April 19, 2015, Buddy, John 16:5...
Jesus says an amazing statement: it's to your advantage that I go away - I've got something better for you. Because the Holy Spirit (HS) will be sent to you.
How do we tell the HS apart from the conscience?
You do realize that in our Father's eyes He sees Jesus and we are as righteous as He.
Satan is judged. He is a toothless tiger.
The HS speaks to you and indwells in you. You may not be listening, or you've never been taught to recognize His voice. He leads us to magnify Jesus. All that the Father has is mine - He will take what is mine and declare it into you.
The HS is the forgotten member of the Trinity. Want to remove some of the weirdness associated with the HS. The majority of Christians don't understand the HS still speaks. The HS will not contradict God's Word.
1. HS is God.
2. HS leads us.
3. HS is our teacher.
4. HS is our prayer partner.
5. HS is our liberator.
Job 22:21, acquaint yourself with God - know intimately, to treasure - if you do so you will experience peace (shalom, harmony, wholeness, things as they should be). If you are not experiencing peace (life is a series of problems - not that we are problem free). Here is the problem - not that we have problems - but that we don't know God. When we have intimacy with God, then He will give us peace. Peace is not possible outside of true intimacy with God. Peace that passes understanding.
We've forgotten God and don't really know Him, even in the church. Our idea of God is Disney world. Ppl won't die for that. Ppl have to have a grander vision. We teach things about God that aren't true sometimes. Isaiah 40:22, Is. 43:10-11 God is not like us. He is in a category onto Himself, unique. He's not like us, He's not a Person. 4 attributes of God. God calls us to ponder His nature even though He is imponderable.
1. God is eternal. There was never a time when God wasn't. He wasn't created. He's above time. Infinite. He has always existed. The history of God is immortal. If you think you understand that you're wrong.
2. God is omnipresent. Everywhere. All the time.
3. God is omniscient. God has never learned. Nothing has ever occurred to God. He has always known all things.
4. God is omnipotent. Supreme. All mighty. There is nothing He cannot do.
These are also characteristics of the HS. Heb 9:14, Ps. 139:7-10, John 16:12-17, Luke 1:25-35. The Father is God. The Son is God. The HS is God. The fact that our minds cannot understand the reality, doesn't take away from its glory.
Leading of HS, like our spiritual GPS, He prompts us to do things. He brought
Rom. 8:14, Gal. 5:16, Acts 16, Acts 13:2
He is our teacher. 1 Cor. 2:9-10, these things God has revealed through His Spirit. You cannot imagine what God wants to do. But HS shows you.
HS is our prayer partner. HS intercedes for us according to the will of God. We don't know what we don't know. HS translates for us what we really need according to the will of God. Sometimes we don't even know what we should pray.
The HS is our liberator. You did not receive the Spirit of bondage but the Spirit of adoption. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is is freedom. Lots of ppl are carrying lots of bondage. Can't let wrong that was done to you go. The HS is not a jail keeper but a liberator. He makes us a better version of who you were meant to be. He doesn't make us someone else. He makes us who we were meant to be. There is all kind of giftedness - it all comes from Him - and if you offer it to Him He will liberate you - from lies to truth. Maybe someone has convinced you that you aren't worth much. That's a lie!
Many times men feel like they are not spiritual people. That's a lie too. If you follow the Lord fully, you are vulnerable or can feel so. You feel like you're exposing your weakness. Men, you will never stand taller than when you get on your knees. Don't be afraid to be a man of the Spirit, of the Scriptures.
This week, when you wake up, say good morning HS, what are your plans for me today? He will talk to you. If you've never been made alive by the HS - you need the Spirit, the breath of God to make you alive - as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3.