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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, September 20, 2024
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Work of the Holy Spirit Bible Verse:John 16:1-11 (ESV) "Ihave said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.” “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” ”And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." Message:
The last half of the Scripture today is difficult. The translations are imprecise, and the concepts, puzzling. It is easy just to let your eyes run over it and not really take anything away from it. I would urge you to at least try to understand what Christ is telling us.
Christ says that he must die, because the Holy Spirit will not come to us until he has ascended into heaven. He then says that the Holy Spirit (or Comforter, or Helper) will convict (or judge) the world in regard to sin, and righteousness, and judgment. How then does a “Comforter” come to judge the world? “Convict” and “comfort” are not terms we associate with each other.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin because the world does not believe in Christ. But the Holy Spirit has been sent to dwell within us. In other words, we have been given the ability to identify sin; we can tell the difference between right and wrong. This is not an authorization for us to judge the sins of others, but rather, that we should be able to know whether our actions are sinful or righteous.
Holy Ghost
To reinforce this message, Christ says that the Holy Spirit will judge righteousness because Christ has gone. He is no longer here to tell us what is right and wrong, so we need a way to be able to do it. If we cheat a little, if we go to a strip club or drool over our neighbor’s new house, if we argue with our neighbor or judge someone in our mind, Jesus is not here to tell us that we are doing something wrong. A man is not going to tell us, “you would be better if you didn’t do that.”
People cannot judge right and wrong without Christ. The ruler of the world has been judged. Exactly what Christ means by “the world” is ambiguous, but clearly, it does not refer to those who believe in him when they are acting from their belief. Whether you think the ruler of the world is Satan, or evil, or self-interest, or a natural tendency towards sin (such as lust or coveting), the Holy Spirit is the force on earth and within us that tells us “stop.” He judges the world.
The most insidious force that pulls us away from God is rationalization of our sinful actions. Every one of us makes excuses all day, every day, for actions and thoughts that we know are wrong, deep in our heart. But we justify our actions, no matter how wrong they may be. It is human nature. It is “the world” acting in us.
The power that can defeat these rationalizations is the Holy Spirit. God will forgive us, but if we love and serve him, we will not shut out the voice of the Holy Spirit within us. We must have trust in God’s forgiveness; otherwise, we will not be able to stand the guilt; we will rationalize our wrong acts instead of asking that we be forgiven for them.
Thus the Holy Spirit tells us right from wrong; he leads us away from self-justification, from blindness to our sin. And he comforts us, because only by knowing our sin can we be freed from it.
Meditation : Prayer : Oh Heavenly Father, in whom I live and move and have my being, I humbly pray you so to guide and govern me by your Holy Spirit, that in all the joys, occupations, and cares of this day I may never forget you, but remember that I am ever walking in your sight. In Christ’s name, I pray,.......Amen |
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