Facts about Holy Spirit

Bears witness of son ship:

Romans 8:16 

16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

Can come into midst of people:

2 Chronicles 20:14  

14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly

Can instruct men:

Nehemiah 9:20  

20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,

 And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,

 And gave them water for their thirst.

Can testify:

Nehemiah 9:30  

30 Yet for many years You had patience with them,

 And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets.

 Yet they would not listen;

 Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

John 5:26  

26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,

1 John 5:6  

6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

Has garnished heavens:

Job 26:13  

13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;

 His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

Has made man:

Job 33:4  

4 The Spirit of God has made me,

 And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Matthew 5:14

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Thoughts on This Verse....

For Christians, there is no playing hide and seek with the world. Having been rescued from darkness, we have to let our light shine. That sometimes means that others see God's light reflected in us and learn to glorify God through us. At other times, however, it means that we stand out in a world of darkness and become targets because of our faith. Either way, there is no place to hide. We are light in a world of darkness; we cannot help but shine!

Proverbs 26:20

Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. 

Thoughts on This Verse....

Ol' Smokey The Bear said: "Only you can prevent forest fires!" Basically, that's what the Wiseman says about gossip. We can turn down the heat, douse the fire, and let the quarrel die. How? By not supplying juicy morsels of gossip, by ditching the urge to spread destructive innuendo, and by refusing to keep alive an ugly rumor. Without gossip, the bitterness of a rivalry can dissolve and relationships can mend.

2 Peter 1:21

For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 

Thoughts on This Verse....

Where did Scripture come from? What is the basis of our faith in the Bible and the Gospel? Peter wants us to realize that the prophets of ancient times didn't bake up their own private recipes for their prophecies. Instead, they could only move and respond to what God was doing in them, not what they themselves wanted to do or say. They were human, but their message was God's word because the Holy Spirit moved them to speak and guided their words. This makes what we have in Scripture from the prophets more than precious: we are given the very words of God! (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

 Nehemiah 9:6

You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. 

Thoughts on This Verse....

Our praise is pretty irrelevant to everyone and everything but us, those closest to us, and amazingly to God. In a universe so vast, so much bigger than Nehemiah could have imagined, what is our small voice and our song of praise? The billions of stars and innumerable creatures of the immense seas all cry out that our Creator is LORD. God will receive the worship of the angels and all the heavenly beings. What difference does it make if we praise him? To the universe, to be blunt, it doesn't matter. But it does to us! It matters even more to the LORD, who longs to be our Father and wants to bring us into relationship with himself.

Christian Brothers and Sisters -9

1 Thessalonians 4:1

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

Until thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.

1 Thessalonians 5:12

Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.

1 Thessalonians 5:25

In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.

2Thessalonains 1:3

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing

2Thessalonains 2:1

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,

2Thessalonains 2:13

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

2Thessalonains 2:15

So then, brothers and sisters stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

2Thessalonains 3:1

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.

Old and New Covenant Contrasts

Of Levi:

Hebrews  7:11

11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?

Of Judah:

Hebrews  7:14

14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

Animal sacrifices:

Hebrews  9:2

2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;

Human sacrifices:

Please read Hebrew 9:14-28

Earthly tabernacle:

Hebrews 9:2

2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;

Heavenly tabernacle:

Hebrews 8:2

2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

Sinful mediator:

Galatians 3:19

19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 

Sinless mediator:

1 Timothy 2:5

5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

Examples of paying tithes

 Abraham – Genesis 14:20, Hebrew 7:1-11

Jacob – Genesis 28:22

Levi in Abraham – Hebrew 7:9

Hezekiah and Israel – 2 Chronicles 31

Nehemiah and Israel – Nehemiah 13

Hypocrites – Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42, 18:12

Christians – 1 Corinthians 0:7-14, 16:2, 2 Corinthians 7:11, 8:1-15, Galatians 6:6, 

1 Timothy 5:17-18, Hebrews 7  

Quotes about Christianity

..  “You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” ― Anne Lamott

..  “[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. 

Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” -C.S. Lewis

..  “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” ― G.K. Chesterton, 

Prayer

Prayer is more than a plea; it is a place where we must spend time if we are to learn its power.

Prayer

Prayer is “that part of the pasture” where the bush is burning. If we are to be powerful in prayer, we must spend time there.

Thy will be done

When we pray for help in trouble or for healing in sickness, or for deliverance in persecution, God may not give us what we ask for because that may not be His wise and loving will for us. He will answer our prayer in His own way, and will not let us down in our hour of need.

Genesis 3:6

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Thoughts on This Verse

Ouch! We've known the way of sin for thousands of years. Yet we sometimes still follow the same path. We're lured by something pleasing to our eyes. We pause for closer inspection of it, allowing ourselves to be caught up in its desirability. We dabble in it and play with it. We then participate in the sin. Finally, we involve others in sin. You'd think we would have learned the pattern and would have stopped by now. So with the help of the Holy Spirit, why don't we start trying to do just that?

Genesis 2:18

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." 

Thoughts on This Verse

Two powerful principles are presented here. First, God looks out for us and blesses us with what we need most. Second, God made us for relationship: relationship with him and with a husband or wife. Yes, Matthew 19 and 1 Corinthians 7 both emphasize that some are gifted to be single, but most of us are made to be complete with another. Marriage and a godly husband or wife are a gift from God. Let's live like they are!

Daniel 12:3

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

Thoughts on This  Verse....

God promised a sifting between the righteous and unrighteous. Jesus repeated the same assurance in his parables. For God's people, however, these are not fearful warnings. Instead, these are words of promise. Those who have wisely honored and lived for God will shine brilliantly for all to see. Those who have led others to live righteously will twinkle like stars in their Father's eyes!

Church leaders had authority to - 1

Make decisions
 

Acts 6:1-7 

1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 

2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 

3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 

4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 

6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Please read Acts 15:2-19

Executive judgment 

Acts 5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 

2 With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 

4 Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 

6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 

8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

9 Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

When we are lonely.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Despite the fact that technology enables us to stay connected with each other, we haven’t solved the problem of loneliness. Many people still feel cut off from those around them. The real solution for healing the deep ache of isolation in our heart is an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father.

As He was about to create Adam, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). One point of resemblance to the Lord is our desire and ability to share intimacy with other people. Moreover, we’re created to commune with the Father.
Adam and Eve had a close bond with the Lord, who spent time with them in the Garden of Eden. However, the couple’s disobedience caused a rift in the relationship. And since God is holy, He can’t allow anything unrighteous into His presence. Once sin entered the world through the first couple, every person born would be tainted with it and, consequently, would be separated from God. Yet because of His love, the Lord planned a way to bridge the gap between Himself and mankind.

Jesus Christ took our transgressions upon Himself when He died on the cross, wiping away the stain of sin. Whoever trusts in His sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin goes over the “bridge” formed by the cross. Each new believer is reconciled—that is, immediately restored to a right relationship with the Lord.

Reconciliation with the Father means that we are never alone (Deut. 31:6). We may still feel lonely on occasion, but we have a constant companion with whom we can talk. And He will provide comfort to our heart.

Repeat these Prayers.

O Great and Eternal God, thank you that your are more stable than the ground on which I stand, more enduring than the mountain peaks I admire, and more constant than the waves upon the oceans that I love. I trust my life and my future and soul with you. I want to please you in the way I live. I want my life to be marked by consistent faithfulness to you. In the name of Jesus I ask this prayer. Amen.

Loving Father, lead me to the people today who need their burdens lifted and their joys shared.

Quotes 

 . Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith but they are afflictions, not sins.

Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the passion of Christ.

 . If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.