LEARNING DAILY

John 14:16-17, And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

For the past two weekends Pastor Ed Newton has been sharing about the “empowerment of oil – the Holy Spirit” in the life of the Believer. He has shared a lot of great knowledge about the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. He shared that the Holy Spirit came to “rest” on people so they could accomplish what that person was to do at a specific time. He said, “When the spirit of God comes on a person, He will provide what that person needs.” For example, Samson was given supernatural strength. Gideon was shielded with strength (Judges 6:34) and Zechariah was given prophetic authority (2 Chronicles 24:20). This was taken from the sermon notes. “Different people were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what God wanted done. The Holy Spirit did not live within them.

Ezekiel 37:27 is prophetic to what would happen when Jesus would go back to heaven. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments, and do them.” When Jesus went back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within the one who would believe in Him; the Holy Spirit was given to the Believer the moment he/she was saved to not only empower the Believer “but to transform him/her into becoming like Jesus” (EN). Let me share what Pastor Newton said about the purpose of the Holy Spirit taking up “residence” within each believer.

“And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit will not only convict the Believer of sin; He will accuse and expose the unbelieving world to their sin. How? Believers are to point out the truth of sin and righteousness through their testimony – their words and lifestyle. Seeing and hearing the Believer’s testimony should convict unbelievers.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring them to your remembrance all I have said to you” (John 14:26). Do not be deceived. This is not about receiving new revelations, or even personal revelations; it is about reinforcing and explaining what Christ has already taught. This is not about adding to or changing the Word of God. Pastor asked if the Bible was better understood after receiving Jesus as your Savior than before. In my case that would be answered with a definite “YES” and He helps me remember what I need at a given time.

“For God gave us not a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). The Holy Spirit gives Believers the ability to stand strong against those who have the appearance of godliness but deny its power. He gives each Believer to love others and show self-control in a world that does neither.

“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit helps Believers in their weakness by strengthening them when facing temptations and trials; He gives strength to resist sin. He gives help when Believers do not know how to pray or what to pray for.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). Believers are not to waste their time by living to satisfy their selfish desires; they are to serve Jesus Christ. Paul writes the only way to do that is to seek the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance each day. Believers walk a narrow way to become more like Jesus!

The Holy Spirit in the Believer’s life gives everything needed to do what God has called him/her to do!