John 14:15-31 (New International Version)
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the 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[a] in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But 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. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30I will not speak with you much longer,the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
"Come now; let us leave.
The counselor- The spirit of God himself would come after Jesus was gone to care for and to guide the disciples. The Holy spirit is the the very presence of God within us and all the believers, helping us to live as God wants and building Christ's church on earth. By faith we can appropriate God's spirit each day. The Holy Spirit is a powerful person on our side, working for and with us.
The Holy Spirit will be with us forever, the world will not accept him, he lives within us, he teaches us, he reminds us of Jesus' words, he convicts us of sin, shows us God's righteousness, announces God's judgement on evil, guides us into the truth and gives insight into future events.He also brings glory to Christ. He has been active among people from the beginning of time and he has come to live in all believers. To those who hear Christ's words and understand the spirit's power, the Spirit gives a whole new way to look at life.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in his place, after he ascended to Heaven. To have the Holy spirit is to have Jesus himself. God alone knows what will happen in the future, but he tells us what we need to know to prepare us for the future. When we live for him, he will not leave us. We need not fear because God knows the future. We have to have faith in God to be secure about our future. If you lose Christ, then you will prove it by obeying what he says in his word. Jesus saves the deepest revelations of himself for those who love and obey him.
The Holy Spirit helps us to remember what God has taught us. As we study the bible, we can trust him to plant truth in our mind, convince us of God's will and remind us when we stray from it. The end result of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. This peace is confident assurance in any circumstance. If your life is full of stress, allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with Christ's peace. Jesus says he will give us peace if we are willing to accept it from him. Satan's power exists only because God allows him to act but Satan has no power over him. If we align ourselves closely with God, then Satan will have no power over us.
When we find ourselves in the storm because we have obeyed the Lord, we must remember that he brought us to it an He he will bring us through it. There are two kinds of storms: Storms of correction when God disciplines us and Storms of perfection when God helps us grow. Have you seen Jesus in the midst of your storm? I have. Character is both developed and revealed by tests and all of life is a test. Remember that the more God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be. "Unless you are responsible in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones" Luke 16:10
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Whatever may come, I will rejoice in it. Thank you for testing me with correction and perfection. Lord I pray for those with money problems that they realize it all belongs to you and you only let us borrow it for a time. Please help them to show faith in financial matters so that you may receive the glory from it. I pray for my friends and family today that you will give them what they need to shine in their testing. I pray the same thing for myself. I ask you to reveal your will for me and continue to teach me your ways. Thank you for speaking to me through the word. I pray a special prayer for my children as they go out into the wold today. I pray that Dusty passes the tests that are laid in front of him by you. Lord help me to be 100% compliant with your will so that my spiritual garden may grow from one ear of corn to an entire field. I love you and I praise your name. I ask you to forgive me of my sins and where I fail you. Thank you for the continued support that you still provide and not giving me more than I can handle. Thank you for testing me as it shows that you are working in my life. I ask that you bless this ministry so that people may be blessed through you from it. You shall receive all the glory from my good actions. The sins belong to me, but I will ask for your forgiveness. In your Holy name I pray.....amen
5 comments:
Dearest Brantly,
So many people are being touched by your words. i look foward to reading your posts everyday and it always helps me in some way. God is doing something so special with your life. You will probably never know how many lives you and Keri have touched. My friend lost her husband 15 yrs ago when her daughter was 7 and her twins had just turned 1. She said that your writings over the last months have helped her more than anything in 15 years. WOW!! How she needed to hear your thoughts! Thank you so much for your dedication to this. i know it is time consuming to put your thoughts into words daily. But what better way to spend your time than spreading God's word!! My prayers are constantly with you and your family.
Dear Anna, you dont know how much words of encouragement like that mean to me. I am not planning on stopping as long as I know that God is helping people through this.Comments like yours are his way of letting me know to keep going. The problem with the internet is that you are shouting in the dark. As long as people talk back to me, I will talk to them. Thank you so much.
So good to see what God is doing in and through you and your obedience. Psalms 23 says you will walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow of death - not to it - but through it - and I think its so cool to be able to watch as you do that and come out on the other side and start walking in the calmer pastures !
Saw this verse on a friends facebook page and thought about you. Hope you will be blessed by it in some way.
"You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. You will restore to me even greater honor and comfort me once again...I will shout for joy and sing your praises for... you have redeemed me." -Psalm 71:20,21,23 ~
Had to get my Word of the Day before going to bed. Long day as usual. I will whisper your family's name before the Father before falling asleep. Peace and grace to you.
hank you so much
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