Holy Spirit

May 4, 2023

“He Will Guide You…”

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. – John 16:13 NLT 

John 16:5-15

Jesus had been a Friend, Teacher, Mentor, and Guide for the disciples for the better part of 3 years. Now in In preparing His disciples for His departure, Jesus tells them He is leaving for their good. What could possibly be better than walking with Jesus?  Who would lead them in His absence?  Who would talk with them? Who would strengthen and encourage them now? Jesus told them there is an Advocate coming to do all this for them. The Spirit of Truth that would guide them into all truth. Just as Jesus had said about Himself, He also says about the Holy Spirit.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.–John 5:19 NIV

Why would this be better? As a human, Jesus could only be in one place at one time. He could only teach those within the sound of His voice. The Holy Spirit is not bound by human restraints. He lives inside of each of us and can be everywhere at once.  Just think of it, God’s Powerful Spirit (GPS, if you will) with His own network that reaches everywhere and is never out of contact with you or His home station. Powerful enough to direct every human on earth at one time. So, if you are feeling lost, confused or needing encouragement, just stop and listen to the GPS inside you.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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April 29, 2023

“Which Is The Word of God.”

17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. —Ephesians 6:17 NLT 

Dressed for Battle 

Since we don’t actually see the angels and the demons surrounding us, it is hard for us to stay aware of the continuous battle going on around us everyday.  But there are several examples of this in the Scriptures. The example in Daniel 10 involves at least two demonic princes and two angelic princes.

20 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; 21 but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.–Daniel 10:20-21 NIV​

Just as Daniel was not physically involved in the battle, neither are we.  Our battlefield is our mind. That is why our armor is not physical armor, it is invisible things that protect our thought patterns from being overwhelmed by evil. These weapons are truth, righteousness, readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. For us to be fully dressed in the armor God has provided for us takes time. It is not a piece of clothing that you can just throw in the corner and then grab when bad times come. It takes hours and hours of prayer, Bible study and meditation to get fully dressed.  satan knows where the holes in our armor are.  We must pray daily for the Holy Spirit to show us the holes and then spend whatever time it takes in prayer and Scripture study to mend those holes. While we reside in this old piece of decaying flesh, we will never be able to fill all the holes. That is why God has His angels encamped around us.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.—Psalm 34:7 NIV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

January 26, 2023

“And Immediately A Rooster Crowed”

27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed. – John 18:27 NLT

Peter’s Denial

Have you ever promised God that you would not commit a certain sin and then you find that the next time the temptation comes up, you fail again? Every time we sin, we grieve God the Holy Spirit. Do you remember how you felt the last time you failed your parents, in particular, your Mother? I think if we can get that picture in our minds, we can start to understand how it hurts the Holy Spirit when we grieve Him by sinning. God the Holy Spirit is a person just as God the Father and God the Son are personages. We may not believe it or think it about much, but let’s look at what Paul writes:

And do not make the Holy Spirit sad. The Spirit is God’s proof that you belong to him. God gave you the Spirit to show that God will make you free when the final day comes.—Eph. 4:30 (NCV)

Did you realize that you could make God sad?

I believe the very moment that Peter denied Jesus the third time, he realized that he could hurt and wound God, our Savior. John doesn’t elaborate on this event, but if we read what is written in Matthew, we see how this affected Peter.

74 Then Peter began to place a curse on himself and swear, “I don’t know the man.” At once, a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried painfully.—Matt. 26:74-75 (NCV)

When we realize that we have hurt God the Holy Spirit, we need to weep and confess our sins quickly. We need to keep a good relationship with the Holy Spirit because through Him is the way we communicate with God.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

January 10, 2023

“He Will Not Speak On His Own”

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. – John 16:13 NLT

John 16:12-15 NLT

Jesus has many more things to tell us as well and like the disciples we are not spiritually ready to hear some of them. God opened up the “mystery” of the Gospel in the first century, Paul uses the word mystery seventeen times in his writings. (In the KJV)

6 However, I speak a wisdom to those who are mature. But this wisdom is not from this world or from the rulers of this world, who are losing their power. 7 I speak God’s secret wi​sdom, which he has kept hidden. Before the world began, God planned this wisdom for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this world understood it. If they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.–1 Cor.2:6-8 (NCV)

The eighth verse gives us a clue as to why God has mysteries. If the world had known the great plan, they would never have crucified Jesus or killed Him in any other way for that matter. But the Holy Spirit has so much more that He wants to tell us. So much more that He wants to accomplish through us.

20 With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen–Eph. 3:20-21 (NCV)

If we walked in the Spirit, without doubt, God could accomplish so much more through each of us. He is able! It is worth repeating!

20 With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen–Eph. 3: 20-21 (NCV)

He is able!“

January 9, 2023

“It Is Best For You That I Go Away”

7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. – John 16:7 NLT

John 16:5-11 NLT

The disciples must have wondered how Jesus going away could be better than having Him here, face to face. But Jesus knew that His time to leave was very near at this time. He also knew that the Helper could do something that He, in human flesh, could never do. That was to actually live inside a human being. The Helper, the Holy Spirit would take up a permanent residence inside those that accepted Jesus as their Savior. The Holy Spirit could be omnipresent, He could dwell in all of us at the same time thus as God had promised, we would never be alone, He would always be with each of us. He will prove to unbelievers that not believing in Jesus is the sin that caused Jesus to die on the Cross. He will prove that judgment happened when satan was judged. This judgment is spoken of in Isaiah.

12 King of Babylon, morning star, you have fallen from heaven, even though you were as bright as the rising sun!​ In the past all the nations on earth bowed down before​ ​you,​ but now you have been cut down–Isaiah 14:12 NCV

​​This judgment was also the event Jesus was referring to in Luke 10, when He said:

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.–Luke 10:18-19 NCV

In this statement, Jesus tells us He was there in heaven when satan was judged and He witnessed satan being cast out of heaven. And now, Jesus has the blessings of the Father to give the disciples and us authority over all the power of the enemy. The Holy Spirit is the guarantor of that promise of authority and He fights our battles for us.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

January 7, 2023

“But I Will Send the Advocate”

26 “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. 27 And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. – John 15:26-27 NLT

Though the disciples don’t know or understand at this point, this is the 2nd greatest gift that God has promised. His best gift was His Son, Jesus, giving His life for us. Now, that Jesus is leaving, God the Father is sending us a Helper. The Helper will tell us more about Jesus and our Father. Jesus has been telling the disciples what the Father says and He has been showing them what the Father is doing. Now this Helper will do the same for each of us. Our job is to tell others what we are told. These are exciting times to be alive! With all the junk that is going on in the world, God is still in control and our Helper will show us the way home. Not only that, but He will teach us how to live and how to pray. Just as the disciples learned when they received the Helper, so are we learning now. Their sadness turned to joy and so should our lives reflect the joy of the indwelling Helper.

December 29, 2022

“And Even Greater Works”

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. – John 14:12 NLT

​John 14:12-17 NLT

It is hard to imagine doing greater things than Jesus.I don’t know of a greater miracle than raising someone from the dead, so Jesus must have been talking about “greater” in quantity, not “greater” in quality. He could only be in one place physically while He was here on earth, now that the Holy Spirit abides in each of us, He can be all over the world at the same time. We now have access to the same power that Jesus had. If we ask for and believe that we receive it, we can actually have it. I once asked a Pastor since this is true, why do we not see more miracles today? He answered that it was because we don’t love like Jesus loved. While that is true, I think it is because we don’t believe like Jesus believed. If we truly believed that we had access to the same power that Jesus had when He was here and has now in heaven, we would ask for and receive it.

6 The Lord said, “If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.–Luke 17:6 (NCV)

We, like the Israelites in the desert, have limited what God can do for us and through us.

40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,And grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember His power:—Psalm 78:40-42a (NKJV)

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

November 2, 2022

“The Spirit Alone Gives Eternal Life”

63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  ​ – John 6:63 NLT

Spirit and Life

Many of the people who had followed Jesus and had become His disciples were offended at the words of Jesus when He said you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. They complained that His words were too hard to understand. In today’s society, we have the same thing happening. There are people who go to church, hear the Gospel of Jesus and leave offended. Because they don’t understand, they think that Christianity is a negative, bloody religion. It is only when the Holy Spirit calls us and we come to Jesus and believe His words that we can understand the message. The Spirit leads us into all truth and gives life to the words of Jesus. It is then that we can understand that the spoken words become the living Word, Jesus.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.—John 1:14 (NLT)

Once we accept this truth, we become the Children of the Living God.


We are Spirit-bred John 3:5

We are Spirit-led  John 16:13

We are Spirit-fed John 21:15-17

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

September 4, 2022

“That Person Has the Spirit of God”

2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. – 1 John 4:2 NLT

1 John 4:1-3 NLT

As we all know not everyone that speaks to us has the Spirit of God abiding in them. There are those sent from satan who masquerade as “angels of light” but are actually false prophets.

13 These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.–2 Cor. 11:13-15 (NLT)

We must always test the spirit and see if it acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The devil knows that God exists and he knows the Scriptures better than we do. The Spirit that dwells in us will witness to us if a person has a kindred Spirit to ours. But if you are in doubt, you can always ask if they believe that Jesus shed His blood on Calvary for our sins. If they acknowledge that this is true and they acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus, then we have assurance that it is not a false spirit.

3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.—1 Cor. 12:3 (NLT)

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

August 25, 2022

“Your Sins Have Been Forgiven”

12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. — 1 John 2:12 NLT

1 John 2:12-14 NLT

John is reminding each group of people of who they were, who they are now, and how each of us got here. Now that we have been redeemed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we need to be walking in the Light and our lifestyle should reflect the example that Jesus set for us to follow. When we are tempted to think that we might be just a little better than our neighbors or when we start to wonder; “how could Jesus save a person like that?” We need to remember who we used to be and the kind of lifestyle we used to lead. Just as Isaiah told the children of Israel, remember that we were all cut from the same stone, we are all born sinners.

The Lord says, “Listen to me,
those of you who try to live right and follow the Lord. Look at the rock from which you were cut;
look at the stone quarry from which you were dug.–Isaiah 51:1 (NCV)

We have done nothing to desire God’s mercy and grace, it is a free gift that is available to all. Thus, the old saying: “Except for the grace of God, there goes you and ​me.”

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous