Under the Surface

What are some evidences of the Spirit-filled life? How do we know when we are fully indwelt by the divine Paraclete?

I am not going to begin where you might expect, in the area of spiritual gifts, but in a realm I believe to be equally important yet seldom mentioned. I refer to the area of the subconscious.

The longer I live, the more I feel the church has missed its way here. We have talked much about the works of the Spirit on the conscious level but little of His work at a subconscious level. We have failed to see, generally speaking, that part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian is to project His power and presence into the depths of the personality—even the subconscious.

We are told that about one-tenth of the mind is conscious and the other nine-tenths subconscious. Like the iceberg, which is nine-tenths submerged, life is largely lived in the submerged part of our being. Now, if this is so, then it becomes evident at once that if the submerged nine-tenths is not working with the conscious purposes of the one-tenth, then there is going to be a serious division, and a division this serious becomes divisive. Whatever controls the nine-tenths greatly influences the one-tenth. The Holy Spirit wants to project Himself into that submerged part of our being in order to harness those untamed forces and make them work for us and not against us. Then the subconscious is no longer an enemy but a friend.

Further Study

Jl 2:18-32; Rm 12:2; 1Co 14:3; 2Tim 1:7; Mt 12:25

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