The Holy Spirit
The following is encouragement for you as if Jesus Christ Himself was speaking. These are meant to give you insight into His Heart, how He thinks, and how He feels about you. Let this encouragement begin to dwell deep within you!
“… And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…
All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you…
When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me… But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. …and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
JOHN 14:16-18, 25-26 … JOHN 16:13 (NIV)
If you have been feeling that God is some inanimate higher power, far removed from your daily life and daily decisions, you could not be more mistaken.
Sometimes in today’s world you might hear the word “supernatural” to describe some unusual event or spiritual happening. Usually it has the connotation of describing something beyond the realm of people’s understanding; something just too deep, too complex, too far removed from everyday life, or just too unbelievable.
What I urgently want to share with you, however, is that the sending of the Holy Spirit to you, which I have guaranteed and promised to do, is the most normal and usual action I take! Indeed the Holy Spirit living in you is meant to be a supernatural gift, but given to you in a natural way. And this gift is for everyone, not just some; commonplace, not rare; everyday, rather than once or twice in a lifetime! A gift not earned, but a gift given freely to you!
Now that you have read that I have promised to send the Holy Spirit to live in you, and that this is as natural as sunrise and sunset, what is the role of the Spirit? What does it mean to you to be “spirit-filled”?
Notice the word “truth” repeated in the above Scripture. What the Holy Spirit does is simple: guiding you into habits of clear thinking, a growing ability to discern correctly, a practice of making the right decisions, a leading into God’s ways rather than our own ways. The Spirit is ready to help you with relationships, with career, with how to pay the bills! And if you do stumble, you’ll have help getting you back on the right path.
You will have peace in your desert time, joy when your world seems overcast, comfort in your trials, forgiveness when you can’t forgive on your own, hope when life seems so barren, and most important, a new ease and ability to pray and know my heart and my voice. You are never again meant to feel alone and orphaned; and all of this is very normal and natural in my plan for your particular blessings.
Let me fill you today with the fullness of the Spirit, whom I promised to send to you; it’s time for you to grow and blossom! Just ask!
I really like you, and I really love you!
PAUSE … Quiet yourself … the Lord is near!
REFLECT … Here are some questions for you…
1) Why would Jesus want to send the Holy Spirit to us?
2) At what times, in which circumstances, would we benefit from having the Holy Spirit in our lives?
3) Is the Spirit meant for just some people, or for you too?
4) The idea of the Holy Spirit living within us is meant to be natural, normal, to be expected. When a person understands this, blessings follow quickly! Can you believe this for your own life?
RECEIVE … We are told the Holy Spirit is a free gift to anyone who asks. Ask to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit!
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