Php 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Personally- The Father sits on His throne, Jesus sits at His right hand making intercession for the Saints and the Holy Spirit is the One the Father sent to be with us as our Paraclete (the One who walks beside us). He is the One who reveals the Father to us. He is the One who opens our minds and hearts and gives us revelation in the Word. He is constantly with us. wanting to be a part of each and every area of our lives. He is our help and strength. He convicts and draws. If we harden our hearts we loose the ability to hear- conversely those who have an heart for Him can have ever a more sensitive hearing.
I believe that the Holy Spirit is often grieved as we walk daily through our lives and ignore the One who loves us.
So the question is- How does someone fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
I would have to say (again my opinion) that like any relationship it is developed by (again) spending time. If you want to get to know someone you talk to them, listen to them, include them in your activities, become interested in the things that please that. I believe that any relationship can be shallow or deep depending on the investment the two parties are willing to make- and He gave everything. I can also attest to knowing young people (such as Mark) who are growing in leaps and bounds with their knowledge and intimacy of relationship with God. I know still others who are 40 year old babes in Christ. This is not to place condemnation on anyone but rather to exhort that same one. Man was created for fellowship with God and is not complete without this.
And the other ?:
In essence: how does someone know if her or she is "in total submission to and completely in the power of the Holy Spirit"?
I believe this is a lifetime journey as one could not in an eternity know the depths of His beauty and glory except by revelation. As we grow in His grace and the knowledge of His heart, as we become renewed in our mind by revelation in the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit we can and will begin to resemble Jesus in our walk.
Jesus though God walked as a man. He went where the Spirit led. He did what He saw the Father do, He spoke what the Father spoke. He did nothing in His own strength but only in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the ultimate example.
The New Testament church received examples and instructions of how to interact with the Holy Spirit. I have taken the liberty to personalize them below:
The time is come for us to be a people who are filled with the Spirit, hear the Spirit, walk in the spirit, who
fellowship with the Spirit, who are led of the Spirit, who are caught up in the Spirit, who have vision in the Spirit, who have purposed in the Spirit, who speak through the Spirit, who have life in the Spirit, who mind the things of the Spirit, who through the Spirit put to death the things of the flesh, who bear the fruit of the Spirit, who move in the gifts of the Spirit, who intercede in the Spirit, who know the will of God in the Spirit, who are mighty in the Spirit, who for the love of the Spirit strive together, who have revelation in the Spirit, who judge in the Spirit, who are justified and sanctified in the Spirit, who manifest the Spirit, who drink in the Spirit, who pray in the Spirit, who bless with
the spirit, who receive life form the Spirit, who have freedom in the Spirit, who are changed from glory to glory by the Spirit, who minister by the Spirit, who wait thru he Spirit, who restore in the spirit, who sow to the Spirit, who are sealed with the Spirit, who are built up together by the Spirit, who are strengthened by the Spirit, who keep unity in the Spirit, who are renewed in the spirit of their minds, who take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, who make pray and supplication in the Spirit, who stand fast in one spirit, who worship in the spirit, who have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit and love one with a pure heart fervently , who if reproached for the Name of Christ are happy for the spirit of glory and of God rest upon us, who has an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to His church, who rest in the Spirit, who are carried away in the spirit, who have the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy, who cry out even so come Lord Jesus!Perhaps it is time we dare to believe God and enter into this deep fellowship that we are called to- we don't need to look far for :
Know ye not that you are the temple of the Holy Ghost- you are God's holy of holies now- and He is our Paraclete -
the one Jesus sent to walk beside us, teach us , lead us, guide us, draw us, fill us, sanctify us and fellowship with us-
let us not grieve nor quench Him- even the great Apostle Paul wanted to go his own way but yielded his plans and changed the course of his apostolic journey at the Spirit's direction- it is time we do the same- in His Name Larry