or what he does do in the life of a believer. But I was telling a friend recently that in terms of my experience of the Spirit or having a relationship with the Holy Spirit, that was very deficient. And in a lot of ways, it's very similar to what you were describing in your own journey and the motivation for writing this book.
Historical Context of the Holy Spirit
00:10:53
Speaker
And it really wasn't until I was on staff at a church in Toledo and the senior pastor
00:10:59
Speaker
was a former Assemblies of God pastor, and he had left the Assemblies of God for what he felt like were just maybe some misunderstandings there. But very much, he personally, and the church, was a church that was very much open to the gifts of the Spirit. And he just had a very different relationship with the Holy Spirit than anything I'd ever experienced before, either on staff at churches or just in my own life. And that was the first time
00:11:26
Speaker
that I began to go, boy, am I missing out on something? It's exactly, I love the title of the book. Don't miss out because I experienced that in my own life. And I think so many followers of Jesus do as well. And so I just think that is so well said. The book is very accessible. It's very readable, but it is rich. I mean, there's a depth to it and it's saturated in scripture.
00:11:52
Speaker
And it's just an excellent, excellent book. And so I'd love for you just as we move on, very simply, for maybe somebody who is a brand new Christian, they're a new follower of Jesus. I mean, very simply, I mean, how would you just, who is the Holy Spirit and what does he do in the life of a believer? Well, the Holy Spirit is God. And I think that's something that most of us know, like you said,
00:12:17
Speaker
in our minds, but has that made it to our hearts, right? The Holy Spirit is God. God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So there is one God and each person in the Trinity is fully God. But the other beautiful part about the Holy Spirit is that He is also
00:12:37
Speaker
divine person with a dynamic personality and he wants to be in friendship and companionship with us and I think that's the part most of us miss. We recognize that he is God even though we neglect him oftentimes. We talk about God the Father, God the Son and there's the joke that it's in God the Holy Bible right because we don't know what to do with the Holy Spirit.
00:13:00
Speaker
And yet the Holy Spirit authored the Holy Bible, so there's that. But to know that he is a divine person with a dynamic personality, with a mind, with a will, with emotions, I think changes things for us.
00:13:17
Speaker
When you asked me, you know, I began writing Don't Miss Out with the question, who is the Holy Spirit and what does the Holy Spirit do and why does that matter? Those were the questions I wanted to answer. And when I finished writing the book, my question was, what doesn't the Holy Spirit do?
00:13:35
Speaker
Yeah, I just it's it's unbelievable the scope of his work in the Christian life from from sparking our faith literally opening our eyes to the love of Jesus meaning if you're listening today and you have put your trust in Jesus you can thank your friend the Holy Spirit right because he's the one who opened your eyes to the love of Jesus so he he sparks our faith he sustains our faith he sanctifies our lives he
00:14:01
Speaker
strengthens us for this life. He's the spirit of glory that carries us home. So he is from beginning to end fully active and fully available in the Christian life. And I'm glad you asked, especially if somebody is new to the faith, because I think this is really important to recognize.
00:14:20
Speaker
He is equally available to every person who has put their trust in Jesus. You don't have to be at some point down the road in your walk with Christ to know the beauty and the benefits of His indwelling presence. The moment you put your trust in Jesus, God puts His Spirit in you and He wants you to live your life from that moment forward, powered by
00:14:44
Speaker
the Spirit of God. But just because he's fully available does not mean he's equally active, and that's the difference. And so a lot of us, we all have him if we put our trust in Jesus, but the activity, the experience of the Holy Spirit is going to differ based on how much we're leaning in, welcoming his work, yielding to his authority.
00:15:08
Speaker
But if we will go back to remembering that he is a person with a personality who we can have real relationship with, then it changes our posture toward him, right? Because he's not an it. He's not a force. He's not a power, right? He's not even a power. He is a person who gives us power. He is a person who manifests his power in our lives.
00:15:31
Speaker
He's not a dove or a fire or when those are beautiful symbols by which he is symbolized in Scripture, but he is a person. He is a divine person who wants to empower us to walk out our life in Christ. Yeah, it's okay. One of the things that you say in the book is that you say I was set free by Jesus, but I was trying to live free by Jeannie.
00:15:54
Speaker
That's right. And I love that. Explain to our listeners what you meant by that and how that just sort of began to shift when you dug deeper into your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Yeah, it was this realization that I've still been trying to do so much of the Christian life in my own strength, sanctifying myself, strengthening myself,
00:16:16
Speaker
And so I do believe that the enemy's number one priority is to ensure that we do not put our trust in Jesus, right? That's his number one goal. Do not know eternal life given to you freely in the life, death and resurrection of your King Jesus. But once he loses that battle, I do believe that his focus shifts to ensuring that we don't live the Christian life in the power of Christ.
00:16:40
Speaker
so that we know, okay, Jesus set me free, free from slavery to sin, free from condemnation and shame, but now it's my job to keep God proud and walk out my faith in my own strength. And so, yes, Jesus' life sets us free, but the Spirit's power keeps us free. He's the one who gives us the power to pursue Christ.
00:17:05
Speaker
He's the one who transforms us from the inside out. And so I think that's why we see a lot of, I say in the book, Jesus dropouts, or people who just say, it's just, my faith is dry, it's dull, God feels distant. And I think oftentimes that's an indicator that we are lacking the intimacy of the Holy Spirit, that we are
00:17:26
Speaker
trying to stay free. We are trying to please God in our own strength instead of recognizing that Jesus satisfied God's holy requirements and He now covers us with His perfect righteousness and now the Holy Spirit is in us to give us the strength and the power to walk out the God's commands, to live a life of holiness, to live in pursuit of holiness.
Living by the Holy Spirit's Example
00:17:51
Speaker
And I think we get really discouraged and even drop out when we neglect that power that has been given to us to live in pursuit of Christ. Yeah. No, that's so good. I can hear our listeners saying, yes, I absolutely agree with you, but how do I do that practically? And so I want in just a minute, I want you to speak to that. I mean, just to kind of speak to what are some very simple practical ways that we can live a more dependent life.
00:18:17
Speaker
you know, in the spirit. And so I want you to speak to that in just a minute. I think one of the things that I was so struck by recently, I know we were talking before we started recording this, I did a series on the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, I think it was about two years ago. And as I was preparing for that sermon series, you know, I was reading through the gospels. And one of the things that I was really struck by is just this idea that the more like Jesus we become, the more dependent on the Holy Spirit we become. And one of the things I had missed for so many years
00:18:47
Speaker
is I read the Bible. I grew up like you. I came to know Jesus at a young age. I remember by God's grace, just God giving me a love for the Bible at the age of eight, nine, 10 years old. I just love to read the Bible. I was very interested in spiritual things. And yet for so many years, I just miss that simple truth that everything that Jesus did in his ministry, he did in the power of the Spirit. He was conceived by the Spirit.
00:19:13
Speaker
Um, you know, you think about, um, you know, he was baptized, you know, the dove comes down, you know, the spirit descends on him and his baptism. Uh, he's led by the spirit at his temptation, you know, into the desert, his public ministry was marked by an anointing of the spirit.
00:19:28
Speaker
Luke tells us in Luke chapter 4, Romans 8, 11, Paul says he was raised by the power of the spirit. And of course, the church is birthed by the coming of the spirit and just on and on we could go different examples. And I had just missed that for so many years that the more we become like Jesus, the more dependent we should become on the Holy Spirit. And you just see that in the life of Jesus. And so I'd love for you just to speak to that in terms of just how somebody
00:19:56
Speaker
very simply, very practically can live more dependent on the spirit.
00:20:01
Speaker
Yeah and I love that you mentioned that because for me that was one of the kind of you know the emoji like like my mind is blown like for me that was that was it as I studied Jesus being empowered by the Spirit how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power Acts 10 38 says that and and even back to what you were talking about in Luke 4 I think it's the NIV translation where it literally says
00:20:28
Speaker
Jesus, comma, full of the Holy Spirit, comma, like it's so intentional in helping us see. And yet I had missed that Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit in his earthly ministry. Right. And this is the same Holy Spirit.
00:20:44
Speaker
that fell at Pentecost and filled the 120 that were in the upper room, right? The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same Holy Spirit that filled the disciples in the Book of Acts at Pentecost. But here's the other really cool thing. It's the same Holy Spirit
00:21:05
Speaker
that is in you, Pat, it's in me, and is in every person who's listening, who's put their trust in Jesus, right? It's the same Holy Spirit, because I think we've made him small.
00:21:15
Speaker
I think we have this misconception that we have a mini version. We have a lesser version of the Holy Spirit compared to the Holy Spirit that filled, you know, empower Jesus and empower the disciples. But if we will just really sit with that, that the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus and empowered the disciples is the one that lives in us today.
00:21:36
Speaker
and wants to fill us with the fullness of God and lead us in living lives that testify to the supernatural, energizing power of God for believers even today. I think that's incredible. And I think we missed that because we've made Him small.
00:21:58
Speaker
And so how do we walk that out, right? How do we experience that? And I wish, you know, I love lists and I love to check boxes. I have every morning I start my day with a checklist and I love to, and you know, I say in the book, I wish there was like a checklist in some sense, right? That we could check this, check this, check this. Okay, I'm living in the power of the Holy Spirit today.
00:22:19
Speaker
And yet our God is so much more relational than that, right? And so for me, when I think about living in the power of the Holy Spirit, for me it's much more about inviting the Holy Spirit to become larger and larger in my life. Because one of the greatest benefits of the Holy Spirit is having our hearts enlarged for Jesus. He makes Jesus more beautiful to us. He magnifies the beauty of what Jesus did for us.
00:22:47
Speaker
And so I think about what Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke when he was talking about how if we as parents who are evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? And so Jesus is identifying the Holy Spirit as this beautiful ultimate gift that the Father wants to give to his children. And Jesus tells us, ask.
00:23:17
Speaker
ask for more, ask to be filled afresh. And so for me it just goes back to ask starting the day, Lord Jesus fill me afresh with your Holy Spirit, make me aware of your presence with me, in me, leading me, guiding me, and give me a tenderness to your presence, give me
00:23:36
Speaker
Give me a humility to your guidance and your leading because the Holy Spirit I think one of the most beautiful things in writing this book is that I did have a very intimate relationship with God the Father and God the Son but I have found that the Holy Spirit has brought an even deeper intimacy.
00:23:52
Speaker
Just an awareness of his presence, his closeness, his continual communication with us through his conviction, through his nudging, through his comfort, through bringing scripture to mind, the scripture that we store in our hearts that he brings to mind.
Yielding to the Holy Spirit
00:24:07
Speaker
And so I would say start with what Jesus said, ask for his presence to guide you and fill you to know his power. And then it's also, and this is the part that sometimes we don't love talking about, and I'll be the first to confess, you know, I said writing this book, I knew it hurt a little bit because I knew there were parts of my life that God wanted greater access to that I was withholding.
00:24:30
Speaker
And so that means yielding to the Holy Spirit's authority, to His guiding, yielding to that convicting work, that loving convicting work that He's doing.
00:24:39
Speaker
A very practical way to know more of his presence and his power is to yield to that conviction that you experience as you go throughout the day, that nudging. Don't say that. Go seek forgiveness from your husband. I know you feel like you have the right to be angry, but don't hold on to bitterness. That grieves the Holy Spirit. Don't sit in your anger when you want to unleash your tongue on your children because they're making you crazy.
00:25:03
Speaker
So we begin to pay attention to that stuff. We begin to realize that he's communicating with us and leading us all day long. And so we have the choice to stay in step with the spirit, to let him guide our lives, or to ignore him and then kind of reap the consequences and clean up the mess. Yeah, that's good.
00:25:23
Speaker
have always had that imagery. I love gardening. I don't know whether it's just because I'm over 40. Now I like things that don't hurt my back or whatever. Inevitably, when I'm pulling the hose out from the side of our house and taking it back, we had a prayer garden put in. For the last couple of years, we've been working on a prayer garden in our backyard and I've got another garden back there. But inevitably, as I'm pulling the hose out,
00:25:50
Speaker
there's a kink that will happen somewhere in the hose. And I'm trying to get water to come out and it's just sort of dribbling out. And I've always, that analogy, even before I was in the gardening, that analogy of what you're describing there in terms of just the power of the presence, asking for more of the Holy Spirit.
00:26:08
Speaker
yielding to the work of the Spirit, not grieving the Holy Spirit, as Paul says in Ephesians 4.30. That kinked hose has always been sort of a visual for me that there are times, there are things in my own life that can kink the hose, that can grieve the power and the Holy Spirit is always present. But in terms of His power and His transforming work, we can get in the way of that. We need to cooperate with
00:26:33
Speaker
with the Holy Spirit in our life. And so much of what you're describing, I always have that visual of me trying to get water to our garden.
00:26:44
Speaker
That's so helpful. I'm going to have to borrow that. I mean, I will definitely quote you, but I'm sure I stole it from somebody else at some point. Well, it's a real, but it's a really great visual because like you said, we can, we never have to fear losing him, right? His presence is permanent. He's God's personal permanent presence in our lives, which is incredible. And yet, like you said, we can impede his work. We can grieve him. We can quench him. Um, and so that kink in the hose is really powerful for me. I like that.
00:27:14
Speaker
Were there anything, as you were studying for the book and writing the book, were there any surprises for you? There were so many surprises. There were so many. Yeah, so share some. I mean, what was maybe the top one or two that just sort of took you by surprise? Yeah, I'd love to hear that.
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah. You know, one of the very first ones for me was, um, you know, I remember when I was becoming curious about the Holy Spirit and wanting to study and wanting to know more, I call my mom and my dad, one of the benefits of bringing a preacher's kid, which your children will, you know, uh, enjoy for their entire lives. Like, Oh, just call my dad about that. Um, and I called my mom and my dad and I said, what are your, what are your favorite books about the Holy Spirit and what are your like favorite, like in scripture, where have you really, you know, found meaningful teaching, impactful teaching
The Holy Spirit's Promise by Jesus
00:28:01
Speaker
for you? And so they gave me a couple of recommendations on some books and.
00:28:04
Speaker
And Daddy said, Jeannie, just go sit down and read John chapters 14 through 16 really slowly. Just read them slowly and look for the Holy Spirit and what Jesus says about him. Just go there. And of course, I'm like, Daddy, I've read the Gospel of John a hundred times. Like, what are you talking about, right? And he's like, read it again and look for the Holy Spirit. And so it's in John chapter 16 verses 5 through 7.
00:28:27
Speaker
where Jesus is preparing His disciples for His ascension. And He says to them, it is to your advantage that I go away. Other translations read, for your benefit or for your good. So it is for your good that I go away, that I return to the Father. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come. But if I do go, He will come.
00:28:53
Speaker
And I've never ever noticed how Jesus said to the disciples, it's actually for your benefit that I return to the Father. Because in that moment, as John tells us, the disciples were filled with sorrow. They responded much like I think we do today, which is Jesus, no, no, no, we don't want just your spirit. We want you, right? They didn't want to lose Jesus' physical presence.
00:29:19
Speaker
And he goes on, as you notice, there's so much more I need to tell you, but you're not ready for all of it. But basically, he's preparing them for the understanding that they're no longer dependent on his physical presence, but now they will have his spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, taking up residence inside of them so they will never be without what they need, right?
00:29:44
Speaker
It's just so incredible that I just sat there and that kind of became a driving question for me as I wrote the book and ultimately, as you know, I wrote it in a way that it's 30 incredible benefits of the Holy Spirit's presence. So there's 30 short chapters and each one is a benefit because what happened for me was I just kept discovering benefit after benefit after benefit that I had not been aware of.
00:30:09
Speaker
And so many of those benefits were actually benefiting me. He was active in my life all this time, and I just wasn't aware that it was him. And I love, I think it's R.T. Kendall that says, there's no rivalry among the God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.
00:30:25
Speaker
It's not like God the Holy Spirit is saying, wait, you're not thanking me like I'm over here doing all this for you. And you're, you know, you're saying it's Jesus, right? It's like, well, they're one. So it's like, it's right. So there's no, it's not like that was happening, but it just gave me such a deep appreciation for the way he's been working in me and on my behalf without me recognizing that it was his presence and his power.
00:30:46
Speaker
But as we become aware of that, it just becomes so much more significant. And then, like you said, it's like the hose becomes unkinked and his power is unleashed in greater measure in our lives because we recognize what he's intended to do. But it really goes back to Jesus saying, it's for your good. And I'm like, okay, if it's for my good, if it's to my benefit that I have the Holy Spirit and that Jesus returns to the Father,
00:31:11
Speaker
Why? How could that be for my good, right? I thought everything I needed I had in my King Jesus. And so it's just beautiful to see how the Holy Spirit continues what Jesus started in our lives for the glory of the Father. Yeah, that's so good.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:31:28
Speaker
Again, congratulations on the book. It is such an important book and such a helpful book. And so I just want to commend you for all of the hard work that I know goes into writing a book and just praying that it will be an incredible blessing. I know it will be to those that choose to purchase it and to read it. And I know it's a great book. So I can't encourage our listeners enough to pick up a copy. And so thank you again for
00:31:56
Speaker
for your time and I know you're busy and so thanks for carving out some time to be on Root Like Face today. And so I'd love for you to share just really briefly as we end. I mean, where can people go just to connect with you online or social media and then where can they pick up a copy of Don't Miss Out?
00:32:13
Speaker
Yeah, so my website is JeannieCunion. My Instagram is JeannieCunion. Everything's JeannieCunion. I've kept it simple. The book is sold wherever books are sold. You can also buy it through my website or through my Instagram. There's a link. I'd love to hear from listeners. If God stirred something in your heart today and you're curious or want to know more, don't hesitate to reach out.
00:32:36
Speaker
Pat, thank you so much for having me. I'm such big fans of you and Ruth and your ministry and your latest book, which was so powerful about your journey and just grateful for your ministry and the way that you as a couple point us and our families to Jesus. So thank you for having me. Absolutely. Well, thanks so much. And we're going to link to the book and also to your website and our show notes.
00:33:01
Speaker
But thank you again, God bless you. And I look forward to maybe talking again, having you back on Root Like Faith.
00:33:07
Speaker
Awesome, I would love that. Thanks so much. God bless, yep. Okay. Well, friend, we are so grateful you have joined us. Wasn't that a great conversation about the Holy Spirit? I just absolutely love Jeannie. And remember, you can follow her on Instagram and continue learning from her. Her Instagram handle is simply her name at JeannieKunyan.
00:33:32
Speaker
Well, if we haven't met yet, Pat and I want to get to know you. And we absolutely love the messages that you send us, especially when you introduce yourself. I love when some of you are like, hey, you told me to introduce myself. Well, here I am. So do that. We want to hear from you. You can follow us on Instagram at Patrick W. Schwank and at Ruth Schwank or on Facebook.
00:33:51
Speaker
And don't forget everything we've talked about will be at rootlikefaith.com forward slash podcast. Again, we welcome you into our family here at root like faith. Would you do us a big favor and leave us a review or rating and share this podcast with your friends. It just takes a second.
00:34:08
Speaker
and it's a tremendous help to us as we spread the word about root-like faith. We're so grateful for your help in getting the word out. Okay friend, we will chat soon and we hope you have the best week.