THE PRINCIPLES OF GIVING!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2019.

SUBJECT : THE PRINCIPLES OF GIVING!

Memory verse: "So let each one give as He purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (Second Corinthians 9 vs 7.)

READ: Second Corinthians 8 vs 10 - 15: 

8:10: And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago;
8:11: but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of that what you have.
8:12: For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
8:13: For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened:
8:14: but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality.
8:15: As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

INTIMATION:

Giving is an act of bestowing, providing, offering, conveying, granting, or designating. It is an act of worship—serving God and others with what He has blessed you with—in obedience to God. The grace of giving is what every believer should desire greatly to excel in because it is the greatest grace  that God can bestow on us. God demonstrated in Himself the greatness of this grace when He gave us His Son as a propitiation for our sins (John 3 vs 16). Too often, stewardship of money is given a different status than other aspects of discipleship. Most believers would not want growth in faith, knowledge, or love to stop at a certain level. Yet many decide a fixed percentage of their money to give and stay there for life. True discipleship includes growing in the mature use of all resources, so giving should expand as well. 

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul urged the believers in the Corinthian rich church to give to the Jerusalem church according to their earlier plan a year ago (see First Corinthians 9 vs 2). He enumerated the principles of giving in his message to the church. They are (1) Your willingness to give enthusiastically is more important than the amount you give—a giving attitude is more important than the amount given; (2) you should give according to your financial ability—make up your mind on how much to give in proportion to how much God has given you; (3) you should strive to fulfill your financial commitments, ensuring we follow through on previous promises; (4) if you give to others in need, they will, in turn, help you when you are in need; (5); you should give as a response to Christ, not for anything you can get out of it; (6) you should give cheerfully out of a willing heart. God Himself is a cheerful giver. Consider all He has done for us. He is pleased when we who are created in His image give generously and joyfully. Having a difficult time letting your money go reflects your ungratefulness to God. How you give reflects your devotion to Christ. 

God gives us so that we can give to others; we should give of what we have, not what we don’t have. There is a “sacrificial giving” and it must be responsible. So many people will give sacrificially in order to reap according to their giving. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Your giving should be out of response to God, not giving out of what you expect to get out of it. There is a true life story of a young man who paid his tithes and offerings to a church with the expectations to reap financial harvest in the near future, and when his expectations didn’t come through he went back to the church and demanded a refund of all he has paid in tiths and offerings.

Though we are encouraged to give generously out of love for God, but not to the extent that those who depend on the givers (their families, for example) must go without having their basic needs met. Give until it hurts, but don’t give so that it hurts your family and/or relatives who need your financial support. 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to serve You and others with the resources You my put in my care, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

BE PERSISTENT IN SEEKING GOD!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2019.

SUBJECT : BE PERSISTENT IN SEEKING GOD!

Memory verse: "Seek the LORD and His strength, seek His face continually.” (First Chronicles 16 vs 11.)

READ: Hebrews 3 vs 14; 11 vs 6: 

3:14: For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.

11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

INTIMATION:

To persist is to persevere, stand firm, insist, or continue. The Christian life was never promised as an easy way to live; instead, the Scripture constantly reminds us that we must stand firm or persevere in our follower-ship to the end. To believe in Jesus “to the end” will take perseverance because our faith will be challenged and opposed. Several trials will sift true Christians from fair-weather believers. Enduring to the end does not earn salvation for us but marks us as already saved. We must have a purpose and a plan to persist because times will be difficult and Satan will attack. The assurance of our salvation will keep us strong in times of persecution.

Jesus tells us to persist in pursuing God. People often give up after a few halfhearted efforts and conclude that God cannot be found. But knowing God takes faith, focus, and follow-through, and Jesus assures us that we will be rewarded. But we never persevere without the promise of a prize—a promise God will keep. Don’t give up in your efforts to seek God. Continue to ask Him for more knowledge, patience, wisdom, love, and understanding. He will give them to you. Because Christ lives in us as believers, we can remain confident and hopeful to the end. We are not saved by being steadfast and firm in our faith, but our confidence and hope do reveal that our faith is real. Without this enduring faithfulness, we could easily be blown away by the winds of temptation, false teaching, or persecution. 

We persist when we run the Christian race with a purpose; having in mind to run for the prize set before us, and running straight for the goal. We can achieve this by:

(1) Disciplining our bodies, and training it to sustain and even improve on the discipline. The Scripture says, “Do you not know that those who run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who that competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (First Corinthians 9 vs 24 - 27.)

(2) We will not being weary in doing good, and for everyone, and not giving up. You do this to please the Spirit of God indwelling you. The Scripture says, “And let us not be weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith (see Galatians 6 vs 9 - 10). 

(3) You put on the full armor of God, and praying in all occasions; using all the pieces of God’s armor to resist the enemy. This helps you to take a stand against the devil’s schemes. In the Christian life we battle against “principalities” and “powers” (the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by the devil, who is a vicious fighter. To withstand their attacks, you must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of His armor (see Ephesians 6 vs 10 - 20.)

(4) You keep pressing on toward the day when you will be all God wants you to be; forgetting the past; straining toward what is ahead—the heavenly prize for which God called you heavenward. Our goal is to know Christ, to be like Christ, and to be all Christ has in mind for us. We should not let anything take our eyes off our goal—knowing Christ. With the single-mindedness of an athlete in training, we must lay aside everything harmful and forsake anything that may distract us from being effective Christians (see Philippians 3 vs 12 - 14).

(5) You should entrust the great truths of Christ to people who are able to pass them on to others. And also being strong in Christ’s grace, even when your faith is faltering. You should endure hardship like a soldier, and don’t get involved in worldly affairs. Follow the Lord’s rules, as an athlete must do in order to win. Work hard, like a farmer who tends His crops for the harvest. At the end you will live with Christ; you will reign with Him. He remains faithful. (Second Timothy 2 vs 1 - 13.)

Our hearts turn away from the living God when we stubbornly refuse to believe Him. If we persist in our unbelief, God will eventually leave us alone in our sin. But God can give us new hearts, new desires, and new spirits (Ezekiel 36 vs 22 - 27). To prevent having an unbelieving heart, stay in fellowship with other believers, talk daily about your mutual faith, be aware of the deceitfulness of sin (it attracts but also destroys), and encourage each other with love and concern.

Prayer: Abba Father, my absolute faith is in You. Give me the grace to follow You to the end, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE CURE OF PRIDE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2019.

SUBJECT : THE CURE OF PRIDE!

Memory verse: "A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor." 

(Proverbs 29 vs 23.)

READ: Proverbs 16 vs 18; 18 vs 12; Jeremiah 49 vs 16: 

Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

18:12: Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility.

Jeremiah 49:16: Your fierceness has deceived you, the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,“ says the Lord.

INTIMATION:

Pride is an inordinate self-esteem or conceit. It is having a high opinion or high regard of oneself, that culminates into arrogance, pompousness, haughtiness. It often results into disdainful treatment of others. Pride deludes us into thinking that we can take care of ourselves without God’s help. Pride is destructive, and it heads the list of seven things God hates (see Proverbs 6 vs 16 - 17). Pride leads to disgrace (Proverbs 11 vs 2), produces quarrels (Proverbs 13 vs 10), leads to punishment (Proverbs 16 vs 5), leads to destruction (Proverbs 16 vs 18), ends in downfall (Proverbs 18 vs 12), and brings one low (Proverbs 29 vs 23).

The cure of pride is a humble spirit. Being humble is not to think of yourself too highly. It is to bring oneself low; it can imply lower social or economic status. It is being meek or gentle. Humility means proper respect for God, not self-depreciation, rather it is realistic self-assessment; understanding your limitations, and realizing your sinfulness. Truly humble people compare themselves only with Christ, recognizing their gifts and strength and are willing to use them, as Christ directs, to serve. The harmful results of pride are constantly contrasted with humility and its benefits.

Humble people always review their plans, thoughts, and actions, comparing them with what Christ would have done in the same circumstances. Healthy self-evaluation is important, and the key to an honest and accurate self-evaluation is knowing the basis of our self-worth, comparing our thoughts and actions with Christ's standards. Humble people are not wise in their own opinion. They guard against pride, and are willing to admit their mistakes, and be open to godly advice of others, and ask for help when needed. 

Perhaps, the account of the Scripture that illustrates the consequences of pride and humility more vividly is God's humiliation of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 vs 28 - 33. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which was interpreted to him by prophet Daniel. But he refused to do what the LORD commanded him to do within the twelve months probationary period, and God's wrath was unleashed upon him according to his dream. 

The Scripture says, "All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses." That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from the men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws." (Daniel 4 vs 28 - 33.)  

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of humility that is in Christ; to think lowly of myself, and be meek and gentle, ready to serve You and others, even with the talents You deposited in me, in Jesus' Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO GOD!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2019.

SUBJECT: SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO GOD! 

Memory verse: ""Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10 vs 22.)

READ: Romans 12 vs 1 - 2:

12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

12:2: And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

INTIMATION:

God desires our obedience from the heart, hence the apostle Paul urges believers to offer themselves as living sacrifices—daily laying aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us. That obedient heart of worship is a true heart toward God with full assurance and conviction in Him. It is the heart of total surrender to God. To surrender means to yield. Many people have always viewed the act of surrendering as being intimidated to submission, implying losing, and no one wants to be a loser. The word is almost always used in a negative context. But surrendering to God is yielding to Him, and this is the heart of worship. It is the natural response to God's amazing love and mercy. We give ourselves to Him, not out of fear or duty, but in love, "because He first loved us." (See First John 4 vs 9 - 10; 19).

After spending eleven chapters of the Book of Romans explaining God's incredible grace to us, the apostle Paul urges us to fully sacrifice our lives to God in worship.  True worship—bringing God pleasure—happens when you give yourself completely to God. Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about. God has good, acceptable, and perfect plans for his children. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds to honor and obey Him. Because He only wants what is best for us, and because He gave His Son to make our new lives possible we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifice for His service.

This act of “living sacrifice” or “personal surrender” is called many things: consecration, making Jesus your Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self, yielding to the Spirit. What matters is that you do it, not what you call it. God wants your life—all of it, ninety nine percent is not enough, but all. There are three identified barriers that block our total surrender to God: fear, pride, and confusion. These barriers make us not to realize how much God loves us, consequently, we want to control our own lives, and misunderstand the meaning of surrender. 

To sacrifice your life to God is not always easy or comfortable. Often it means great cost and sacrifice, with no earthly rewards or security. For instance, Jesus didn’t have a place to call home. You may find that following God costs you popularity, friendship, leisure time, or treasured habits. But while the cost of following God is high, the value of being His disciple is even higher. Discipleship is an investment that lasts for eternity and yields incredible rewards. We should be willing to give up anything if God asks us to do so. This kind of attitude allows nothing come between us and God and keeps us from using our God-given wealth selfishly. 

Let us not lose sight of the end result of all our humility and self-sacrifice—a joyous banquet with our Lord! God never asks us to suffer for the sake of suffering. He never asks us to give up something good unless He plans to replace it with something even better. Jesus is not calling us to join  Him to a labor camp but in a feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19 vs 6 - 9), when God and His beloved church will be joined forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, Yours I am, and Yours I want to be, use me as is pleasing to You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

CREATED FOR HIS PLEASURE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2019.

SUBJECT : CREATED FOR HIS PLEASURE!

Memory verse: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4 vs 11.)

READ: Psalm 149 vs 4; Ephesians 1 vs 6 - 8:

Psalm 149:4: The Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Ephesians 1:5: Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the pleasure of His will, 

1:6: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

INTIMATION:

God created all things for His pleasure and to function according to His will. It pleased Him when He created all things and made man in His image and after His likeness. He saw that all He made were excellent in every way. All creatures in heaven and earth will worship and honor God because He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything. Our God is a God of pleasure and will, and you were planned for His pleasure and will. The moment we were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at our birth. He planned it all because He does His pleasure (Isaiah 46 vs 10). God created us for His reasons; for His purpose, His delight, His glory, and for His benefits. We have no input in His work, and He never planned or purposed anything according to our thoughts. 

Living for God's pleasure, and bringing joy to Him, is the first purpose of our lives. All the things the God did, and does is perfect, therefore creating for His pleasure is perfect, and when you fully understand this truth, we will never feel insignificant, as we now know our worth. He created us to be like Himself, because of your  importance to Him. And if we are that important to God, and He considers us valuable enough to share eternity with Him, what greater significance could we have? If you are a child of God, you bring pleasure to Him like nothing else He has ever created.

God wants His attribute expressed in us, hence His creating us in His image, and after His likeness.  God has emotions, too. He feels things deeply. The Bible tells us that God grieves (Genesis 6 vs 6), gets jealous (Exodus 20 vs 5), and angry (Judges 2 vs 20), and feels compassion, pity (Psalm 103 vs 13), sorrow, and sympathy (Deuteronomy 32 vs 36) as well as happiness (Ezekiel 5 vs 13), gladness, (First Chronicles 16 vs 27), and satisfaction. God loves (First John 4 vs 16), delights (Psalm 18 vs 19), gets pleasure (Psalm 35 vs 27), rejoices (Psalm 104 vs 31), enjoys, and even laughs! (Psalm 2 vs 4.)

The Bible passage in Ephesians we read today shows that all God did were "Predestined" by Him— marked out beforehand. It is God's will that you are His child and it is pleasurable to Him. He made you in His own image and after His likeness. Therefore, He also gave you the gift of enjoying pleasure, and this is one of the greatest gifts He has given you. God wired you with five senses and emotions so you can experience it. He wants you to enjoy life, not just endure it. 

It is now clear to you that God delights in you and takes pleasure in you. He wants you to reciprocate His good gesture by also delighting in Him. The psalmist in Psalm 37 vs 4 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." We are called to delight ourselves in the Lord and to commit everything we have and do (our "way") to Him. 

But how do we do this? To delight in someone means experience great pleasure and joy in his or her presence. And this happens when you know the person better and close to him or her. God is not different, after all, He created us in His image and after His likeness. Therefore, you can only delight yourself in the Lord when we know Him better and is close to Him, and the knowledge of God's great love for us will indeed give us delight.

To commit ourselves to the Lord means entrusting everything—our lives, families, jobs, possessions—to His control and guidance. It means trust in Him, believing that He can care for us better than we can ourselves. We should be willing to wait for Him to work out what is best for us. And when you delight yourself in the Lord, you rest assured that the desires of heart your will be granted to you. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to delight myself in You. Let Your love poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit manifest exceedingly in my thirst for You, that I may forever delight in You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

UNDERSTANDING THE TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2019.

SUBJECT : UNDERSTANDING THE TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION!

Memory verse: "I will stand my watch, and set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected." (Habakkuk 2 vs 1.)

READ: Jeremiah 33 vs 3; Matthew 7 vs 7 - 8:

Jeremiah 33:3: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Matthew 7:7: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

7:8: For everyone who asks receives, and He who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

INTIMATION:

Prayer is not just reporting your case to God, it is communicating with Him. Some people will say when they pray, "I cried to God." Prayer is not about crying; it is a two way communication, and you pay attention to hear the other party in the communication. It is like a telephone conversation. If you are crying, you will hardly hear the party at the other end. Every genuine discussion or dialogue is made up of comments. enquiries and responses from the parties involved. But most people do all the talking in prayers, not giving God a chance to speak to them in return, nor pausing to listen to what He has to say. The  right attitude in prayer was expressed by prophet Habakkuk in our memory verse, "I will stand my watch, And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say unto me, And what I will answer when I am corrected."

If you are not watchful, you will miss His answer. The watchman and rampart (watchtower), are often used by the prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk—to show an attitude of expectation, and here they are pictures of Habakkuk's attitude of patiently waiting, and watching out for God's response. To truly win in prayer, it  requires your being alert in the spirit, listening in meditation and keeping your heart open to receive what God has to say to you.

Watchfulness involves patience and perseverance. You also have to engage in intense worship, in order to maintain the communication channel, and be patient to receive your answer. When you ask a question and there doesn't seem to be an immediate response, you begin to worship and call God by His names. Then you ask again, "Lord, what are You saying?" You are sure to get an answer, because He assures us:

"Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33 vs 3.)

God answers us in various ways. His answer may be through a night vision, a tiny voice, an audible voice, a Scripture reference, indirect message through another person, or Angelic intervention. For instance, in Daniel chapter 2, Daniel and his friends, were faced with a decree of death. The king had a dream, which he forgot and wanted Daniel and his colleagues to tell him the dream and its interpretation or they would all be put to death. The king had already ordered the killing of the wise men in Babylon when they couldn't tell the king his dream.

Now, the Scripture said; "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” (Daniel 2 vs 17 - 19.) 

According to the passages we read today, God is committed to answering your prayer, if you ask, seek, or find. No matter how many demons are connected to your problem, God's wisdom which is released in prayer of enquiry will give them a knock-out. 

Jesus said, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be opened."(Matthew 7 vs 8.) Note that Jesus said "everyone," including you, no exception. He is a just God, He said everyone, and means everyone. Therefore, when you pray, wait for the answer, be sensitive and patient to receive your answer.

People often give up after a few halfhearted efforts and conclude they cannot hear from God, or that He cannot be found. But knowing God, and receiving from Him takes faith, focus, patience, and follow-through, and our Messiah, Jesus Christ, assures us that we will be rewarded. Don't give up in your efforts to seek God. Continue to ask Him for more knowledge, patience, wisdom, love, and understanding, and He will give them to you. Also, note that a ‘no’ from Him can be an answer to a prayer.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are most faithful and compassionate; always mindful of, and watchful over Your children. My absolute trust is in You, to always guide me through Your indwelling Spirit, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

HOLY SPIRIT—THE GUIDER!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2019.

SUBJECT: HOLY SPIRIT—THE GUIDER! 

Memory verse: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to comeY." (John 16 vs 13.)

READ: John 14 vs 15 - 18:

14:15: If you love Me, keep My commandments.
14:16: And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

14:17: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him:p; but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and will be in you.

14:18: I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

INTIMATION:

God, in His mercy, faithful, and love nature came down Himself to help mankind, haven seen that man cannot help himself. He sent to those who believe in Him and do His commandments a guider—the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Christ according to His promise. In the passage we read today, Jesus teaches about the Holy, Spirit: "If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, standby), that He may remain with you forever - The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless]; I will come [back] to you." (Vs 15 - 18. Amplified Bible)

The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God in and within all believers, helping us live as God wants, according to His purpose. He is the powerful person on our side, working for and with the believers; caring and guiding them to achieve their God's ordained purpose for their lives. How is the Holy Spirit our ultimate guide? The Holy Spirit will be with the believers forever  (John 14 vs 16); He lives with them and in them (John 14 vs 17); He teaches the believers (John 14 vs 26); He reminds them of Jesus' words (John 14 vs 26; 15 vs 26); He convicts all of sin, shows all God's righteousness, and announces God's judgement on evil (John 16 vs 8); He guides the believers into all truth and gives them insight into future events John 16 vs 13). 

Many people are unaware of the Holy Spirit's activities, but to those who hear Christ's words and understand the Spirit's power, the Spirit gives a whole new way to look at life, to achieve their God's ordained purpose of life. By faith we can appropriate the Spirit's power each day.

Jesus said, "I will not live you as orphans; I will come [back] to you," (John 14 vs 18), He means He will come back as Holy Spirit to live with all believers. Therefore, to have the Holy Spirit is to have Jesus Himself. Through the Holy Spirit, God reveals to us all we need to know to prepare for the future. The future is known to Him from the beginning. When we live by His standards, He will not leave us, He will come to us, He will be in us, and He will show Himself to us. God already knows what will happen and, because He will be with us through it all, we need not fear. We don't have to know the future to have faith in God; we have to have faith in God to be secure about the future.

The end result of Holy Spirit's work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. When God guides you, you rest assured you never will miss your goal. You have confident assurance in any circumstance; with Christ's peace we have no need to fear the present or the future. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Endue me with the spirit of of complete obedience and believe in You that I will be guided by the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!