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Tag Archives: gift of the holy spirit

Frozen or overflowing?

31 Jan

Frozen or overflowing?

John 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

It was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The celebration ended with a ceremony that commemorated when God provided water for the Israelites from the rock while they were in the desert for 40 years. It was the highlight of the show if you will allow me. Christ at that time stole the show when He spoke these words; 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Jesus had left the crowd in awe; some saw him as a prophet, some as who he was, but they were all in awe of him. They truly knew that something was special about him. But, what did He speak about? He was proclaiming the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be given to them when He ascended back into heaven. This Gift would bless, comfort, teach, all that would receive Him. Not only that, but through the Holy Spirit many would be blessed through his outpouring in the believers life; rivers of living water to those that would receive him.

If you claim Christianity, is your river of living water overflowing into the lives of others, or is it frozen up? Is there evidence of your life as one that is full of the Holy Spirit, hopefully to the point He spills into the lives of others? Would they say, or do they feel His presence in you? If the only evidence of your Christianity is Sunday, your river is a small stream. The Holy Spirit may be alive in you, but your attention to all that is of the world is drying him up. Are you grieving him by your daily thoughts and actions that point to the hold the world has on you? Do you pain him how you deny those convictions of sins he points out to you? Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Those painful pricks that He points out to you are the tugs on your heart to repent and draw near to God. Repent of your sins, and get back near God with daily time spent in his Word and prayer. That is how you nurture, or feed the Holy Spirit that is living inside of you. You feed him with a hearts desire for Him, and time spent with him in God’s Word. He in return, nurtures you by the wisdom he reveals to you in God’s Word. He opens up the truths of God to you, and that tugs your heart to yearn for more. This river of life begins to grow in you, and begins to spill it’s banks to those He puts around you.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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The Day Between

30 Mar

The Day Between

1 Peter 3:18-20   For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

Where did Christ go the day between his crucifixion and resurrection? Many think he descended into hell. I am not an educated scholar, and not qualified to take on that debate, but from my understanding he did not. He may have descended in to Sheol (the place where the dead lie awaiting final judgement), but Hell is reserved in the future tense as punishment for eternity. Where did He go; what does it matter when had paid your sin debt in full at the cross? Your sins had been atoned for in the shedding of Holy blood; the perfect sacrifice for a fallen society. God became fully man and died an unfathomable death to provide you the opportunity to dwell with Him for eternity.

Today was the Sabbath 2000 years ago; no believing Jew could do anything but morn and remain idle in what had happened. They were torn and confused over the events that had just taken place. They had not the gift of the Holy Spirit placed in them yet for the understanding that would come to them as a result of it. The apostles had abandoned Him in his greatest time of need; their pain must have been great. Today was a great day of morning 2000 years ago. Luke 22:61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly. They had to be questioning every thing that they had experienced the last couple of years; today would be a great day to put yourself in their shoes.

We all mourn differently. We all will come to a place where we are faced with life when we loose someone that is close to us. As Christians we are to morn for the personal loss we feel, but to rejoice in the hope of eternity for those that have passed. If they are believers in Christ; they have passed into paradise; no more pain of these bodies trapped in sin for eternity. Your future and mine changed 2000 years ago; your destiny awaits you at the foot of the cross. This day between is a day to morn the pain of death; but tomorrow is a day to rejoice for resurrection.

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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I wanna hear Him

20 Oct

I wanna hear Him

Acts 2:38-39   Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

The Day of Pentecost is known as the day when Christ poured out the Holy Spirit into the Apostles. It had only been a few days at the most that they had seen Christ ascend into heaven. They were meeting together most likely to discuss their plans for the ministry Christ had laid before them, yet they had not begun to minister in Jerusalem where He told them to start. Christ had given them a portion of the Spirit that seemed to unite them; ceasing the divisions of their seeking to know which was the greatest and such. John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. They now prayed together and appointed Matthias to take Judas’s place as an apostle.

When the Spirit was fully given, those who witnessed it were amazed. Peter began to preach his first sermon and the call was to repentance. It requires a humble repentant heart to believe. The Gospel can be presented in different lights; as in faith and or repentance. Both work in accordance with each other; and both will produce the other. You cannot believe if you do not repent, and a hollow repentance does not produce faith. What do you believe? Where does your faith lie? Have you the faith in forgiveness of your sins that has led you to repent? You cannot claim faith in Christ if you have not been moved by Him to repent. That pride will be the seat of eternal punishment you receive for thinking that highly of yourself. Pride is the root of ALL sin. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

As incredible as if would have been to have lived in the days of Christ; it is far more indescribable to have His Spirit living with you as a child of His now. You may have seen miracles that He performed, but now you can hear His voice now from within. There is a power and indescribable peace that comes with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Christ described His gift to them in John 20:21 as “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”.  If I were asked to describe my religion, or faith, in one word, it would be PEACE. The peace I have that lies in His Spirit within me is a peace that an out of control world that surrounds me cannot steal. If you do not possess this peace, try examining your heart before God. He will show you where pride is a wall; and the breaking down of that wall will let Him in.

 
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Posted by on October 20, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Ya’ ain’t them kinda smarts

23 Jul

Ya’ ain’t them kinda smarts

John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

This was Christ’s fifth resurrection appearance, and it was to 10 of His disciples (Thomas was absent) who were meeting secretly together to discuss many things. They were in fear of what had happened, and surely met to encourage one another and discuss their future plans. Christ had appeared in His risen form to them in a locked upper room. He had come to encourage and commission them for their future plans. John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Their faith and future were strengthened.

Christ breathed on them. His breath proved His life, and through His breath He gives life. This even points back to the beginning in Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to all the disciples as an enabler for their future ministries. The Holy Spirit is an enabler, and provides spiritual power to aide in the work of discipleship. This was not only a gift to the disciples, but also to you as a disciple of Christ.

If you are having trouble understanding the bible, is it because you are relying on your own wisdom to reveal it to you? These things are available only through the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Humble yourself, repent of your sin, and plea for forgiveness. Christ’s Spirit will come to dwell inside of you; revealing many things that you have never seen before. Your time here on earth will take on a new light, and you will be spurred to share as the disciples shared through the power of His Spirit. The give of the Spirit is for our time here, but yet the Salvation lasts an eternity. It is only gained through a humble heart, and not through our own wisdom.

 
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Posted by on July 23, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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One Way

06 May

One Way

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.

Christ was with His disciples at the last supper and speaking of the future events about to begin to take place. He spoke of going to Heaven and the mansions built there for us. He spoke of returning to get us. Thomas had asked how to get there and John 14:6 above was Christ’s answer to his question. The disciples had been with Jesus, yet at so many times it seemed as though they just didn’t ‘get it’. But yet after Christ arose and the gift of the Holy Spirit came to us, the wisdom and understanding did also. This gift, this wisdom the Spirit brings only comes with humility of accepting Christ. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

When God is pursuing you, the weight of your sin begins to weigh upon your soul. Many times we try to improve ourselves by changing our ways, living a better life. Although the idea and results may be good by our actions, they do not lead to eternal rewards. This feeling better about yourself is from Satan, for it is a works based faith alone. But when you feel that depravity or weight of sin, you can turn to God. 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. The desire you have to live a better life not only here, but for eternity, was placed in you upon Creation. But the was is stated in John 14: 6 and Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them. You can change nothing in your life until you accept that true change only comes through accepting Christ. Pray and repent, accept Him into your heart, and rest on the assurance of Salvation as a free gift of God for eternal paradise. It will be the best day of the rest of your life.

Here is a great link to a short detailed explanation of the Gospel:

http://www.gotquestions.org/true-gospel.html

 

 

 
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Posted by on May 6, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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The Great Comforter

13 Feb

We all have our battles, and our stresses of life. We all can be drug down into the gloom by our enemy and the focus on the problems, and not the solution. Constant distractions, lack of time, and the pressures of society feed worry. I know we all battle it daily. But there is a solution that comes with Christ, that gives us comfort in those times of need. The more time we spend with Him, the less the cares of the world have power over us. You truly begin to see things in a different light. If I am to describe my relationship with Christ in one word, that word is Peace. That does not mean my life is a bed of roses, and it is far from it. But I do know where to turn when the pressures of life get to me. It is not only for me, it is for all of you too….all you have to do is ask Him.

 

 

 

The Great Comforter

Philippians 4:6-7   Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

What worries you? What brings you comfort? Our world promised material treasures, 30 day programs, and medications to fix any problem that we have. I don’t know of anyone who could claim to not worry over something. I suffer myself from both anxiety and depression, and I have given both up to God. Paul is speaking here of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon acceptance of the free gift of Salvation. The Holy Spirit is also known as the Great Comforter. He is the enabler, the guide to wisdom, the pathway to peace.

John 14:27 says “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Christ was speaking here of whom He was leaving with us to those that accepted Him, when Christ returned to heaven. This is a free gift that nourishes our sousl for our little time here, then we take that peace into eternity. Our world is full of daily stresses that that draw our attention away from God. But if we turn our hearts to God in prayer and time in His Word, the Great Comforter that indwells in us, will bring about a peace that surpasses all understanding. Their is only one way to gain this comfort, by the Cross of Jesus Christ.

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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