Bible League: Living His Word And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.Jesus was about to make the ultimate sacrifice when He said the words of our verse for today. He had been with His disciples for three years and He had been their helper, teacher, and counsellor during that time. Now that His departure from them is looming up, He promises that He will ask the Father to send them someone else – the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit they would receive on Pentecost Sunday would be their new helper. The presence of the Holy Spirit within each and every Christian means that there is a fundamental difference between Christians and non-Christians. Christians have a supernatural helper within them that non-Christians do not have. Although we may not always sense the presence of the Spirit, although we may not always be "filled with the Spirit," the Spirit is always working through us to help us, comfort us, strengthen us, and guide us. Indeed, due to the presence and help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to do the things Jesus did – and even greater things (John 14:12). Christians, then, have a source of strength and help that allows us to make a real difference in the world. Instead of succumbing to the patterns of this world, instead of simply accepting the world as it is, we can transform the world. The spiritually blind can be led to see, the misguided can be set straight, the downhearted can be encouraged, the sick can be healed, and so on. The helper within us empowers us to advance and enhance the Kingdom of God on earth in every area of life. Thus, as the special name for the Holy Spirit in our verse for today implies, the most important aspect of the Spirit's work within us is that He simply helps us. Who doesn't need help? Who hasn't felt that the work was too big, too hard, and too demanding? It is when things are hard that the help of the Holy Spirit becomes most evident. What we thought was impossible suddenly becomes possible. When we thought we would faint our strength is renewed. When the obstacles were insurmountable a pathway opens up. You have something within you that can help you every time. Today, then, rely on the help of the Spirit for the tasks God has called you to do. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 73, 74 Psalm 73 -- BOOK 3: Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 74 -- God, why have you rejected us forever? NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 5 Romans 5 -- Peace with God; Joy in Our Hope; Through Christ Many Will Live NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.Insight All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out—rearranging our attitudes, desires, and motives. Being born makes you physically alive and places you in your parents' family. Being born of God makes you spiritually alive and puts you in God's family. Challenge Have you asked Christ to make you a new person? This fresh start in life is available to all who believe in Christ. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Daniel 11:32 The people that do know their God shall be strong.Every believer understands that to know God is the highest and best form of knowledge; and this spiritual knowledge is a source of strength to the Christian. It strengthens his faith. Believers are constantly spoken of in the Scriptures as being persons who are enlightened and taught of the Lord; they are said to "have an unction from the Holy One," and it is the Spirit's peculiar office to lead them into all truth, and all this for the increase and the fostering of their faith. Knowledge strengthens love, as well as faith. Knowledge opens the door, and then through that door we see our Saviour. Or, to use another similitude, knowledge paints the portrait of Jesus, and when we see that portrait then we love him, we cannot love a Christ whom we do not know, at least, in some degree. If we know but little of the excellences of Jesus, what he has done for us, and what he is doing now, we cannot love him much; but the more we know him, the more we shall love him. Knowledge also strengthens hope. How can we hope for a thing if we do not know of its existence? Hope may be the telescope, but till we receive instruction, our ignorance stands in the front of the glass, and we can see nothing whatever; knowledge removes the interposing object, and when we look through the bright optic glass we discern the glory to be revealed, and anticipate it with joyous confidence. Knowledge supplies us reasons for patience. How shall we have patience unless we know something of the sympathy of Christ, and understand the good which is to come out of the correction which our heavenly Father sends us? Nor is there one single grace of the Christian which, under God, will not be fostered and brought to perfection by holy knowledge. How important, then, is it that we should grow not only in grace, but in the "knowledge" of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Daily Light on the Daily Path John 19:30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. John 17:4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Hebrews 10:10-14 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. • Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; • but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, • waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. • For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Colossians 2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. John 10:17,18 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. • "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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