The Holy Spirit Teaches and Reminds Us

 

John 14:26

But The Advocate, The Holy Spirit, Whom The Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

    This is being empowered by God. It is not of our own strength that we accomplish the tasks set before us by our heavenly Father, but through the power of His Holy Spirit. We are weak, and the burden of carrying such a heavy load would break us to such an extent that we would fall and not get back up. 

    But God says that His Holy Spirit would bring everything that His Son Jesus Christ said to us back into our minds and on our tongues what we need to know and when we need to speak it. However, if none of The Word of God is in us, there will be nothing to remember. 

    So, we attach ourselves to our Bibles, studying God's Word for ourselves. We fill ourselves daily, preferable in the morning, because that is the first part of our day (for those who begin their days in the morning). David writes in Psalm 63:1, "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."

    I don't know about you, but I am always thirsty for a cold glass of water when I wake up after a night's sleep. David was in the wilderness of Judah. I have only been in the landscape of dreams and nightmares. But we both wake up and seek God early in the morning. In the peacefulness of the moment, before the household is awake; before the birds begin to sing; as the sun kisses the sky. It is wonderful to be alone with God. 

    Without a study life I wouldn't know how to start my day. Without a prayer life, where would I be? I would be filled with anxiety and unsureness, like I used to be before I began to fill up on The Word of God. No longer am I empty and dry like a barren well: there is Living Water in me and The Second Wind blows over the surface of the water, empowering It to move in me and through me. 

    John 7:38, 39

"Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of Living Water will flow from within him.’ " He was speaking about The Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

    The first Wind that blew through us was the breath of God, giving us life. The second Wind blowing through us is God Himself, His Holy Spirit, renewing us, strengthening and restoring us moment by glorious moment. He brings The Word of God to our minds and our hearts, convicting us where necessary in order that we may be aware of what else within us needs to submit to God (called to repentance), that we might be fully surrendered as we have promised we would be. 

    We must have an earnest desire to learn what God wants to teach us. Many have opened their Bibles to disavow The Word of God, only to find themselves submitting to The Word of God. Many an atheist has laid hold of The Word only to find The Word laying hold of them. The godless have encountered God and become some of His staunchest supporters. Nothing is too difficult for God. 

    I have a few study themes within me just waiting to be poured out, but they cannot all come rushing out at once. One thing at a time. No pushing, no shoving. As the seasons shift throughout the year, so, too, does The Wind and The Water within me. This is a time of submission and surrender. Submit to God's Will for my life and my family's life. Surrender to God's Will with all my heart and my mind. 

    We are empowered by this Second Wind, this Second Breath, to persevere; to go forward under great trials regardless of the cost. [Hebrews 12:1, 2]. We are empowered by this Second Wind to pursue the mission we have been given, namely to share the gospel message of salvation and repentance through Jesus Christ. [John 20:19-22]. 

    We are empowered to witness, be willing martyrs, if necessary, for the sake of the gospel. [Acts 1:8]. We are empowered to speak other languages to reach people who want to hear the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. [Acts 2:1-10]. We are empowered to be bold as lions [Proverbs 28:1]; wise as serpents, and blameless as doves [Matthew 10:16]. We are empowered to resist (stand against, oppose) the devil [James 4:7]. 

    But only after we have submitted to God. Submission. Surrender. Empowerment. It is enough to be here in this place, at this time. 

Father, may Your Wind empower me that I might accomplish the tasks You have set before me. Amen.

MORNING WORSHIP - Ember and Altar

    

    

    

    

Warrior of The Word - Your Word In My Heart

 

Deuteronomy 11:18

Fix these Words of Mine in your hearts and minds; tie Them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Deuteronomy 6:6

These Words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.

Psalm 37:31

The Law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.

Psalm 40:8

I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart. (both statement of actual fact at that time AND prophetic statement revealed in Christ [Hebrews 10:1-18])

Jeremiah 31:33

“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares The LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 

Romans 7:22

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

Psalm 119:16, 24, 47, 92

I will delight myself in Thy Statutes: I will not forget Thy Word. [Testimonies (v24), Commandments (v47), Law (v92)]

    Memories take place in that part of the body that is separate from the flesh and bones frame which is formed with touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight. But there is another part of us that has a heart and a mind which also contain memory. It is our souls and our souls are eternal. Which means that even after these bodies of flesh and bone that die and decay, our soul will continue beyond the grave. 

    Now is the time to strengthen our souls that we may live beyond the grave. We do this when we exercise The Word of God in our hearts by trusting in His Word; by being obedient to His Word. First we take in His Word by hearing It, which causes our faith to grow. It is both Sun and Rain to the Seed of Faith which has been planted in our soul hearts. 

    Secondly, we take in His Word when we read It. Reading our Bibles every day is a privilege, for many are still without a whole Bible or a Bible written in their language. Some have memorized chapters of Scripture because a single page is all they ever had. The Word is precious, and even a small amount can do wonders: For The Word of God is Living and Enduring. The Living Word changes the Seed of Faith within our soul hearts, causing us to grow in Him and He in us. 

    Thirdly, we take in His Word when we dream Him. There are places where His Word is not allowed, yet He reveals Himself to men and women there to bring them into Himself and His kingdom. Dreams which reveal that Jesus Christ is The Messiah, The Only Begotten Son of God, are revelatory dreams, revealing God's great Love for them, filling them with wonder and urgency. 

    The more of God's Law, God's Word, that is in us, the more we want. [Matthew 5:6]

We are never satisfied with just a little bit of godly knowledge: we are always hungry for more. Yet there must be moments of rest, as well. So we rest in The Lord, while our souls digest what we have already taken in. In this we are content. 

    While we are taking in God's Word, Law, Commandments, and Statutes, The Holy Spirit of God is writing these things on our hearts. As The Finger of God wrote on the wall in Daniel 5:5, so, too, does He write on our hearts [Ezekiel 36:26, 27]. The verse in Daniel is both a warning and a promise of destruction [Daniel 5:6-28]. The verses in Ezekiel are a promise for the believer; not just for that time of our salvation, but for our continued walk with God by His Spirit. 

    Fifty days after Christ ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God, God sent His Holy Spirit first to those who were waiting together [Acts 2:1-4], then to all who believed [Acts 2:38, 39; 4:31; 10:44-48; 11:1-18; 13:52; 19:6; Ephesians 5:18; Joel 2:28, 29 (Spirit poured out on all the people who return to The Lord with repentant hearts [Joel 2:12-17]); Isaiah 44:3 (Spirit poured out on seed)].

    We who are alive today are some of the people to whom The Holy Spirit had been promised. We who have repented of our sins, turning our backs on worldly pleasures and giving our minds and hearts to heavenly treasures, are receiving God's Holy Spirit, Who reveals godly wisdom to us through our faith in Jesus Christ. 

    We rise up in prayer to our God and He empowers us to go outward into the world to preach the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. He empowers us to walk upright before The Lord. He empowers us to speak in other languages that we might more readily share, bear witness of, The Testimony we have seen and heard. 

    We are Warriors of The Word and His Word is in our hearts.