When I first started reading the Bible, I read it just like I would any other book. Word after word, page after page just reading the letters printed on the paper. I really didn’t know how much I was learning, but certain parts of what I was reading did catch my attention.
That is one thing about digging into the Bible that separates it from any other book you will ever read. It truly is the living Word of God that will reveal itself to you as you study it. Many times I have found things within it’s pages that I never noticed before. Even though I may have read a verse many times before, but it never really meant anything to me. I believe God will reveal deeper things within these pages as you dig deeper in your relationship with Him. But don’t feel overwhelmed, for our God has not left us to do this alone. He has given us a Helper.
John 16:7 – Jesus said “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 depart, I will send Him to you.”
Jesus was telling this to His disciples as He was getting ready to leave them and face the cross. He was telling them that soon they would not see Him, for He was leaving to be with the Father who sent Him. This obviously troubled the disciples because they had been following Jesus and they would be lost without Him. They did not understand this “Helper” He was talking about. The Helper or Comforter is the Holy Spirit. God knew we were not capable of walking this righteous life on our own, so He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us along this journey. Once we accept what Jesus did for us by giving His life to redeem us, we are given the gift of His Holy Spirit to teach us and lead us to live our lives as God intends.
John 14:26 – Jesus said “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.”
When we begin to read scripture, it is the Holy Spirit who reveals things to us when we are ready to receive them. That’s why I believe we can read things many times, but never really get what is being said. Then one day we read it and it suddenly just clicks and we can see plainly what God meant as though He was speaking directly to us. The Holy Spirit is like implanting the very nature and spirit of Jesus into each of us. As you grow to understand this relationship, you will feel when the Holy Spirit is telling you that something isn’t right in a certain situation or if you are straying away from God, it is the Helper who will convict you to turn back to God’s path for your life. If we are not careful, we can begin to ignore these nudges of the Holy Spirit and begin to drift away from our relationship with God. We can, however, give the Helper some help. By staying in God’s Word (The Bible) daily, it will help our focus to be upon Him and not on our own desires or the distractions all around us in the world today.
Galatians 5:17 – Paul says “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”
We can see how vital the Holy Spirit is in the walk of every believer if we take a look at what the Holy Spirit did in the lives of the disciples. Remember, after Jesus was arrested they scattered and hid because they were afraid of also being arrested or killed for having followed Him. Once they received the Holy Spirit, we can see a powerful supernatural change in them as they went forth to spread the Good News of Jesus. In the book of Acts, we can see one example of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit at work.
Acts 4:29-31 – 29 “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
These same men who hid and scattered became the boldest witnesses for Jesus ever and they suddenly had a burning desire to tell everyone .You can begin to see how important each part of the Holy Trinity is to your journey. In my previous post “Cornerstone” we can see that Jesus is our foundation upon which our faith is built. Now we see the Holy Spirit is to help us keep walking in that faith and following Jesus. You are never alone on this journey and God is faithful and true to his promises. So remember, that promised Helper is with you always. Thanks for reading and keep faith.
