If Jesus Came to Your House

This morning as heavy rain hit the roof of my house in Kuching, and when the sound of waters scream violently and deafen my hearing – I woke up from my sleeping. I took a book. Behold, a wonderful poet was in a front paging. Thus, I start my reading…

If Jesus Came to Your House

(by Lois Blanchard Eades)

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two,

If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.

Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored Guest,

And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best,

And you would keep assuring Him you’re glad to have Him there,

That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.

But, when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door

with arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor?

Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?

Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?

Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard?

And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?

Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?

And I wonder, if the Savior spent a day or two with you,

Would you go right on doing the things you always do?

Would you go right on saying the things you always say?

Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace?

And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?

Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books you read,

And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go?

Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?

Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?

Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know the things that you would do

If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you.

I was thinking: if someday Jesus really did spend time with me,

What could I possibly do?
Oh Lord, let my life ever prepare for such moment. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Refleksi Saya tentang 2 Tawarikh 34: Raja Yosia mendengar Kitab Taurat

Tuhan Allah suka akan orang yang mahu berubah dan menghormati Dia and Firman-Nya. Dia berkenan terhadap orang yang menganggap firman Allah ialah bukan hanya sebagai tulisan yang ditulis di atas kertas atau sebagai suatu karya manusia semata-mata tetapi ia ialah – firman yang agung, yang diilhamkan oleh Allah sendiri, berkuasa, dan mempunyai autoriti dari Tuhan yang Maha Besar. Allah berfirman, “Aku sendiri yang menciptakan alam semesta. Aku suka kepada orang yang rendah hati dan bertaubat, yang takut dan taat kepada-Ku” (Yesaya 66:2).

Rendah hati. Raja Yosia ialah contoh seorang raja yang rendah hati (humble in spirit) dan menghormati firman Allah, Kitab Taurat. Lama sebelum dia menjadi raja Yehuda di Yerusalem, Kitab Taurat yang diberikan Allah kepada nabi Musa telah hilang selama berpuluh-puluh tahun. Tiada sesiapa yang mempedulikannya, tiada orang yang mencarikannya – hilang tanpa disedari, tersembunyi di Rumah TUHAN. Tetapi, [pendek cerita] sudah tiba masanya untuk Kitab Taurat ditemui semula dan dibawa kepada raja. Yosia pada masa itu lebih kurang hanya berumur 21 tahun, namun, ini ialah suatu peristiwa yang paling bermakna dalam hidupnya.

“Safan membacakan kandungan kitab itu kepada raja. Apabila raja mendengar kandungan kitab itu, baginda mengoyakkan pakaiannya kerana dukacita” (2 Tawarikh 34:18-19).

Apabila Raja Yosia mendengar tentang kesucian Tuhan Allah dan janji berkat jika umat-Nya mentaati firman-Nya dan janji kutukan jika umat-Nya tidak mentaati perintah-Nya – dia mengoyakkan pakaiannya. Pada masa dahulu, mengoyakkan pakaian ialah simbol bagi kesedihan dan dukacita yang tidak terhingga. Untuk seorang raja yang berstatus tinggi mengoyakkan pakaiannya dikhalayak ramai menggambarkan kerendahan hatinya di hadapan Allah. Ianya seperti berkata: “Kedudukan saya sudah tidak penting lagi... Engkau ialah Tuhan yang benar dan adil, dan saya seorang yang berdosa dan layak dihukum oleh Mu”.

Raja Yosia mengoyakkan pakaiannya... dan saya berpendapat bahawa dia menangis dengan penuh dukacita terhadap dosanya sendiri dan dosa semua orang Israel. Firman Allah telah menyentuh jiwa dan hatinya. Dia telah bertaubat dan mengaku bahawa semua orang Israel “tidak taat kepada firman TUHAN dan tidak melakukan apa yang tercatat di dalam [kitab Taurat]” (2 Tawarikh 34:21).

Tuhan tahu. Tuhan mengerti. Tuhan mendengar. Tuhan melihat. Dan Alkitab mengatakan bahawa Tuhan Allah berkenan terhadapnya: “Engkau telah memperlihatkan kandungan kitab itu, dan engkau bertaubat serta merendahkan diri di hadapan-Ku” (34:26-27). Allah berjanji untuk menunjukkan belas-kasihan-Nya kepada Yosia. Dia akhirnya mati dengan tenteram – ini janji Allah dan Dia menepatinya sehingga akhir.

Kawan-kawan, Allah “suka kepada orang yang rendah hati dan bertaubat, yang takut dan taat kepada[Nya]” (Yesaya 66:2). Adakah kamu betul-betul mendengar Allah melalui firman-Nya? Adakah jiwa dan hatimu tersentuh oleh firman-Nya? Adakah kamu seorang yang rendah hati? Adakah kamu takut [hormat] akan Allah? Adakah kasih-Nya telah mengubah kamu sehinggakan kamu suka untuk mentaati firman-Nya? Mahukah kamu mengakui dosamu dihadapan Allah dan bertaubat? Jika ya, dengarlah firman-Nya ini sekali lagi: “Aku suka kepada orang yang rendah hati dan bertaubat, yang takut dan taat kepada-Ku”. Wow! Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Living in Light of Heaven (Free Booklets Inside!)

“Then I saw a new heaven and new earth…” (Revelation 21:1NIV)

“Heaven is the perfectly ordered and harmonious enjoyment of God
and of one another in God” (Augustine)

Heaven's gate
[Just a picture okay]

The first time I encountered with Randy Alcorn’s Heaven booklet, I’m falling in love over and over again with the subject of Heaven (or accurately speaking “New Earth”) that he portrait in his writing. He is not writing about how he went to heaven and back again like many junk books available in our bookstores today – he is writing and picturing Heaven the way Scripture describes it – “a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin, suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ’s presence, wondrous natural beauty, and the richness of human culture as God intended it”. Most important of all – God will be the King of this “Holy City, the New Jerusalem” (Revelation 21:2)!

Randy Alcorn writes in his introduction to Heaven’s booklet:

“Maybe you feel as if you’ve passed your peak, physically or emotionally, and that your best opportunities are behind you. Perhaps you’re burdened, discouraged, depressed, or even traumatized. Perhaps your dreams—your marriage, career, or ambitions—have crumbled. Perhaps you’ve become cynical or have lost hope.

An understanding of the true Christian teaching about Heaven (not the popular caricatures of Heaven) can change all that. That’s why I wrote Heaven, a full-length treatment of the subject that deals with all the questions people ask about this great subject. The purpose of this little booklet is to give you just a taste of the glorious truth about Heaven.

God’s people in ages past had a source of strength and perspective largely unknown to us today: Heaven. It was their central reference point, the North Star by which they could navigate their lives. But in contemporary society, Heaven has fallen off our radar screens.

“Whenever I think about Heaven,” a pastor said to me, “it makes me depressed. I’d rather just cease to exist when I die.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I can’t stand the thought of that endless tedium. To float around in the clouds with nothing to do but strum a harp . . . it’s all so terribly boring. Heaven doesn’t sound much better than Hell. I’d rather be annihilated than spend eternity in a place like that.”

Where did this Bible-believing, seminary-educated pastor get such a view of Heaven? Certainly not from Scripture, where the apostle Paul says that to depart and be with Christ is far better than staying on Earth (Philippians 1:23). My friend was more honest about it than most, yet I’ve found that many Christians share the same misconceptions about Heaven.

Our unbiblical assumption that Heaven won’t be a real, earthly place blinds us to what Scripture actually says. Rarely do we hear descriptions that capture what the Bible portrays as a New Earth with a great capital city made with precious stones; a New Earth that contains trees and rivers, and where resurrected people come in and out of the gates, engaged in meaningful relationships and productive activity.

J. C. Ryle, a nineteenth-century British theologian, said, “I pity the man who never thinks about heaven.” We could also say, “I pity the man who never thinks accurately about Heaven.” It’s our inaccurate thinking, I believe, that motivates us to think so little about Heaven.

As you will see, the problem is not that the Bible doesn’t tell us much about Heaven. It’s that we don’t pay attention to what it tells us”

Read and study the Book of Revelation for a start!

Then, I recommend you to buy Randy Alcorn’s Heaven book or audiobook.

I guarantee you – your life will change
and your passion for God and His glory will be heighten. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

FREE BOOKLETS

I’m giving away ONLY 3 copies of booklet “Heaven: Biblical Answers to Common Questions” by Randy Alcorn. You are welcome to get a copy of this booklet for yourself as a starter for you to see eternity in a whole new light! Simple, do these 2 things:

1. Comment below “Rich, give me one copy___ (Your name). I want to know about Heaven Biblically. I want to worship God through the study of this precious subject in the Bible. Amen.” 
2. And E-mail me at Motivates4life@hotmail.com or send message to my Facebook your real name, phone no. and your postal address. Thank you

[P.s: Priority for those who had never received any book or booklet from this blog site]

My Dear Busy Friends, it's Time for Silence and Solitude

Our minds yearn to be busy. When we are with others, we tend to occupy ourselves watching, listening to, communicating with, and responding to those around us. This is good. In fact, it is normal – as long as we know when to withdraw. Jesus was a busy man, just read the Gospel stories and you know that He was the busiest person in the New Testament. Yet every morning “Jesus got up and went to an isolated place to pray” (Mark 1:35NLT). He practiced silent and solitude. After Richard Foster listed numbers of Bible verses where Jesus intentionally seek silent and solitude to pray and rest, he writes in his book Celebration of Discipline: “The seeking out of solitary places was a regular practice for Jesus. So it should be for us.”

One of the great blessings of silent and solitude is that they offer time for us to become who we really are – at least, this is what I get from my personal experiences. They take us away from the demands and obligations others lay on us and give us relief from the constant pull on directions by our employer(s), family members, friends, and many kinds of extra ‘baggage’ modern life has created. They allow us to get rest from the modern burden of multitasking (at this writing, I’m thinking about how restless are our young generation today). The constant need to meet the expectations of others draws us away from our true selves and deafens us “to hear the divine Whisper better”. I can assure you my friends that you can’t remember who you are when half the world is compete for your attention – for that, you need silent and solitude.

I hope you ask me “How?”, if yes, good. Here are some example you can do to practice silence and solitude.

Silent

“In a noise-polluted world, it is even difficult to hear ourselves think let alone try to be still and know God. Yet it seems essential for our spiritual life to seek some silence, no matter how busy we may be. Silence is not to be shunned as empty space, but to be befriended as fertile ground for intimacy with God” (Susan Muto).

Some practice includes:

§  Setting a period of time in which you don’t speak but isolate yourself from sounds (other than perhaps the sounds of nature)

§  Driving or commuting without the radio or CD prayer turned on

§  Leaving the TV off (and your internet and phone off); spending time in silence with God alone

§  Exercising without attending to noise; listening to God

§  Having personal retreats of silence

Solitude

“We are so afraid of silence that we chase ourselves from one event to the next in order not to have to spend a moment alone with ourselves, in order not to have to look at ourselves in the mirror” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Some practice includes:

§  Giving God time and space that is not in competition with social contact, noise and stimulation

§  Taking a retreat

§  Observing Sabbath refreshment by abstaining from constant interaction with others, information and activities

§  Addressing your addiction to being seen

§  Communicating with God alone while you walk or run by yourself

§  Practicing disciplines alone: study, prayer, examen, journaling and so forth

Friends, take time for silence and solitude. It refreshed your soul, reenergized your mind and refocused your attention. You will find ‘you’ and most important of all – you can hear God’s gentle whisper more clearly. It is about who are you in God and who you are in relation with others. Thomas Merton, a Christian mystic writer once observes, “It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am the more affection I have for them… solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say”.

Silence and solitude are not easy to come by.

It takes time and effort to seek them out and cultivate them.

But once we find a place for them in our lives,

we immediately realize how much we’ve been missing without them.

God help and be with you.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

*Quotes and practice suggested for silence and solitude above are taken from Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. Pg. 106 and 111.

"Mukjizat itu Nyata?" atau "Mukjizat itu Nyata!"

“Berfirmanlah TUHAN kepada Musa: ‘Katakanlah kepada Harun: hulurkanlah tongkatmu dan pukulkanlah itu ke debu tanah, maka debu itu akan menjadi nyamuk di seluruh tanah Mesir.’ Lalu... Harun menghulurkan tangannya dengan tongkatnya dan memukulkannya ke debu tanah, maka nyamuk-nyamuk itu hinggap pada manusia dan pada binatang. Segala debu tanah menjadi nyamuk di seluruh tanah Mesir. Para ahli [sihir] itu pun membuat yang demikian juga dengan ilmu-ilmu manteranya untuk mengadakan nyamuk-nyamuk, tetapi mereka tidak dapat... lalu berkatalah para ahli itu kepada Firaun: ‘Inilah tangan Allah.” Tetapi hati Firaun berkeras, dan ia tidak mau mendengarkan mereka – seperti yang telah difirmankan TUHAN” (Keluaran 8:16-19, TB).

Musa dihadapan Firaun

Kita kadang-kadang menganggap bahawa mukjizat-mukjizat yang Tuhan Allah telah lakukan di dalam Alkitab adalah sebuah cerita dongeng semata-mata. Pandangan ini sangat mungkin jika kita juga menganggap bahawa Allah tidak pernah melakukan apa-apa mukjizat di dalam hidup kita sekarang. Sama seperti Firaun yang buta (secara rohani) apabila dia melihat sendiri mukjizat-mukjizat yang telah Allah lakukan melalui Musa, tidak percaya; kita juga kadang-kadang buta dengan apa yang Allah telah lakukan di dalam hidup kita dan di sekeliling kita. Kita sering beranggapan bahawa mukjizat dari Allah mestilah sesuatu perkara yang besar-besar seperti membangkitkan orang yang telah mati hidup semula atau menukarkan batu menjadi roti dan sebagainya, tetapi ia tidak semestinya seperti begitu. Kebenarannya ialah mukjizat (ada yang lebih hebat dari itu) sering berlaku setiap masa di sekeliling kita!

Mukjizat-mukjizat yang berlaku di sekeliling kita tidak semestinya sangat dramatik seperti bagaimana Tuhan membelah laut Teberau (atau Gelagah atau ‘Red Sea’) – ianya tidak kurang hebat kerana Allah yang sama yang berjalan bersama dengan Musa juga ada bersama dengan kita. Apabila mata hati kita telah dibuka oleh Allah untuk melihat dengan mata-Nya, kita akan mendapati dan menyedari bahawa mukjizat-mukjizat sedang berlaku di sekeliling kita seperti keindahan matahari timbul di pagi hari atau waktu ianya terbenam, cantiknya bulan menyinari malam, hubungan keluarga yang telah retak sudah dipulihkan, kelahiran bayi, kesembuhan dari penyakit, keselamatan yang diterima melalui iman dalam Kristus, pekerjaan kasih dan pengampunan dari Allah yang mengubah hidup seseorang, mendengar panggilan Allah dalam hidup kita – semua ini ialah sebahagian kecil daripada mukjizat-mukjizat yang berlaku di sekeliling kita.

Ingat kawan-kawanku: kita ada Allah yang boleh dan sering melakukan mukjizat di dalam hidup kita. Segalanya mungkin bagi-Nya. Dia akan melakukan apa yang kita anggap mustahil bagi kita untuk kemuliaan-Nya sendiri. Kita tahu bahawa dalam setiap perkara yang berlaku (ya, walaupun kejadian di Lahad Datu, Sabah sedang berlaku!), kita ada Allah yang hebat – Allah yang sering melakukan mukjizat! Berdoalah dalam setiap perkara dan jangan hilang harapan. Jika kamu menyangka bahawa mukjizat tidak akan terjadi selepas kamu berdoa... tunggu dan lihat.

“Marilah dan lihatlah apa yang telah dilakukan oleh Allah,
perbuatan-Nya yang ajaib antara manusia” (Mazmur 66:5, BM).

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Service for Christ which Counts for Eternity

It is not the length but the nature of our service for Christ which counts for eternity. Consider two young men whose lives were very brief. David Brainerd, who brought hundreds of American Indians to Christ, died at the age 24. Robert Murray McCheyne, through whom countless lives were transformed in Scotland, died at age 29.

Someone like me, at the age of 27 this year, needs to ask: What was their secret?

From Brainerd’s dairy: “How sweet it is to be the Lord’s, to be sensibly devoted to Him! I have less desire to live for the pleasures of this world, but rather to be a pilgrim, and to imitate the life, labors, and sufferings of Paul.”

From McCheyne’s memoirs: “It is my truest happiness to live entirely for the glory of Christ. Not my preaching not my influence, but the work of God through me to the glory of Christ.”

Now if I were to die young too, what could be my proudest contributions in the Christendom? Maybe, I assume, just be remembered as Bible Study facilitator or speaker of the Word of God in colleges… or the most of it – a writer in this blog… maybe none at all. I care less about it. My service for Christ is not counts by how many or how grandeur (or less) the contributions are (God doesn’t measure our service for Him like that), but for Whom (Christ) it was contributed to and for What (the Glory of God) purpose it pointed to. Bishop Gore writes, “God does not want us to do extraordinary things. He wants us to do ordinary things extraordinarily well”. Do that, and your service for Christ, my brothers and sisters, will be counts for eternity. May our awesome God be with you! Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Kasih bermula dari Kerendahan Hati

Rasul Paulus menulis tentang kebenaran bagi semua manusia di dunia ini: “Semua orang telah berbuat dosa dan telah kehilangan kemuliaan Allah” (Roma 3:23, TB). Kamu, saya, ibubapa kita, ketua-ketua dan guru-guru agama, paus, raja, sultan, perdana menteri – semua –  telah (atau masih) berbuat dosa. Tiada seorangpun yang sempurna, suci dan benar dihadapan Allah kecuali Yesus Kristus. Dalam Bab 3 ini, Rasul Paulus menulis bahawa semua orang layak dihukum oleh Allah sebab dosa kita kerana tidak ada seorang pun melakukan kehendak Allah (Roma 3:10-18). “Kita telah kehilangan kemuliaan Allah”. Pun begitu, Tuhan Allah tidak mahu meninggalkan kita tanpa harapan, Rasul Paulus menulis: “Allah memungkinkan orang berbaik semula dengan Dia, hanya melalui kepercayaan mereka kepada Yesus Kristus” (Roma 3:22, BM). Ingat: Semua orang telah berbuat dosa. Tetapi bagi kita yang sudah menerima kasih kurnia dan percaya bahawa Kristus yang telah mati bagi dosa kita di kayu salib dan Dia telah bangkit semula – kita sudah dibenarkan dihadapan Allah.

Sekarang, mari kita kembali ke ayat Roma 3:23, “Semua orang telah berbuat dosa dan telah kehilangan kemuliaan Allah”. Satu soalan yang datang kepada saya ialah ini; Bagaimana saya boleh mengasihi orang lain berdasarkan Firman ini? Ini jawapan yang Tuhan gerekkan di dalam hati saya: Saya boleh atau mampu atau harus mengasihi orang lain dengan kasih Allah apabila saya menilai siapa diri saya yang sebenar (dahulu berbuat dosa dan sekarang sudah diampuni) dihadapan Allah dan mengucap syukur atas kasih yang agung yang Tuhan Yesus telah lakukan kepada saya. Apabila saya membaca Roma 3:23, segala rasa bangga terhadap diri sendiri dan sikap suka menghakimi orang lain dan sikap merasakan diri sangat bagus daripada orang lain – telah diruntuhkan oleh Allah. Roma 3 secara keseluruhan menyebabkan saya lebih menyayangi Yesus Kristus, mengajar dan membuatkan saya rendah hati dan ini telah membolehkan saya untuk mengasihi orang yang lain.

Dengan segala kerendahan hati dan syukur ke atas kasih kurnia Allah kepada kita, kasihilah orang lain seperti Kristus mengasihi kita. Adalah lebih mudah untuk kita mengasihi orang lain (lebih-lebih lagi musuh kita) jika kita terlebih dahulu melihat siapa kita yang sebenar dalam Roma 3:23. Bukankah Tuhan Yesus berkata dalam Matius 22:39 berkata “Kasihilah sesama manusia seperti kamu mengasihi dirimu sendiri”? Kawan-kawan, kasih bermula dari kerendahan hati. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Part 4: The Holy Spirit - His Person (i)

Actually, this series is from Understanding Bible Truth booklets by Robert Hicks and Richard Bewes (1981), but I have expanded some texts for modern readers (to make it easier to read) and added Scripture quotes (I’m using ESV Bible) into these writings to clarify its points more clearly. My purpose of making this series available in the internet is single: So that you can be clear the essential facts about the Bible’s teaching in a readily understandable form.

First, Who is “the Person” of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He comes from the Father and the Son, and is equal with them. We (especially east-Malaysian Christians) know much about Him, maybe mostly through ‘charismatic preaching’ and ‘spiritual-ecstasy experiences’ – but are we truly know Him as the Scripture reveals to us? The truth is, we know very little about the Holy Spirit…

Just a symbol for the HS

Truths concerning the Holy Spirit are absolutely the most important for Christians to know. Without the person and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Christians has no assurance of salvation, cannot pray with confidence, cannot live a holy life or be an effective fruitful witness for Christ. D.L. Moody once said, “You might as well try to hear without ears, or breathe without lungs, as try to live a Christian life without the Spirit of God in your heart”.

Come let us examine briefly 4 points about the Person of the Holy Spirit based on the Scripture:

He is the Third Person of the Trinity

The Holy Spirit is presented in the Bible as a person fully worthy of worship. Not only is He included in the Christian formula of baptism and the apostolic blessing, but His works are described as the works of God. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

He was associated with the work of creation (Genesis 1:2); He gives the Christian new life; He is the source of all knowledge, the guide and helper of the Church in all ages (John 15:26); and He makes salvation a real experience to individuals. Also, the apostle Peter equated lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God (Acts 5:3-4).

When Christ had left the world, the Spirit was given His most specific work. The book of Acts (which is the account of the early Church) portrays the Spirit as directing and controlling the new Christian movement.

He Knows as a Person (Mind)

The Holy Spirit is more than a force; He is a person, with a character of His own. The Bible teaches that it is through the Holy Spirit that God knows us completely and He knows God completely. “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11). It is the mind of the Spirit that helps to shape the life of a Christian.

Jesus declared that the Holy Spirit would remind the apostles of His works and teaching. The Lord says, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). The Spirit speaks, intercedes and assures Christians that they belong to Christ.

He Feels as a Person (Emotion)

Because the Holy Spirit is a person, it is no surprise to discover that He can feel emotion, as we understand the term, for man has been made in God’s image.

As a result, it is possible to make the Holy Spirit sad. Apostle Paul writes, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30). He can also be insulted (Hebrews 10:29) – and therefore we must be careful, in what we say and do, not to insult the Spirit who lives in us. The Bible challenges us to bring glory to God by the quality of our loves and characters. In this way we will please the Holy Spirit.

He Acts as a Person (Will)

The same Spirit who was involved in creation, who equipped God’s leaders in the past and inspired the prophets, is the Spirit who came in power upon the early Church, and acted in it and through it. Throughout the Bible we can see His active personality.

For example, the New Testament shows us that He convicts people of their sins (as happened on the day of Pentecost). Apostle John writes, “And when [the Helper] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). He leads and instructs Christ’s followers (As in the case of Phillip the evangelist at Acts 8:29). At other points in the New Testament He forbids certain courses of action and appoints leaders for the church. In such ways we see that the Spirit is a person who acts decisively in the executing God’s plans.

My Conclusion about the Person of the Holy Spirit

Before His ascension, Jesus said about the coming of the Spirit in this way: “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). This promise was fulfilled during the day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts. This assurance that Jesus is with us always “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) even though He is not with us physically is faithful and trustworthy when He send to us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to us personally – with God’s people everywhere. Christ comes to us through the Holy Spirit, in having the Holy Spirit – we have Christ! Awesome? Yes!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.