Thursday: The Holy Spirit
The great controversy is real; two sides are battling for our souls. One is drawing us to Christ (John 6:44) and one to the world (1 John 2:16). The power of the Holy Spirit in our lives can and will draw us in the right direction if we will but submit to Him.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13, NKJV; see also John 14:16). The Holy Spirit empowers us to live by principle and by faith, not by whims or emotions that so dominate the world. Successful preparation for living in heaven comes by living faithfully in this world under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Paul counsels: “Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5, NKJV). The lure of the world, often through material possessions, draws us away from the Lord. In contrast, if we do not resist, the power of the Holy Spirit will pull us toward Jesus.
Success in the battle with the world and its lures will be accomplished only from outside of ourselves. Read Ezek. 36:26-27; John 14:26; and Eph. 3:16-17. When we let the Holy Spirit take possession of us, what things will God do to assure that we have spiritual victory?
“It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 671.
The Holy Spirit is the reporter of truth and is the ultimate gift that Jesus could give to represent the deity on earth after His ascension. The Holy Spirit strives to give us power to overcome the powerful lure of the world and its “charms.”
| The world does pull at us all, doesn’t it? What choices can you make, right now, that can help you surrender to the Holy Spirit, who alone can give you power to resist the world’s temptations? |
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Accepting Jesus in the heart and having a permanent conciousness of His presence...
Amen
...He is not only our conscience, He is God abiding in us forever. John 14:16. He will teach us and bring rememberence of what Christ taught, if we have read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. John 14:26. ...
THE COMFORTER translates the Greek word parakletos or paraclete which literally means ONE CALLED TO ONE'S SIDE.
How beautiful. Notice the comparison in Jesus' statement. Jesus while on earth was present with the disciples. After He went to heaven the Father sent the Holy Spirit – the one sent to be by our side.
" What choices can you make, right now, that can help you surrender to the Holy Spirit, "
There is only one choice that I see that we can make involving the Holy Spirit that will be satisfactory. That is to let Him motivate our thoughts and feelings. When this is done all other choices are motivated by Him
The word "now" is a dynamic word because it is ever changing, so our choice to allow the Holy Spirit to motivate us and bring His fruit into our lives is also dynamic and has to be done on a continuing basis. This is why we need to be in continual prayer that our hearts may be in continual motivation of the Holy Spirit. We must not walk in life motivated by our selfishness. This will destroy the development of the Character of God in us.
I believe that inspite of the pull of the world with al its bustle, we can now choose to start each day with God, asking His Devine help to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
For many, timing is a challenge and may require modification of our current life style to start the day with God. But it wil be worth it all
"Successful preparation for living in heaven comes by living faithfully in this world under the direction of this world." I link this to:
If you would be a saint in heaven you must first be a saint on earth. The traits of character you cherish in life will not be changed by death or by the resurrection. You will come up from the grave with the same disposition you manifested in your home and in society. Jesus does not change the character at His coming. The work of transformation must be done now. Our daily lives are determining our destiny. Defects of character must be repented of and overcome through the grace of Christ, and a symmetrical character must be formed while in this probationary state, that we may be fitted for the mansions above.—Manuscript Releases 13:82 (1891).
Benard,
Very significant quote for these times..
Since some members go to worship service & skip Sabbath school or to Sabbath school & skip the worship service, this quote should be read quarterly at all SDA churches at both programs.
This theme is so crucial to salvation.
"Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon." Is 55:7
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor 10:5
Perhaps the notion of "living" is germane to this discussion. Too many of us think that we can argue the gospel, and that the living is of secondary importance. I have many unchurched friends who would shout me down if I mention Christianity. One of the reasons for this is that the Royal Commission on institutional responses to sexual abuse in Australia has just handed down its report (17 volumes) at the end of last year. Christian institutions have not received a good report and the perception of Christianity is that it is self-serving, and protective of its good name and image rather than showing any concern for victims. The great un-churched multitude are not interested in "Jesus " arguments. We Christians can no longer consider that we stand on high moral ground and tell others how to behave. The only argument that is effective is that we live the way that Jesus wants us to live. That is more powerful than any verbal argument.
And parenthetically, if we are tempted to say that Seventh-day Adventists are not like the other churches because we have the truth, take a reality check. Our name may not have gone up in lights on the news programs that reported the Royal Commission, but those of us who have been in the church for a long time know that we too are often more concerned about the good name of the church organisation than for those who have been abused within the system. It is wake up call for us to live our Christianity.
In Luke 11:13 Jesus Himself assures us that His Father is more willing to give us his Holy Spirit than we are to give good gifts to our children and that all we have to do is to just ask him for this gift.
What prevents the asking?
Could it be that we are so busy asking that we do not hear or want, or like the answers?
When one of my grandsons was younger he used to think that Grandad was the great source of all good things. If we went through a shop, he would ask me to buy this or that and I would try to explain to him that the things he was asking for were either rubbish, or too expensive or whatever. He did not listen much and kept asking and not receiving (well, not receiving as often as he thought was appropriate).
Is it possible that our prayer life is a bit like my grandson's asking?
(I have to add that my grandson now has pocket money of his own and is just starting to discover that he really enjoys reading. He has also discovered that Grandad and Grandma have taken a great interest in his shopping and even encourage him by adding more to his pocket money when he wants to buy a special book. Maybe there is lesson in that for our prayer life too if we think about it!)
Then, in Matthew 7:11 Jesus there compares the gift of the Holy Spirit to "good things." And how His Father is more willing to give us "good things," than we are to give "good gifts" to our children.
"What choices...?" Yes, it requires many choices throughout each and every day of our life. From this there will be no relief this side of Heaven if we will be found faithful.
God's Word, which must be as our daily bread, tells us to "deny ungodliness and worldly lust" in order to live "soberly, righteously and godly in this present world" while supplied by His saving grace. So how often is one tempted to ungodliness? Once a week? Once a month? Almost never? Continually??? The related question is: how determined and active is Satan and his hosts?
The Holy Spirit will fill the soul that resists the devil continually, who will deny all ungodliness and worldly lust without ceasing. One temptation accepted and acted on will grieve the Holy Spirit away. It only took one rejection of God's will to fill this world with woe. One cherished offense against God shows that soul to be his own god, even if only on one point, which makes him guilty of opposing God in all things, no matter his outward appearance to others. If God is enthroned in the life, it will affect every choice according to His will. (If we fail a test, God will accept us again through repentance and faith in Christ our propitiation.)
Our lot in this life is to be constantly at war with all that opposes God in our lives. IF we fight the good fight of Faith, the Holy Spirit will be our constant companion, while the world, including our closest family, will become our foes if they are not resisting the devil in their lives.
Stewardship is all or nothing. No middle ground. No compromise with the world at any time. This is how Jesus lived on this earth, amid the greatest trials and temptations ever faced by a human in this fallen world. He offers us His advantage through the Word of God and gift of the Holy Spirit. Will we receive it by resisting the devil? What others around us may do or not do should have no bearing on our choices, but only what Jesus did as our Example.
Hi, Robert. I really appreciate this comment.
I would add a twist to this that you wrote, "IF we fight the good fight of Faith, the Holy Spirit will be our constant companion."
I think this way--IF we invite the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion, we can fight the good fight of faith.
This seems to work better for me since I am so weak I have a hard time to even start the fight without the Faith of Jesus which the Holy brings with Him.
Hi Don,
That's not a bad way to look at it. As I read my bible, the condition for receiving the Holy Spirit is repentance. We can ask all we want, but if asking while we brush off the conviction of sin, what can we expect to get from God? I'm not referring to true ignorance from lack of opportunity to know we are sinning on a particular point, but I am referring to a willful act while knowing what the right course to take is. Eve, and Adam, knew the fruit was forbidden by God as I know that taking the life of another or worshiping idols are wrong.
So repentance is the means by which faith is exercised to receive the power of the Holy Spirit who is convicting us of that wrong needing to be repented of. To ignore this while asking for the Holy Spirit is asking for the very thing we are rejecting. God will not be mocked.
The Holy Spirit brings many "gifts" to sinners, and conviction of sin is one of those gifts, which if we own it and repent, will allow greater gifts to our aid in this fight of faith. The fully empty (of self) heart can be fully filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus was.
I just have a hard time believing that we can truly repent without the work of the Holy Spirit already in our lives. I see what you mean about asking for the Holy Spirit without being willing to repent even if the Holy Spirit is working with us.
Only with the motivation of Love that the Holy Spirit can give us can repentance that is not "filthy rag" righteousness be ours.
We must also ask in the name of Jesus for God's Holy Spirit. Jesus was quite clear about that very fact in John 14:26. But I still have a question about Matthew 7:11: Why is it that Luke who was not one of the 12 Apostles mentions the Holy Spirit as being "The Gift," that God is more willing to give us than we are to give "Good Gifts," to our children but Matthew, who was one of Jesus 12 Apostles, makes no mention of God's Holy Spirit as being that gift in Matthew 7:11?
You should have a hard time believing that we could repent without the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit works from without. It is once we repent that the Spirit can work from within by our consent.
Remember that Jesus(by the Spirit) stands outside knocking for entrance, and once we invite Him in (which is always left for us to choose, for God will never break down the door and force an entry) we are filled with His presence in the life. Repentance opens the door, for whatever has kept the door closed must be remedied.
Also, Jesus taught that those who ask for the Holy Spirit will receive it. Why would He teach that if we already had the Spirit? The Holy Spirit's work includes convincing the world(every soul that lives) "of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment", but the soul living in transgression does not possess the Spirit. Repentance opens the way for the sanctifying power of the Spirit, whereas it could only convict before. Justification (the result of repentance) must take place before sanctification is possible.
Yes, thank you, Robert. That makes sense to me now. The Holy Spirit has to initiate the process of knocking on our door from the position of our conscience, which might be considered as "outside" until we consent to open the door and let Him in to produce the work of regeneration of our character.
Is this in line with your understanding?
Pete, isn't the Holy Spirit a "good thing"? Perhaps at this time, the best thing?
More importantly Don, it lines up with what the Bible teaches. The Holy Spirit draws us to see our need and cooperation, then with our consent, can dwell in our heart through faith in God's exceeding great and precious promises. It is God's will to sanctify us so we can dwell with Him forever, and paid an infinite price to make it possible.
The Holy Spirit's "outside" work is limited, while His "inside" work makes all things possible. We must open the door.
Robert, it appears to me that if we followed Jesus instruction to watch and pray lest we fall, we would have the Holy Spirit on the "inside" and would be protected from needing Him to stay "outside" unless we forgot to "watch and pray."
It seems that Jesus always had the Holy Spirit on the inside as He walked in humanity. Since He is our example, this would seem to be our goal as the way we should walk. This would make our decision-making much easier.
There would be only one basic decision--to allow the Holy Spirit of God's Love to motivate us in all things such that this becomes our habit of choice in every issue of our lives. The choice of which way to go would then be a no-brainer as we are motivated by God's Love.
I totally agree Don. As we grow in grace and in a knowledge of Jesus, we become transformed by the renewing of our minds, where the Holy Spirit will dwell with our consent(Eph 3:16,17). The door to Satan's suggestions will be closed as our partaking of the Divine Nature will lead us to reject Satan's rebellious ways. In this, God's people will reflect Him fully(Isa 60:1).
Well, for that matter, Robert, Ellen White says that "The Holy Spirit brings all other blessings in its train." So maybe Jesus said both statements of God's willingness to give us "Good Things," as well as "The Best Gift" the Holy Spirit too.