In John 16:5-15 Jesus speaks to the disciples as He prepares to leave them and take up His rightful place with God. In this short yet powerful section in John, Jesus says many profound things that believers today cling to as their hope of eternity. But, sometimes I think we glaze over what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit.
"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. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16: 7-11.
The next section states, "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 come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mind an declare it to you." John 16:13-15
I like lists. I feel more productive when I make a list and I'm able to cross off things that I have completed. It makes me feel like I'm moving forward, accomplishing something and seeing the list completed is rewarding to an "achiever" personality. However, Christianity and a walk with Jesus Christ cannot be defined by a list of accomplishments.
I read a bible study this morning that discussed how we as Christian's can get caught up in doing the right thing, like a check list, that we forget that God is working through us, not us working toward Him. Go to church = x, go to bible study = x, helped a neighbor = x, did my quiet time = x, etc. The bible is very clear that we cannot earn our salvation and it is only through the blood Christ that we are saved. We must admit we are sinners, believe Jesus is the Son of God and confess our sins. We need not be "cleaned up" to come to Him, He will wash away our sins; He will chip away, like a sculptor, turning us into His masterpiece. I do not believe this happens over night, but is a continuous working of the Holy Spirit in our lives until we pass from this world into eternity.
I am not saying that doing the things listed above are bad things, but we need to be certain that we are completing the list for the correct reasons. Are we doing it, because we are suppose to do it or because we want to be closer to our Lord and Savior?
In the book of John, Jesus mentions that the Holy Spirit is our guide toward truth, but not only for the believer, but also to the unbeliever. "... He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment..." John 16:8
Our Father in heaven can reach the unsaved without us. He does not NEED us to do His work. He has the Holy Spirit that can do it all on His own. He WANTS us to do His work. He wants us to be ready when He calls us out to reach someone for Christ or to talk to that fellow believer who is struggling and pray with them, to reach out to a long lost friend, out of the blue, to check on them. Why does He want us to be part of His work? I believe He wants to share the blessings with us. Each time a soul is saved through faith in Jesus Christ, the bible says, "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10. Heaven rejoices!
I find it very reassuring that God does not have a checklist of things I must do to be saved or to be worthy to share the Truth with others. I am a very goal oriented person, checklists are important, but in the case of following God and growing closer to Him, there is only one thing on the list: Listen to the Holy Spirit! What a gracious God!
Thank you Jesus for coming to die in my place. Thank you for being the ultimate sacrifice so that blood would no longer need to be shed and we would no longer need to try and redeem ourselves of sin that no amount of sacrifices would ever cover! Thank you God for loving us so much that You saw we would never be able to do it on our own, the checklist was just too long, so You sent your Son to die on the cross once and for all! Thank you for the helper, the Holy Spirit,who is there to guide us each and every day. Lord, thank you for sharing the blessing and joy it is to do Your Will. You don't need us Lord, You want us! Thank you for wanting me. Thank you for seeing worth in me. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you Jesus. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
"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. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16: 7-11.
The next section states, "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 come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mind an declare it to you." John 16:13-15
I like lists. I feel more productive when I make a list and I'm able to cross off things that I have completed. It makes me feel like I'm moving forward, accomplishing something and seeing the list completed is rewarding to an "achiever" personality. However, Christianity and a walk with Jesus Christ cannot be defined by a list of accomplishments.
I read a bible study this morning that discussed how we as Christian's can get caught up in doing the right thing, like a check list, that we forget that God is working through us, not us working toward Him. Go to church = x, go to bible study = x, helped a neighbor = x, did my quiet time = x, etc. The bible is very clear that we cannot earn our salvation and it is only through the blood Christ that we are saved. We must admit we are sinners, believe Jesus is the Son of God and confess our sins. We need not be "cleaned up" to come to Him, He will wash away our sins; He will chip away, like a sculptor, turning us into His masterpiece. I do not believe this happens over night, but is a continuous working of the Holy Spirit in our lives until we pass from this world into eternity.
I am not saying that doing the things listed above are bad things, but we need to be certain that we are completing the list for the correct reasons. Are we doing it, because we are suppose to do it or because we want to be closer to our Lord and Savior?
In the book of John, Jesus mentions that the Holy Spirit is our guide toward truth, but not only for the believer, but also to the unbeliever. "... He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment..." John 16:8
Our Father in heaven can reach the unsaved without us. He does not NEED us to do His work. He has the Holy Spirit that can do it all on His own. He WANTS us to do His work. He wants us to be ready when He calls us out to reach someone for Christ or to talk to that fellow believer who is struggling and pray with them, to reach out to a long lost friend, out of the blue, to check on them. Why does He want us to be part of His work? I believe He wants to share the blessings with us. Each time a soul is saved through faith in Jesus Christ, the bible says, "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10. Heaven rejoices!
I find it very reassuring that God does not have a checklist of things I must do to be saved or to be worthy to share the Truth with others. I am a very goal oriented person, checklists are important, but in the case of following God and growing closer to Him, there is only one thing on the list: Listen to the Holy Spirit! What a gracious God!
Thank you Jesus for coming to die in my place. Thank you for being the ultimate sacrifice so that blood would no longer need to be shed and we would no longer need to try and redeem ourselves of sin that no amount of sacrifices would ever cover! Thank you God for loving us so much that You saw we would never be able to do it on our own, the checklist was just too long, so You sent your Son to die on the cross once and for all! Thank you for the helper, the Holy Spirit,who is there to guide us each and every day. Lord, thank you for sharing the blessing and joy it is to do Your Will. You don't need us Lord, You want us! Thank you for wanting me. Thank you for seeing worth in me. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you Jesus. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
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