The Lord's Supper has just been finished and Jesus knows that His time with His disciples is coming to an end. Jesus was always up front with his disciples, he knows that they will have a difficult time with...
Jesus Disciples Are Not Working Alone
The Holy Spirit changes us and gives us power to live for God.
Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
John 14:16-18 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.
Yes we live in a gospel community doing life together and helping each other but I want to talk about a much better helper that we cannot be without if we are going to grow as a disciple or if we are going to make new disciples.
The work of the Holy Spirit is a part of the process of becoming more like Jesus, his work starts with giving us life when we were spiritually dead and he helps us to move through all of the stages of spiritual growth from infants all the way to a spiritual adult.
Of all the gifts given to man by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit, He has many functions, roles, and activities so we will only take a look at a few of them:
The Holy Spirit guarantees my salvation.
Ephesians 1:13-14 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
God grants to us His Holy Spirit as the certain pledge that we are His forever and shall be saved in the last day. He has saved us and given us His Spirit to renew us and cleanse us from the desires of the flesh. He produces in our hearts the evidence that we are accepted by God, that we are regarded as His adopted children, that our hope is genuine and that our salvation is sure.
The Holy Spirit gives me power to live for God.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
The proof of the Spirit’s presence is the work that He is doing in my heart. The cold indifferent and unloving heart will become tender and compassionate and we will respond to God's commands and conform to His will for our lives.
My character will look a lot more like God's character. (Ephesians 4:21-24, John 16:7-11) The power that He provides will help me to live with the fruit of the Spirit. My life will have "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Holy Spirit helps me tell my story to people that don't know the gospel.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus disciples were appointed to tell what they had seen and what they had heard. They saw his life, his character, his suffering and his teaching. They saw His life, death and resurrection and they were about to see him ascend to heaven. Jesus had changed their lives dramatically and he wanted them to tell their story. (Acts 4:33)
Jesus also wants us to tell our story and he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us have the words, the timing for our words and the power to go and share the good news. The more we tell our story and talk about how God has intervened in our life, the more people will begin to realize that God is for real, miracles do happen, and they will see that He can change their life too.
I am not able to live the life that God wants me to live without the Holy Spirit's power, I need to remember that I don't have to be more like Jesus in my own strength, the power to be who he wants me to be can only come from Him.
Help me Lord to be serious about my mission here on earth and help me to rely on the Holy Spirit to change me and then help me spread the good news about what you have done.
The Daniel Fast - Are You Listening
The Daniel Fast is a great opportunity for you and I and even our church family to focus and reflect on what God is trying to say to us and where He wants to lead us.
You have heard me say that listening to the spirit is vital to our growth as followers of Christ. It is the means by which God wants to lead us. Just like God used the cloud by day and the fire by night to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us and reveal to us the way He wants us to go. The real tension for you and I is this:
Am I listening for the Holy Spirit in my everyday rhythm of life? Am I willing to believe in Him no matter what He reveals to us? Am I willing to do whatever He asks no matter what?
You see how these three all build on one another? You have to be willing to slow down, eliminate the noise and take time to listen. When you and I do that, we can be confident that He will speak and will reveal something to you.
How? God speaks to us in a variety of ways, God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and your church family to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.
Did you notice why He speaks? To show you and I who He is – our provider, our help, our refuge, our deliverer, our peace, our healer, our sustainer, our refresher…I could keep going. He also speaks to show us His purposes. You want to find out His will – Do what He says – He will show you. Finally, He speaks to show us His ways. We learn how God works in and through our lives by following His voice. TRUSTING His voice and knowing that He isn’t going to lead us down a path of destruction.
This is why is should be easy to be willing to do whatever He asks no matter what. Yet it causes the most tension for most of us. Why is that? I would love to hear your thoughts.
As you are taking this time with the Daniel Fast and hopefully taking some time to listen and reflect. Here are some tips that might help you as you work out that muscle of LISTENING to the HOLY SPIRIT.
Where does God have you and where are you seeing Him working in your life? Is there a need or needs in you or others that you see? Is there a burden you feel or have that you can’t shake off? Is there something, someone, or somewhere that you see you can bring or be good news to? Why aren’t you going? What has God given you? Look around and really consider this in light of this question…Are you using it for Him or for you?
Please know that I am praying for you and with you as you take this journey. Be encouraged by these verses today as you think of LISTENING & TRUSTING the voice of the HOLY SPIRIT. Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” (John 16:16) It goes on to say that the disciples struggled with (or experienced tension) what He meant by this. Yet, listen to these words He said just before that statement:
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16:12-15
You really need to take time to read this entire chapter and even go back to Chapter 13 and read up to this point to see where this whole discussion began to gain a greater perspective. But look at this final question…
“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered. John 16:31-32
This is where we are at now! A church scattered. Followers of Christ all over the world scattered abroad sent by God to be His expression and example to a world that desperately needs Him. This is why it is crucial that we ALL are leaning in and listening to what the Spirit is saying and BELIEVING it. This why it is important for us to gather and encourage one another to do just that…BELIEVE. Believe in who we know God is. Believe in what God has and is doing. Believe in what that means to us. Believe in who we are as a result of what He has done. THEN we go and do with confidence not in ourselves but in a God who loves us so much that He did all of this to show us the next steps.
