Glorious truths you must understand and never forget:
1. God never changes. In our world, everything seems to be constantly changing. Standards change from one moment to the next. If you buy a new computer, by the time it is installed it is obsolete! It’s really amazing ... and bewildering. But God’s Word says, For I am the Lord, I change not (Malachi 3:6). I CHANGE NOT!
That means His standards don’t change — Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever(Hebrews 13:8). Modern society proposes a new morality it calls "situational ethics" — if the situation calls for it, do it. Situational ethics say there are no absolutes — what is right depends on circumstances. This is why so many young people today, having no anchors in their world, flounder frantically from one situation to another, beset by uncertainty and doubt.
However, God promises that He will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Because He doesn’t change, He guides us to know His will. Not only did the Word become flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, but God also gave us the written Word so that today we have the absolutes of His mind and never have to doubt or wonder. There is no wavering because God doesn’t change!
2. The Holy Spirit comforts us. And how we need His comfort. With all the peril, uncertainty, and threats in the world today, we don’t have to be afraid. We are comforted.
A few years ago, there was somebody who had been so important to me from the time I was a little girl — my mother! Oh, how she comforted me. She always had a way of reaching out to me and to others to give comfort — that was her nature. All she had to do was put her hand on my head, and I felt reassured. Never once did she say when I came to her, "I’m too busy. I can’t listen to you right now."
How wonderful that our heavenly Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is never too busy to comfort and love us. And He is always there.
I heard a story about a man who was traveling on a train and began talking with a fellow passenger. He told him that his wife had just died and that he felt so alone. He said, "Do you know, the only thing I have left is my pet bird. At least I find some comfort with my parakeet." His friend on the train, who was a pastor, said, "Oh, no, you’ve got something far better — you’ve got the Paraclete — the Comforter! He will never leave you or forsake you." In these troublesome days in which we live — the time just prior to the coming of the Lord — the Comforter is found in the third person of the Trinity ... in the box inside!
3. He gives us the power to do right. I may not always have the strength on my own to resist temptation and do what is right. But the Spirit of God will empower me and guide me into all truth. God doesn’t say, "Thou shalt not" because He wants to limit me or make me unhappy. He says no because He knows the things of the world bring pain and unhappiness.
Adulterers are not happy people. Thieves are never satisfied with their ill-gotten gains. And murderers are never happy — never! Even in this day and age when fanatics are murdering people in the name of religion, they never find happiness or peace.
Only God can give us the ability to be happy and content. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you (Acts 1:8). Power to overcome the world is only found in the box inside! Galatians 5:16 says, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You might say, "There’s no way I can live for God — I just can’t do it." And looking to your own strength and will, that’s true. But if you walk in the Spirit and allow the Spirit to live through you, the power is there ... in the box inside.
Not only does the Spirit of God give us power to overcome the things of the world, but He also empowers us to display the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5 goes on to say that if we live in the Spirit, we have the power to walk in the Spirit (v. 25). And as we walk in that power, we can show the fruit of the Spirit ... love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (vv. 22-23).
Can you imagine having the power to be all that we need to be in the day and age we’re living in right now? Not only can we overcome the world and find comfort, but we can also demonstrate — activate — the fruit of the Spirit. Where we go, He goes. We so desperately need this today — there’s so little joy out there, so little love, peace, gentleness, goodness, etc. But all of those attributes come alive within us when we receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. RV-- REXALA Van impe
1. God never changes. In our world, everything seems to be constantly changing. Standards change from one moment to the next. If you buy a new computer, by the time it is installed it is obsolete! It’s really amazing ... and bewildering. But God’s Word says, For I am the Lord, I change not (Malachi 3:6). I CHANGE NOT!
That means His standards don’t change — Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever(Hebrews 13:8). Modern society proposes a new morality it calls "situational ethics" — if the situation calls for it, do it. Situational ethics say there are no absolutes — what is right depends on circumstances. This is why so many young people today, having no anchors in their world, flounder frantically from one situation to another, beset by uncertainty and doubt.
However, God promises that He will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Because He doesn’t change, He guides us to know His will. Not only did the Word become flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, but God also gave us the written Word so that today we have the absolutes of His mind and never have to doubt or wonder. There is no wavering because God doesn’t change!
2. The Holy Spirit comforts us. And how we need His comfort. With all the peril, uncertainty, and threats in the world today, we don’t have to be afraid. We are comforted.
A few years ago, there was somebody who had been so important to me from the time I was a little girl — my mother! Oh, how she comforted me. She always had a way of reaching out to me and to others to give comfort — that was her nature. All she had to do was put her hand on my head, and I felt reassured. Never once did she say when I came to her, "I’m too busy. I can’t listen to you right now."
How wonderful that our heavenly Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is never too busy to comfort and love us. And He is always there.
I heard a story about a man who was traveling on a train and began talking with a fellow passenger. He told him that his wife had just died and that he felt so alone. He said, "Do you know, the only thing I have left is my pet bird. At least I find some comfort with my parakeet." His friend on the train, who was a pastor, said, "Oh, no, you’ve got something far better — you’ve got the Paraclete — the Comforter! He will never leave you or forsake you." In these troublesome days in which we live — the time just prior to the coming of the Lord — the Comforter is found in the third person of the Trinity ... in the box inside!
3. He gives us the power to do right. I may not always have the strength on my own to resist temptation and do what is right. But the Spirit of God will empower me and guide me into all truth. God doesn’t say, "Thou shalt not" because He wants to limit me or make me unhappy. He says no because He knows the things of the world bring pain and unhappiness.
Adulterers are not happy people. Thieves are never satisfied with their ill-gotten gains. And murderers are never happy — never! Even in this day and age when fanatics are murdering people in the name of religion, they never find happiness or peace.
Only God can give us the ability to be happy and content. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you (Acts 1:8). Power to overcome the world is only found in the box inside! Galatians 5:16 says, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You might say, "There’s no way I can live for God — I just can’t do it." And looking to your own strength and will, that’s true. But if you walk in the Spirit and allow the Spirit to live through you, the power is there ... in the box inside.
Not only does the Spirit of God give us power to overcome the things of the world, but He also empowers us to display the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5 goes on to say that if we live in the Spirit, we have the power to walk in the Spirit (v. 25). And as we walk in that power, we can show the fruit of the Spirit ... love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (vv. 22-23).
Can you imagine having the power to be all that we need to be in the day and age we’re living in right now? Not only can we overcome the world and find comfort, but we can also demonstrate — activate — the fruit of the Spirit. Where we go, He goes. We so desperately need this today — there’s so little joy out there, so little love, peace, gentleness, goodness, etc. But all of those attributes come alive within us when we receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. RV-- REXALA Van impe
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