John 16:
"12I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. 13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. 15Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you."
There is a lot of confusion about the role of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. There is a lot of discussion about gifts of the Spirit and tongues. I believe that much of the discussion overlooks the work and Person of the Holy Spirit. A brief post cannot do justice to the subject, but hopefully some will be edified.
There are two aspects to spiritual growth. They are both essential. They are both the work of the Holy Spirit. One aspect relates to the new, born again spirit and the other to the soul, especially the mind and will.
1. The spirit of man. When we are born again, we are like new born babies. Infants have to learn a great deal. So do we. Human children have a number of inbuilt desires that ensure survival. The need to eat and sleep is natural.
As the child gets older, it learns acceptable behaviours, how to crawl, walk, run, dress, keep clean, and so on. New Christians have inbuilt desires also. These include a desire for fellowship with other Christians, a desire to know God's will and a new conscience that hates sin. God also imparts desires that accord with His purpose for our lives. For me, it was a near obsession with the Bible. Others are more people focused, full of compassion and caring. Others are leaders and motivators. Romans 12:6 gives a list of these gifts.
There is a great deal that we do not know. The Christian life is not automatic. We need to learn the truth from God's word. The Holy Spirit's work is to make God's word real in our experience. However, we have our part to play. It's one thing to hear God's word. It is another entirely to obey it. Who does not worry? Yet we are commanded to be anxious for nothing. And I have discovered that most of what makes me anxious is indeed nothing!
Luke 6:48 tells us that it is obedience to the word of Christ that makes us stable when things get difficult. We discover the reality of our faith when it is tested. For example, you pray about an issue and God says no. Do you trust God, in spite of disappointment? Or do you get mad and complain? If you trust God anyway, then you are proven to be stable in that area. If not, some work needs to be done still.
If we do not know the word of God, not just in theory but in reality, we will be stunted in out spiritual growth. There is little sadder than a seriously disabled child. Yet many Christians suffer spiritual malnutrition. We must spend time with the Lord and time in His word.
There is an equally important means to growth. Gardeners will know that sometimes a plant is pot bound. It's hard to tell when you buy the plant but obvious when you take it out of the port. To enable the plant to flourish, the roots must be disturbed and disentangled before planting. Slaves used to be shackled to prevent them running away. Before they could be free, the shackles have to be removed.
A friend of mine received many helpful examples from the Lord. He sought the Lord diligently as a young Christian. One time, he saw his spirit man like a very dim light. He saw it as if through X-ray films. You will have seen them. Imagine if several X-rays covered the light. You would not see much at all. As the X-rays were removed, he saw that the light grew brighter. What does all this mean?
Lord Jesus is our inner light. He shines brightly all the time. But if the light is hidden, it will not be seen. The X-ray films are hindrances to the light shining through. My friend realised that the films were mostly lies that he believed about himself.
Most people are bound either by negativity or by presumption. Some never try anything because they are certain that they will fail. Others will rush into all kinds of folly because they have an overinflated opinion of their own abilities and talents. God wants to deliver us from these inclinations. He wants us to be realistic. As I get older, I am not able to do what I could once. However, I can still do quite a lot. So I will keep doing as long as I'm able. I don't want to use age as an excuse to give up entirely,
Lord Jesus said that the truth sets us free. However, we must learn live in the truth and not let Satan's lies hinder us. Many years ago I was invited to play guitar at a school. The thought made me nervous. The Lord reminded me that they were teenagers, none of them were musicians and I had nothing to fear. I was released and it went over well. We need always to remember that the Lord is on our side.
I hope this helps. Please, please do not neglect your great salvation, purchased by Jesus at such a cost.
"12I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. 13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. 15Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you."
There is a lot of confusion about the role of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. There is a lot of discussion about gifts of the Spirit and tongues. I believe that much of the discussion overlooks the work and Person of the Holy Spirit. A brief post cannot do justice to the subject, but hopefully some will be edified.
There are two aspects to spiritual growth. They are both essential. They are both the work of the Holy Spirit. One aspect relates to the new, born again spirit and the other to the soul, especially the mind and will.
1. The spirit of man. When we are born again, we are like new born babies. Infants have to learn a great deal. So do we. Human children have a number of inbuilt desires that ensure survival. The need to eat and sleep is natural.
As the child gets older, it learns acceptable behaviours, how to crawl, walk, run, dress, keep clean, and so on. New Christians have inbuilt desires also. These include a desire for fellowship with other Christians, a desire to know God's will and a new conscience that hates sin. God also imparts desires that accord with His purpose for our lives. For me, it was a near obsession with the Bible. Others are more people focused, full of compassion and caring. Others are leaders and motivators. Romans 12:6 gives a list of these gifts.
There is a great deal that we do not know. The Christian life is not automatic. We need to learn the truth from God's word. The Holy Spirit's work is to make God's word real in our experience. However, we have our part to play. It's one thing to hear God's word. It is another entirely to obey it. Who does not worry? Yet we are commanded to be anxious for nothing. And I have discovered that most of what makes me anxious is indeed nothing!
Luke 6:48 tells us that it is obedience to the word of Christ that makes us stable when things get difficult. We discover the reality of our faith when it is tested. For example, you pray about an issue and God says no. Do you trust God, in spite of disappointment? Or do you get mad and complain? If you trust God anyway, then you are proven to be stable in that area. If not, some work needs to be done still.
If we do not know the word of God, not just in theory but in reality, we will be stunted in out spiritual growth. There is little sadder than a seriously disabled child. Yet many Christians suffer spiritual malnutrition. We must spend time with the Lord and time in His word.
There is an equally important means to growth. Gardeners will know that sometimes a plant is pot bound. It's hard to tell when you buy the plant but obvious when you take it out of the port. To enable the plant to flourish, the roots must be disturbed and disentangled before planting. Slaves used to be shackled to prevent them running away. Before they could be free, the shackles have to be removed.
A friend of mine received many helpful examples from the Lord. He sought the Lord diligently as a young Christian. One time, he saw his spirit man like a very dim light. He saw it as if through X-ray films. You will have seen them. Imagine if several X-rays covered the light. You would not see much at all. As the X-rays were removed, he saw that the light grew brighter. What does all this mean?
Lord Jesus is our inner light. He shines brightly all the time. But if the light is hidden, it will not be seen. The X-ray films are hindrances to the light shining through. My friend realised that the films were mostly lies that he believed about himself.
Most people are bound either by negativity or by presumption. Some never try anything because they are certain that they will fail. Others will rush into all kinds of folly because they have an overinflated opinion of their own abilities and talents. God wants to deliver us from these inclinations. He wants us to be realistic. As I get older, I am not able to do what I could once. However, I can still do quite a lot. So I will keep doing as long as I'm able. I don't want to use age as an excuse to give up entirely,
Lord Jesus said that the truth sets us free. However, we must learn live in the truth and not let Satan's lies hinder us. Many years ago I was invited to play guitar at a school. The thought made me nervous. The Lord reminded me that they were teenagers, none of them were musicians and I had nothing to fear. I was released and it went over well. We need always to remember that the Lord is on our side.
I hope this helps. Please, please do not neglect your great salvation, purchased by Jesus at such a cost.
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