When a person accepts Jesus as their Savior by taking Him on in baptism something incredible happens. It’s true that our sins are remitted, but there’s also a tremendous gift we receive. His name is Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person. He is not like smoke, fog, or a cloud, or any other false idea that people have of Him. He is the Third Person of the Godhead. He is one who has the capacities of emotion; therefore, He feels deeply for you. He is a person with the divine power of will; therefore, He can choose to do wonderful things for you when you obey the commands of scripture. It’s not that He brings a different message than what Jesus did. He has come to continue sharing with us everything we’ve been taught by our Savior. Listen to what John has to say in John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” It ought to bring us tremendous comfort to know that our Heavenly Father cares about us enough to make sure part of Him lives permanently inside of us. But, we also must be aware of the truth that if we’ve never made Jesus the Lord of our lives we receive little to no help from what the Spirit can offer us! As you address God, thank Him for the gift living inside you. Thank Him for the gentle tugs on your conscience. Thank Him for always being there even in times of doubt, grief and mistrust. Salvation is special, but it wouldn’t be complete without the aid of God’s Spirit!
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you! Kevin At times it’s tempting to read stories of tremendous faith being exhibited by our early brothers and sisters and think, “they must have possessed faith I could never possess!” We also might think that because Jesus walked among them that they had a leg up on us. Both of these theories, according to scripture, are in error. Jesus reminded his disciples that it was to their advantage that he go away. As a matter of fact he reminded them that the Holy Spirit couldn’t come unless he departed. We must be reminded that the same Spirit that empowered them to remain faithful is the very same Spirit who lives in us. In the 4th chapter of Acts, there’s a nugget of truth tucked away in v. 21. Whenever we find ourselves discouraged, disenchanted or disheartened we MUST lift our voice and praise the Lord. The key to combatting discouragement is only found in praise! After the people saw the boldness of the early Christians, they realized they had been with Jesus. V. 14 tells us that they had nothing to say against that truth. They decided to severely threaten them so that they would no longer speak the name of Jesus freely. In v. 19 the disciples reminded them that they would listen to God instead of the people. The result? They kept on speaking, kept on proclaiming Christ and kept on receiving persecution. But, I want you to notice something else that happened…THEY WERE UNITED IN PURPOSE. V. 33 says they had “great power” and “great grace”. V.34 says they took care of each other which led to other Christians being spurred on to action (37). I don’t seek persecution for the church, but I do seek purpose, unity and boldness. How is that accomplished? By #1 making a determination to listen to God instead of men. #2: by continually speaking the name of Jesus Christ to those around us, and #3: by glorifying and praising God even if ours in an unpopular message.
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you! Kevin |
Kevin's KolumnKevin Lough is the minister at the Whitehall Church of Christ in Fairmont WV. Archives
September 2019
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