Posts
Three more
assurances to go along with the three I read on Friday! In addition to the facts that we are going to
heaven, we know the Father right now,
and that we have the privilege of
prayer, we have the Holy Spirit, we
enjoy the Father’s love, and we have
His gift of peace.
My commentary explained more about the Holy Spirit:
“The Holy Spirit does not work instead of us, or in spite
of us, but in us and through us …
The Spirit of God had dwelt with the
disciples in the person of Jesus Christ.
Now He would dwell in them.”
So how would we
treat a new resident of our homes or
our lives? My commentary said, “The way
we treat the Holy Spirit is the way we treat the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer’s body is the temple of
the Spirit, so what he or she does
with that body affects the
indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit wrote the Word of God, and the way we
treat the Bible is the way we treat
the Spirit of God and the Son of God.”
Our relationship with
the Spirit is important. “As the
believer yields to the Father, loves the Word, prays and obeys, there
is a deeper relationship with the
Father, Son, and Spirit. Salvation means we are going to Heaven, but submission means that Heaven
comes to us!”
As to God’s peace, “the world bases its peace on its resources, while God’s peace depends on relationships
… In the world, peace is something
you hope for or work for, but to the Christian, peace is God’s wonderful gift, received by faith. Unsaved
people enjoy peace when there is an absence
of trouble. Christians enjoy peace in spite
of trials because of the presence of power,
the Holy Spirit … The Spirit of God teaches
us the Word and guides us (not drags us!) into the truth. He also reminds
us of what He has taught us so that we can depend on God’s Word in the difficult times of life.”
Jesus named two of our great spiritual enemies at the end of
this chapter – the world and the devil.
My commentary said, “There is no
point in Jesus Christ where the devil can get a foothold. Since we
are in Christ, Satan can get no
foothold in the believer’s life unless we PERMIT it.” How important it is, then, that we stay
closely connected with the Holy Spirit so that we will not, by our own wrong
choices, permit our enemies to enter our camp!
Father, I may not fully understand all I need to know about
the Holy Spirit, but I know that He is a person
– my Advocate in this life until
Christ comes for me. Thank You for this
incredibly personal gift, and help me not to turn away from Him by
sinning. Keep me ever aware that You
placed Him in my life out of Your incredible love, to guide me until
I reach home.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment