Tag Archives: spiritual growth

Spirituality

The Holy Spirit: Our Helper

Leave a comment

John 14:16: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” (NASB)

While on Earth, Jesus was the most powerful man. He lived His whole life full of wisdom and mighty demonstrations of God’s power. It earned the awe and respect of His 12 disciples. Imagine being the personal assistant to the most influential man on Earth today – this is the status Jesus’ disciples occupied in the thousands of years ago.

Then out-of-the-blues, Jesus brought a very sad news to them.

John 13:36: “Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”(NASB)

He was getting ready to leave. The mention of this broke His disciples’ hearts. How could the One in charge of their upkeep abandon them? Throughout Jesus’ time with His disciples, there was never a shortage of good things.

They got money from the mouth of a fish when they needed it to pay taxes. When they needed bread to feed the masses, they raided a child’s lunchbox. Everything they required was presented to them on a gold platter. And now, the man who had done these favors was about to leave the planet.

What’s more heartbreaking than that? What would life be like without Jesus? Who would they turn to for assistance?

These were the thoughts that raged in their hearts, Jesus knew. “I will send you another Helper,” he said as he looked at them.

To put it another way, “I will send you someone who will be to you what I was to you.” Someone who will assist and guide you in the same way that I did.’ Jesus revealed in John 14:26 that this “someone” was none other than The Holy Spirit.

In this turbulent world, the Holy Spirit was given to us to be our guide, comforter, and helper. The Holy Spirit is present in every believer. The theory that the dispensation of the Holy Spirit has ended is completely false as without the Holy Spirit, there can be no conviction of sin, no repentance and no regeneration. John 3:6, NLT: “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.”

It is the Holy Spirit that gives us spiritual life.

Romans 8:16: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (NASB)

If you are a God’s child, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. But it takes more than just knowing the Holy Spirit lives in us to share in His blessings. We must grow in our understanding and friendship with the Holy Spirit.

He must be more than a fact to us; he must be more real to us than even our next-door neighbour.

Here are four important facts about The Holy Spirit

1. He speaks (Acts 13:2)

2. He hears (Psalm 65:24)

3. He can be pleased, grieved or stirred up (Eph. 4:30)

4. He loves us (2 Thess. 3:5)

5. He lives in us (1 Cor. 3:16)

The Holy Spirit’s primary role in our lives is to lead and guide us into the fullness of God’s will. We can never know God’s will by speculating or gambling. We’re going to make a lot of mistakes.

  • He knows God’s will better than us (1 Cor. 2:11): The only person who can accurately know God’s thoughts in any situation is the Holy Spirit. As a result, if we can learn to walk with Him and listen to His instructions, we will never be in a quandary or lack wisdom in deciding what to do.

The Holy Spirit helps us in prayer (Rom. 8:26):

Source: GettyImages

If we do not walk with the Holy Spirit, we will pray amiss a lot and our prayers will not get answered. When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead our lives, He ensures our prayers are aligned with God’s will. He helps us know the right prayers to pray; sometimes, while praying, He might even drop prayer points into our hearts. He also inspires us to pray by giving us burdens. The Holy Spirit helps us to pray and He helps us while we pray. Thus, with Him, prayer becomes easier and more accurate.

He is the Wisdom Spirit (Acts 6:8):

The Holy Spirit illuminates our understanding.

The fullness of the Spirit provides us with practical wisdom, insight, and understanding for daily living. Daniel possessed the Spirit of Wisdom, which enabled him to interpret a dream that all the wise men in Babylon found difficult to interpret. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit, and when He spoke, men were astounded by the profundity and wisdom of His message.

The Holy Spirit’s work is numerous, but these three are the most important ones that should compel us to seek guidance from the Blessed Spirit of God. He serves as a conduit between us and God. Our prayers reach God through Him, and God’s thoughts reach us through Him. /p>

But the Holy Spirit can’t do it without our co-operation. He will not speak unless we acknowledge Him; He will not hear us unless we pray, and He will not give us wisdom unless we seek His advice in everything we do.

Therefore, let us make our walk with The Holy Spirit a priority. Here are three ways one can do this;

  • Spend time each day worshiping Him. Every morning, it should be the first thing you do. The Holy Spirit should be the first person we speak to in the morning and the last person we speak to in the evening. In His presence, we must sleep and awaken.

  • Be aware of His indwelling presence: Do not lose this awareness. Ask yourself, “Will the Holy Spirit be pleased?” before doing anything.
  • Do not be afraid to ask for His help.

Will you do this? Will you allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life? Say this prayer;

You, Holy Spirit, are the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. You are the Spirit of truth, love, and holiness, descended from and equal in every way to the Father and the Son. I adore You and will devote the rest of my life to You. Teach me to recognize and seek God, who made me for and with Him. Fill my heart with both a holy dread of Him and a deep love for Him. Give me patience and restraint, and keep me from succumbing to temptation. Amen.

Faith

Believe in The Immutability of God

Leave a comment


Isaiah 51: “Look unto Abraham”


If there’s anything I’m sure of, it’s the words of scriptures. God never minced words. If He says we should look unto Abraham, He means it.

Abraham is the symbol of the Christian faith. He is widely celebrated for his unrelenting belief in the promise of God.


Hebrews 11:17 “It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,”


Hebrews 11:18 though God had promised him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”


Hebrews 11:19 “Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.”


The intensity and strength of Abraham’s faith was revealed when he attempted to sacrifice his only son.

This was the son that God had promised him; Isaac was the son through whom Abraham would become the father of many nations.

He was the precious and promised seed, yet, Abraham never showed any reluctance in sacrificing him just to please God.


The radical faith of this Saint of Old is what believers need today. We need to build our faith to become even stronger than that of Abraham if we are going to inherit the promise.

Having studied the life and pilgrimage of Abraham, I discovered only one source of Abraham’s strong faith;

– The Immutability of God


Hebrews 6:13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:


Hebrews 6:14 “I will certainly bless you richly, and I will multiply your descendants into countless millions.”


Hebrews 6:15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.



When God made the promise to Abraham, He swore by His name to fulfil the promise He made to Abraham.

The moment God made that oath, Abraham held onto it. He gripped it firmly and even gave thanks knowing that God would fulfil His oath.


Like Abraham, all we have to sustain our faith in this world is the immutability of God’s Word. God no longer needs to appear in dreams to give us His Promise like He did with Abraham.

In the days of old, there was no scripture or precedent to look up to and be strengthened in faith. There was no record of God’s promise to any man.


But God has blessed us with His Word – The Bible. We can look onto it in our moments of despair and be rest assured that so long as the Promise has been made, it will be fulfilled.

This, folks, is the definition of strong faith. This is the faith of Abraham and every person who ever walked with God.


It is a solid conviction on the immutability of God’s Word – if He said it, He will do it.


Psalms 37:28 “For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will perish.”



God has given His Promise, that He will never abandon you. Even in your darkest moments, He will always be there.

Though, it may seem as if God is silently watching the world destroy itself, His eyes are specially fixed on His Saints.

Folk, stay glued to the promise of God that He will keep His beloved safe and lead us unto prosperity.

If God never fails, then let us hold unto His word. Let us believe His word that all things work for our good. Let us believe His word that even in famine, the Lord shall bless us with abundance.

Let us believe in the immutability of God.

Amen.


Faith

The Use of Faith

Leave a comment


A tool is something useful;

it is a thing available to serve a specific purpose. Its level of importance is determined by how much value it has.


We can consider faith a tool; an instrument that is useful in diverse ways.



One may wonder what the uses are, not to worry, they are explained below:




1. Faith is A CURRENCY


Just like one accesses physical commodities with money, faith is used to accessing whatever is supernatural. Faith determines our response to things about God and His kingdom.



It is attached to everything we do in God’s Kingdom; our works and responsibility towards the purposes of God must be mingled with faith, else they will amount to naught.


2. It is an instrument used for GAINING ALIGNMENT


We tread the path of alignment on the strength of our faith in Christ. By faith, we believe in the finished work of Christ. Also, it always prone believers to action. When there’s faith, there are works, so faith validates our work and makes it pleasing unto God.



3. Faith serves as A PARAMETER


God has standards in his kingdom, and for them to be met, there are kingdom parameters that are used to measure our duties. One of these criteria is faith.

He checks not only our heart posture (the intents and purity-state of our heart) but also whether we are faithless.



A pure heart is not enough, God demands faith when we carry out actions. Apostle Paul understood this and so he exhorted the brethren in Rome, thus:



‘‘He that doubteth is damned if he eats because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin’’ Romans 14:23.


His teaching labels the‘ absence of faith’ as a sin. A faithless Christian is vulnerable to sin and attacks from the devil.

His deeds are questionable, not because he is not holy, but because his actions did not take a stance from faith.

Satan easily conquers such a Christian during trials because he does not believe in the word of God.


4. Faith is the FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY


Salvation and holiness are gained only by faith. Salvation begins with complete faith towards the finished work of Christ (they include His crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension).



Christ sustains our salvation through our constant unwavering FAITH in Him.

Although sinful activities in the world make piety tough for the children of God, we can remain exceptional from the patterns of the world when our faith in Christ is consistent.

This is where we give due diligence in responding to the salvation we once received.


2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.



Walking by faith is a deliberate action, it is a conscious response to our new nature by carrying out the responsibility that is befitting of a born again.

It is on this basis that we grow in grace and the Knowledge of God’s word.

Our faith sets us on the advantage of becoming approved of God, both in words and deeds.


2 Peter 1:5-7: “And beside this, giving all diligence, ADD TO YOUR FAITH virtue; and virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity’’


Brethren, it all begins with our faith, we gain all these virtues as a bonus for exploring faith.



That’s amazing! The usefulness of faith has proved to be all-encompassing–just like have been stated earlier in the first series of this subject.


Stay with me as we unveil more sequels that faith holds for us.


God bless you, abundantly.




David Chikwado Caleb