ICS Daily Devotions
Get to Know the Holy Spirit
John 14:16-18 NKJV And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
As Jesus prepared his disciples for His inevitable departure, He assured them that they will not be abandoned and left as orphans but instead another “Helper” that is the Holy Spirit will be there to guide them in the same way that He himself had ministered with them for three years.
According to Strong’s 3875 and Thayer’s definition of ‘Helper’ (Parakletos) it is : Advocate, comforter, a pleader, an intercessor of Christ in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins. The Holy Spirit is also a succourer, an aider and assistant destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles after His ascension to the Father. He would lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth and give them divine strength needed to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.
Romans 8:14-16 NKJV For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
The Holy Spirit will dwell in us if we accept Him, acknowledge and pursue Him, and allow Him to minister, comfort, counsel, intercede, advocate, strengthen, and stand by us. He can lead and speak to us in our daily struggles. He will bring into our remembrance scripture and past experiences to teach and steer us, grant us wisdom to solve challenges, comfort us when we are down, hard pressed and discouraged. He cares for us personally and can give us creative ideas and strategies in our work. He will help us through interpersonal relationships by infusing His grace to sustain us. The Holy Spirit also keeps us accountable to our righteousness through Christ by convicting us of our sin and reminds us of judgement. He empowers us to overcome the lure of the flesh temptations and weaknesses.
To live a consecrated life, we need to know the person of the Holy Spirit as we embark on the journey of being led by Him and tuning in to His voice to pray for a certain situation or people. Many of us are going through great struggles during these current times and God is aware of what we are facing in the midst of this pandemic; the changes, challenges and uncertainties. This is where we can seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel at any time if He dwells in us because He knows what we go through everyday. He can be active in our lives and in the life of the church. He is present in church services and cell groups. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead of the Trinity. He is our assurance that God is with us on earth as He dwells in us to guide us and journey with us through our lives.
Sermon Series: From the Closet to the Boardroom (Part 3)
