The Helpful Holy Spirit

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as ‘the Helper’ as well as a teacher in John 14:26 (NKJV). He truly is our helper, and we should praise God for this truth.

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. (Joh 14:26 NKJV)

The Holy Spirit will teach us all things and remind us of what we have learned from Him. For example, when we get riled by some inconsiderate driver in traffic, and call that person an unflattering name, the Holy Spirit will convict us to repent and to pray for that driver.

. . . because I know that your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Christ Jesus will keep me safe. (Phil 1:19 CEV)

The help that comes from the Holy Spirit keeps us safe. Hallelujah!

Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Act 9:31 NIV)

The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom to have a respectful reverence for the Lord. He helps us to learn about the wonderful characteristics of the love of God, and to appreciate them.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Rom 8:9 NKJV)

Because the Holy Spirit dwells within us (1 Cor 3:16), we know that we are led by the Lord, especially in spiritual matters.

The Holy Spirit helps us to know how to pray, and will even give us the words to pray, if we will be sensitive to His guidance.

The unity of the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit forms the Godhead. The Godhead is united in purpose and implementation of God’s plan for mankind.

God’s plan for mankind is good and gives us a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11)

The Holy Spirit gives us life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. His work is to exalt Christ in our hearts. The Holy Spirit strengthens us and by grace, enables us to persevere in faith. Glory to God!

How to Give Joy to Your Parents

Most children would like to give joy to their parents. Not only small children, but adult children also wish to give enjoyment to their mother and father.

I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth. (3 Joh 1:4 CEB)

The father of a righteous child will celebrate greatly. One who fathers a wise son will find joy in him. (Pro 23:24 EHV)

The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother. (Pro 10:1 NKJV)

A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. (Pro 29:3 NIV)

These various Scriptures all refer to the subject of giving joy or gladness to our parents. These are the ways, according to the Word, that we can give true gladness to our mom and dad:

To live according to the truth (of the Word of God);
To live a righteous life with wisdom;
To gain wisdom (the best source of wisdom is the Bible); and
To love wisdom and embrace it in all of your ways.

Not only will these acts bring joy to your parents, but God will bless you as you obey His Word. Glory to God!

Be Merciful

What does merciful mean? It means: kindhearted, compassionate, sympathetic, and forgiving.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Lk 6:36 EHV) As our Father forgives our sins repeatedly, we should also forgive and forget the sins of others against us.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. (Eph 5:1 NKJV) In every way, as much as we have the grace to do so, we should imitate the mercy of God in our dealings with other people. Let us be kindhearted and compassionate in imitation of our Father in heaven.

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Heb 2:17 NKJV) Jesus was a merciful and faithful High Priest in that He became the sacrifice upon the altar to reconcile mankind to God the Father.

For I will be merciful in regard to their unrighteousness, and I will not remember their sins any longer. (Heb 8:12 EHV) Thanks to Jesus, our Father forgives our sins and does not remember them against us. What a gift of love and mercy we have been given!

In obedience to the Word, may each of us strive to be sympathetic to others and to be faithful representatives of Jesus and His love in a dark and hurting world.

We are Heirs of God through Christ

Through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, we have been made heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. (see Rom 8:17) An “heir” is a person who inherits, or has a right of inheritance, to the property of another person following their death.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15 NKJV)

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. (1 Cor 2:12 NIV, emphasis added)

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God . . . (Rom 8:16 ESV)

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” ⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Gal 4:4-7 NKJV)

God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. (Eph 1:5 NLT)

One of the rights that we were given as heirs is an inheritance of everything that belongs to God. Everything in the entire universe belongs to God. Both seen and unseen things belong to God! It is all God’s property.

So, as incomprehensible as it may seem, when it comes to our inheritance as the children of God, everything that belongs to Jesus also belongs to us because we are joint heirs with Christ!

“According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you . . . ” (1 Pet 1:3-4 ESV) Our inheritance includes all of the blessings and promises found in the Bible and more. We have been given an eternal inheritance that is shown above in 1 Peter 1 as “imperishable, undefiled, unfading and kept in heaven for us.”

I think it’s safe to say that our eternal inheritance is so royal and so wonderful, that we can’t even get a true concept of the enormity and magnificence of it. Have fun and receive inspiration from meditating upon this truth. God bless you!

Secrets

Are you a person who enjoys having a secret? Do you have secrets of your own to protect—that you do not want to be revealed?

Well, our Father in heaven has secrets that He will share only with His children. God also knows every secret of every human being on earth; nothing is hidden from Him.

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. (Isa 45:3 NKJV, underscoring added) There are hidden riches in undisclosed places which are known only to God, and He has promised to give these blessings to His own children.

He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. (Dan 2:22 NKJV) Only our God and Savior is able to reveal to us His deep and secret things in such a way that they will be useful, helpful, and fruitful to us.

When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you. (Mt 6:6 CEV) When this passage states that God knows what happens in private, it is saying that God sees and knows what is done secretly.

This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned, ¹⁶when God appoints Jesus Christ to judge everyone’s secret thoughts, just as my message says. (Rom 2:15-16 CEV) God knows even our secret thoughts! And He loves us no matter what they may be.

Praise God! He can make you strong by means of my good news, which is the message about Jesus Christ. For ages and ages this message was kept secret . . . (Rom 16:25 CEV) We are so blessed that the Good News of salvation is no longer a secret but has been revealed to all mankind. Glory to God most High!

Recognize God’s Involvement

When good things happen in our lives—promotion; a raise in pay; an unexpected lump sum of money; success in business—we must recognize that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in heaven. (Jas 1:17)

Don’t think to yourself, my own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. (Deu 8:17 CEB)

He answered me: “This is the Lord’s word to Zerubbabel: Neither by power, nor by strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord of heavenly forces.” (Zech 4:6 CEB)

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2 Cor 4:7)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

Nothing is ever accomplished solely through human might or power! We must never try to grab the glory that belongs to God alone. We don’t ever want to be like the rich fool that Jesus taught about in Luke 12:13-21 where God said to the man: ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

We can see from the Bible verses that I have shown above that:

Anything good that is accomplished is not by might or power but by the Spirit of God.
The power that we have to work and to accomplish good things is from God and not us.
Even our faith is a gift from God!

Acknowledge the Lord’s goodness to you whenever you receive praise, or awards, or blessings in any form. All glory to God!

Inherit the Earth

For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (Ps 37:9)

He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. (Ps 25:13)

The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. (Ps 37:29)

For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it . . . (Pro 2:21)

These passages of the Bible focus upon the idea that the righteous have been given a promise to “inherit the earth.” What does that mean for believers?

Here are some facts to begin this meditation:

God is the owner of this earth (Ps 24:1).
Those who obey Christ become children of God (Gal 3:27; Heb 5:9), and “joint-heirs” with the Lord (Rom 8:17).
The Father supplies all of our needs (Phil 4:19); we therefore enjoy this earth and its blessings more than all others.
Mainly, however, our inheritance is spiritual (Ac 20:32); we are heirs in the kingdom of Christ (Eph 5:5), and citizenship in that kingdom is available now on this earth (Col 1:13).
Finally, we also look for an inheritance that is reserved for us in heaven (1 Pet 1:4), because we are aware that the earth will be destroyed when Christ returns (2 Pet 3:10).

The verses of Scripture at the beginning of this article all describe a blessing appointed to the righteous in the coming age.

All who have been made righteous through Jesus Christ shall one day have power over all things, and until then will always receive provision of their needs through Jesus Christ. How blessed we are!

Rewarded for Your Works

We don’t often think of this, but the Scriptures tell us that the Lord rewards people for their good deeds. What a kind, generous, and loving God we serve.

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Mt 16:27)

. . . who “will render to each one according to his deeds” . . . (Rom 2:6)

. . . knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. (Eph 6:8)

Just think of it: WHATEVER good that we do for anyone else, the Lord says that we will receive the same from Him. This is the best source of motivation that anyone could hope for! It is the promise of a blessed reward.

When you pay for someone’s gas who’s in front of you; when you help an elderly friend by cleaning their home or taking them grocery shopping; or any of the thousands of other kind and good deeds that you could perform—ALL be rewarded. Don’t worry! God has no problem with keeping track of each and every one of us, and our good deeds.

The Lord knows the number of hairs on our heads (Mt 10:30; Lk 12:7), and He cares about everything that concerns each one of us. He is our protector. (Deut 20:4; Ps 91:7; Heb 13:6)

The Lord doesn’t forget His promises to us. He keeps each and every one. And we can be confident that the Lord will keep this promise of giving us His rewards. Praise God!

. . . knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. (Col 3:24)

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