The Holy Spirit that Jesus prayed for is the One who truly does bring the joy that the Savior wanted each of us to have. So you see, joy comes through the Spirit of Jesus Christ regardless of our circumstances.
The joy that you want, the joy that you are so diligently searching for, the joy that your spirit is crying out for only truly comes from one Person: the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" Galatians The best way I can describe the way our father ran our family is to ask you to remember the father in the movie, The Sound of Music.
Except for the location and the singing, our house functioned much like the Von Trapp household did—strict discipline, well-understood instructions, comprehensive rules, everything neat and tidy, and plenty of work to do.
When we failed to live up to the standards set for us, swift punishment was sure. Our home was run with military-like discipline. My brothers and sisters and I were even dressed in matching uniforms. A former boxer, my father was a 6'2", pound powerhouse. But even that doesn't begin to describe him. By virtue of his commanding personality, he really was larger than life.
And there was never any doubt that he was in charge. In his own way, he loved us. And I never doubted his love for any of us, even though I don't remember hearing him express it audibly very often until the very end of his life.
For nearly the first thirty years of my life, my father's stern ways, combined with his type of personality, presented him as detached, distant, and somewhat cold emotionally.
I don't think he was intentionally that way, but by his very makeup he was undemonstrative. And my speech impediment didn't make communicating with him any easier.
Although I was his first-born son and I grew up under the same roof, ate bread from his table, and enjoyed the physical provision he made for our family, I never really knew what it was to have a close relationship with him until I was an adult. Knowing that, can you imagine the joy I experienced when I met the Lord and instantly felt a tremendous intimacy and affection with my heavenly Father?
What took me thirty years to experience with my earthly father took me less than thirty seconds to experience with my heavenly Father. I will never, ever lose my appreciation for the relationship the Holy Spirit gives me with the Father because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.
I'm no longer a slave to sin and alienated from the Father. I'm not in the Father's family as a stepchild—emotionally distant and never really accepted.
I've been adopted as a full- fledged son and joint-heir, and so I can cry out, "Abba, Father! All of these benefits are yours, too, through the precious Holy Spirit.
I want you to understand that "Abba" is an Aramaic term that small children would use in addressing their father, like "Daddy" or "Papa. And how can it be that we can have this kind of relationship with the Father? Oh, my friend, come to know the Lord as your Abba today. Now, I hope you have a better understanding of the way the Trinity functions. But there is one more important relationship that the Holy Spirit enjoys—His relationship with you!
We are adopted into God's family. Instantly, we are given power to become children of God see John It is a fulfillment of the Father's great plan. He called us to "adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" Ephesians Who arranges for our adoption?
The Holy Spirit. Paul writes, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption" Romans The concept of adoption points to two great truths, both conveyed by the Holy Spirit. The first one is mentioned above. It is the great fact of our adoption into God's family with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that are a part of being a member of the family.
The second one is the great fulfillment of adoption— the transformation of our bodies at the Rapture when we receive the promised inheritance: "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" Romans The most wonderful miracle we have ever seen won't compare to that great miracle of the Rapture when we'll exchange our mortal bodies for immortal bodies—bodies that will never be subject to sickness, disease, or death.
Don't get me wrong, until that day everyone should absolutely seek their miracle from the Lord. The Spirit of Adoption! When will our adoption be culminated? When our bodies are redeemed at the Rapture. What a glorious day!
Come quickly, Lord Jesus! The Spirit of Glory It seems more and more evident to me that Christians are coming under attack—especially in North America.
I also see these attacks increasing in intensity. That's why I believe in what I call "violent faith"—faith that isn't passive, that doesn't tiptoe around, that isn't afraid of what people think, or that does not fear the consequences of being aggressive.
Peter wrote his first epistle to Believers in Asia Minor who were experiencing the sting of persecution. He strongly and boldly declared, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you" 1 Peter The Holy Spirit, speaking through Peter, gave these courageous believers two great assurances as they endured persecution.
First, He assured them that they hadn't done anything wrong or believed anything wrong. Instead, their persecution showed that the very Spirit of the Lord rested upon them. Second, He promised these brave believers that His glory would rest on them. He was talking about the magnificent glory of God—the same glory that the nation of Israel experienced in the wilderness and appeared as a cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night; the same glory that the high priest experienced in the Holy of Holies; the same glory that appeared to the shepherds keeping watch the night the Lord Jesus was born; the same glory that came upon the Apostles in the Upper Room.
Now believe me, I'm no stranger to persecution. When I trusted Christ, my whole family turned against me and ostracized me. But as I held firm, the Holy Spirit came upon me with His glory, energizing my spirit and giving me the strength to go on.
Soon my entire family came to know Christ as Savior. For each of you who feels he is standing alone in the midst of opposition, take heart—the Holy Spirit of glory has promised to rest on you and He will keep His promise! The Spirit of Grace Have you taken time lately to reflect on the wonder of salvation? Without salvation, we would still be "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" Ephesians It is God's grace, His kindness and undeserved favor, that reached out to us.
Even when we were His enemies He saved us. His amazing grace covered our guilt with His righteousness. His grace keeps us, for we were saved by grace through faith and kept by grace through faith. His grace brings us to the foot of the cross, unable to brag, able simply to say that our best was as filthy rags in His sight. His grace that not only covers our failures—it transforms them into distinctive points of power and ministry. Because of His grace, He puts resurrection power at our disposal, allowing us to persevere and prevail.
Because of His grace, He rewards us, even in our unworthiness. Because of His grace, He is returning for us, to transform us and allow us to experience the wonder of all He has prepared for us. As Paul reflected on God's grace in salvation, he couldn't help but break out in a hymn of praise for God's grace in executing His plan of redemption: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" Romans How marvelous is the grace of God!
And who do you suppose conveys this grace to us? He is the very Spirit of grace and He ministers the Lord's grace to us moment by moment. Yet, incredibly, some people feel the temptation to abandon the cause of Christ, to forsake the streams of living water for dry, empty creekbeds. The Book of Hebrews was written, in part, to convince these people not to forsake the Lord.
The Scripture declares: "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
How much more, then, should we fear the consequences of holding in contempt the Son of God, His sacrifice, the Spirit of God, and His grace? The Father will not take lightly the despising of the Son and the Spirit. He warns us plainly in His Word: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" Hebrews The Spirit of Grace and of Supplication There are some people who minimize the importance of Bible prophecy, and even some who make fun of it.
Mark Twain said, "If the world comes to an end, I want to be in Cincinnati—things always come twenty years later in Cincinnati. Do you think God would devote 25 percent of His Word to an unimportant subject? I certainly do not. I am waiting and watching for the Rapture, the inauguration of so many of the great prophetic events of Scripture.
Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, said he only had two days on his calendar —today and "that day! I want to live today for "that day!
It describes the reconciliation of the Jewish people with the Savior they rejected. This great event occurs at the Second Coming of Christ. Try to imagine the profound emotion of this moment. On the one hand is the Lord Jesus, the rejected King, now returned as Conqueror. On the other hand is the Jewish nation. They have lived through the horrors of the Tribulation. They have seen the awesome power of the glorified Savior returning to earth with His armies to destroy His enemies.
And now in a moment of time they realize that the One they had so steadfastly rejected is the precious Son of God and they turn to Him in faith. Who prepared the way for this reconciliation? The Holy Spirit! More than five hundred years before Christ, the Lord described this scene to the prophet Zechariah: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and [or "so that" in the NASB] they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and it shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" Zechariah When the Lord poured out His Spirit upon His battered and bedraggled people, He broke through their resistance so they could experience God's favor grace , and that freed their hearts to call out to Him in repentance.
No matter what we've done or how we have failed, He helps us come to the Father in freedom and find the forgiveness and mercy so abundantly available to all. You can always, always count on Him because He stays the same. Because of His constancy, we can expect that the Holy Spirit will make manifest these same qualities in us as we allow Him to work. The first couplet describes Him as "the spirit of wisdom and understanding" Isaiah Wisdom is nothing more than living with skill.
It goes beyond intellectual knowledge to include the ability to apply the knowledge of God's Word in our daily life—and nothing less.
It involves using knowledge in the right way to select the right ends. Then wisdom directs us to achieve those ends in a proper fashion. It involves applying God's truth to human experience. Properly mastered, it can lead to a happy and successful life.
This skillful living manifested itself in the life of the Lord Jesus even from His childhood. As a child, Jesus was "filled with wisdom" and "increased in wisdom" Luke , They marveled at the wisdom of His words, and at the practical skill His words imparted.
And did you notice the connection they made between the wisdom of His teaching and His mighty works: "wisdom And because godly wisdom is so rare, the wisdom of Jesus' actions routinely baffled and angered those without this wisdom. The Lord Jesus recounted the words of His critics: "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.
But wisdom is justified of her children" Matthew And the mighty, Spirit-led growth of the Church, growing in every continent and country, every village and community and country bears ample testimony to the wisdom of the Master's strategy.
In other words, wisdom is proven by the right actions of those who practice it. Understanding is the same as having discernment in wisdom. It is not about the accumulation of facts. The idea here is that a person with "understanding" has the insight to choose with skill between the options that come his way. We must diligently seek it.
Proverbs, known as the book of wisdom, puts it this way in chapter 2, verses 1 through 6: "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. What an incredible comfort these words are for the righteous!
There are many choices, alternatives, and options in the world. Sometimes it seems impossible to choose between them. Thanks be to God that, through the Holy Spirit, we can have wisdom skill in living life , and understanding discernment to choose between the alternatives we face. With the counsel and might of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, our perspective is fresh and full of insight, and our outlook is optimistic. But without it, this present existence is at best dark, dreary, and depressing.
One by one as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent death. Brief and powerless is man's life.
On him and all his race the slow sure doom falls, pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way. For man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow himself to pass through the gates of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere the blow falls, the lofty thoughts that ennoble his little day. I'm so glad the Holy Spirit as our Counselor gives us the meaning and fulfillment in life which Bertrand Russell so desperately needed.
But there is no doubt that his is the way the ungodly view life. It is bankrupt and utterly meaningless for them. As the prophet Isaiah emphasized, the Holy Spirit was "the spirit of counsel and might". In Isaiah , he is prophesying again about the coming of the Lord Jesus. Because of His wisdom, understanding, counsel, and knowledge He is the Wonderful Counselor" see Isaiah He is not only able, but He really wants to help you. Stop trying to muster the power to push your way through things.
With the Holy Spirit, your motto can be, "Not somehow, but triumphantly! They went from a barely-scraping-by existence in Kentucky to Oklahoma because they heard that it was the land of opportunity.
The land they farmed wasn't very productive and consequently they never had much to live on. They scraped out an existence just as they had before. Eventually they sold the land and moved to another state.
The person who bought the land from them discovered oil and became wealthy. The reason the land didn't farm well was that it was so saturated with petroleum that nothing would grow.
Think of it! For years these dear people lived near poverty when at their very feet was all they needed—not only to survive, but to thrive! If they had dug a little deeper, rich oil would have erupted and they could have enjoyed the reality of financial success and peace of mind!
In the same way we have the great resources of the Holy Spirit at our disposal, and yet some of us live our lives in spiritual poverty and frustration, not using the riches that are at our immediate beck and call. We simply need to go deeper. Not only does He give us guidance, but He imparts the strength and energy to carry out His plans. The word knowledge here refers to the knowledge we gain through our senses, both about how the world works and about God's moral law.
Thus, the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to look at the world and perceive His handiwork and purposes in it. The Bible declares that "the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" Romans When we are in tune with the leading of the Holy Spirit, we gain a fuller understanding of the world around us, and every day can be packed with awe and wonder.
But not only does He bring knowledge, the Holy Spirit also brings "the fear of the Lord. Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" Proverbs Now I don't want you to misunderstand my next thoughts. I'm grateful for all the emphasis these days on spiritual warfare. I believe it has made us more sensitive to the spiritual struggles going on around us. But I fear that an unintended result of all this teaching is that men and women now fear the devil more than they fear God.
I tell you, "Fear God, and you will not need to fear the devil. By the way, there is a difference between fearing the Lord and being afraid. The nation of Israel is gathered at Mt. Sinai was ablaze with "thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud [was] upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled" Exodus In fact, the nation of Israel said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die" Exodus Then Moses utters these remarkable words: "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not" Exodus He was saying, "Don't be afraid, but fear!
The people were trembling at God's power. His classic Christian work, Practice of the Presence of God , details how to gain that constant and comforting connection to God. Readers have treasured this short and easy book for centuries because of Lawrence's honest advice and his obvious passion for spiritual matters.
He rejoiced in everyday tasks, prayed constantly, and was known around the monastery for his kindness and willingness to help others. Practice of the Presence of God is a creative Christian work that is required reading according to many believers. This enduring classic of devotion consists of the letters and recorded conversations of a simple seventeenth-century lay brother who, through the most ordinary of activities, was able to achieve a profound intimacy with God.
This volume. Brother Lawrence to was a monk who today is most commonly remembered for the closeness of his relationship with God, as recorded in this little book. He spent almost all of his adult life in solitude, poverty, and obscurity within the walls of a priory. He was known for profound peace and high commitment to Jesus Christ.
He cared not for the worldly status of his tasks, but the motivation behind it. Books for less than a buck? Absolutely - with Barbour's Value Book line, you'll boost your impulse sales.. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest. Sign up Log in. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book.
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