A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

I thought this was fascinating.  Continuing my study of the Hebrew word 'ruach' (Strongs H7307 H7306), usually translated as 'spirit', or 'breath', or wind. I ran across a commentary that mentioned the difference between the phrases "Spirit of God" (Elohim), and "Spirit of the Lord" (Yahweh).  In English the two are only distinguished by God and Lord.  I had not considered that distinction before. I began to wonder if there were any significance in meaning between the two. I'm putting the table below, out there as raw data.  I haven't studied this enough to come to any conclusions.  One thing that stood out to me is that the Spirit of God/the Lord is recorded as associated with Saul (11 times) more than anyone else.  5 times it was recorded as an evil spirit from God, and 1 time (1 Samuel 16:14) the Spirit of God departed from Saul. I'm a believer in the New Testament promise of Jesus that we would be given power when the Holy Gho...

  KJV - Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form,  and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Immediately after creating the Universe, God’s Spirit began moving in His creation.  This Hebrew word for ‘moving’ is ‘rachaph’ (Strong’s H7363).  It is used only two other times in the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 32:11  As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth (H7363) over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: Jeremiah 23:9  Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake (H7363);  I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. God is a Spirit, and He is moving from the very first moments, always over His creation, but it is not mere movement, but fluttering, hovering emotional movement, with love as a protective mother eagle watches ...

  Thinking today. . . the odds of winning the Powerball lottery is 1 in 292,201,338.  People think nothing of buying a ticket or ten tickets each week for such a infinitesimal chance at winning.  It's a matter of risk vs reward. A dollar risked is considered nothing to lose, compared with the riches to be won for a winning ticket.  Low risk vs high reward.  This train of thought led me to wonder why people don't view living for God with the same context of risk/reward.  With the lottery you're buying a chance to win a huge amount of money, against the loss of a dollar. The rewards of living for God are eternal life in heaven, or hell at the end, but along the way there are numerous rewards even before the final draw of the eternal lottery.   Peace, God's Spirit inside of you, striving to live by a divine moral code, surrounded by church brothers, and sisters who truly care for you, answered prayers. . . and on an on. . .  All are huge benefit...

Following are the verses where the word "Spirit" - capitalized denoting God's Spirit - appear in the KJV: KJV Search Results 158 Verses Found, 172 Matches Genesis 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 41:38  And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? Judges 3:10  And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. Judges 6:34  But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. Judges 11:29  Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Amm...