Devotional 30/9/16 – John 15:26 He will testify about Jesus

The Spirit is devoted to the glory of Christ. He is devoted to this with a holy, unrelenting zeal. His passion for Jesus and to promote Him is like an unquenchable fire, and it’s a fire that He wants to put into each of us!

To meditate/pray upon

John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me”.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me…”

The greatest truth that the Holy Spirit wants to teach us about is who Jesus is. In the Old Testament, God made a promise that after the Messiah had come, the Spirit will work in His people in a new way; He will write His law on their hearts and the first and greatest law is,

“You shall have no other gods before me”(Exodus 20:3)

The Spirit wants to impart His love for Jesus into your heart. This is principally done as we read, listen to, meditate on, pray out of and worship Jesus as the Spirit teaches us through His word and as we pray for personal revival and revival in His church. Let's spend some time in seeking God for the Spirit to 'testify' to our Spirits about the beauty and worth of Jesus. 

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Devotional 29/9/16 – John 15:26 The Spirit of truth

What ever you don’t have, you have the best thing in the world - the bible! Anyone who is not lovingly devoted to scripture is not walking with the Spirit as He would want. The Spirit inspired the bible and now He wants to inspire you through it.

To meditate/pray upon

John 15:26 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.’

John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Psalm 119: 130-131 ‘The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.’

The Spirit, through human authors, has gifted you with the bible. Most of us have easy access to the bible, but many take this greatest privilege for granted! What every you don’t have, you have the best thing in the world!

John Wycliffe

During the 14^th Century, John Wycliffe attacked the church for keeping the bible from the people (refusing to let it be translated into the vernacular) whilst being ignorant of what the bible taught. He was passionate for everyone to have the bible in his or her language and completed his English translation in 1382. After his death (in 1384) he was declared a heretic, his body exhumed, burnt and cast into a river.

William Tyndale

William Tyndale, in the 16^th century, also devoted his life to translating the bible so that people could read it in English. For His devotion he was arrested in 1535, judged a heretic, strangled to death whilst tied to a stake and his body burnt. Tyndale is famous for saying to a priest that attacked him,

"If God spare my life, before very long I shall cause a plough boy to know the scriptures better than you do!"

Have you allowed the Spirit to teach you to love truth? You are heirs of the love of Wycliffe and Tyndale; are you making good use of the blood bought riches that you have?

Jesus loves truth and He wants you to share His passion with you. Let the Holy Spirit call you to fresh devotion to the bible.

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Devotional 28/9/16 – John 15:26 How He comes

The promise of the Spirit, like all promises, needs to be received. Even those who experienced Pentecost had to listen to Jesus, wait and pray. We are told to ‘be filled’ so let’s go for it!

To meditate/pray upon

John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

Ephesians 4:30 ‘Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’

Ephesians 5:18 ‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.’

How does one enter into the fullness of the Holy Spirit?

Firstly, one needs to listen to Him in regard to Jesus and become a Christian. It is impossible for someone to be in a relationship with God the Spirit unless they have been cleansed from their sin through faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit will only reside in someone who is holy! Holiness is a gift (imputed) to us through faith in the One who took our un-holiness upon Himself upon the cross.

Secondly, it’s vital to remember that all Christians have the Holy Spirit residing in them. One cannot be a Christian without the work of the Spirit in uniting us to Christ (Rom. 8:9)

Thirdly, Ask for the filling and the on going filling of the Holy Spirit for power to live for Him. Some Christians come into regeneration but fail to drink of the Spirit each day (Acts 8:14-17).

Fourthly, listen to and avoid grieving the Spirit through sin. Our salvation cannot be lost, but our close relationship and sense of living connection with God can. (Eph. 4:29-32)

You can catch up on all the messages in the John series at:

Audio Resources

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Devotional 27/9/16 – John 15:26 When He comes

To meditate/pray upon

John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

John 1:33 “I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”

Luke 11:13 “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The gift of the Spirit is promised to every believer. He comes and gives us new life (regeneration). One cannot become a Christian without the miraculous work of the Spirit in our heart; Salvation, entirely by grace (a free gift) is achieved as God, by the Spirit, causes sinners, who by nature are rebellious to God, to turn toward Him in repentance and faith.

For some, regeneration is the extent of the Spirit’s work. But any reading of the New Testament will teach us to desire and expect the empowering of the Spirit also.

‘The commission is to be witnesses to all the world. “When we become aware of our lack of power, when we get stirred up like Elisha did, and understand that we have got a big job to do, so we’d better get some power like Elijah had. If I’m to do what Elijah did, Elisha said, I better have what Elisha had. And if we sense that we have got to take the nations, and do the sort of work that Jesus did, we better have some power.’ Terry Virgo

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Devotional 26/9/16 – John 15:26 The Helper (Advocate)

Jesus has promised the help of the Spirit to all Christians. Let’s be those who take Jesus at His word and receive this promise by active, faithful prayer. Let’s not be the kind of people who miss God’s best; mistakenly believing that a promise is not to be actively received!

To meditate/pray upon

John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

John 14:16 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever"

John 14:26 "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

Jesus reiterates that the Holy Spirit is our ‘advocate’ or helper. It’s too easy to lose our confidence in Jesus’ faithful help by the Spirit. If the ‘vine and the branches’ illustration has taught us anything it is to ask for and depend on the Spirit’s help every day.

How do you currently apply the truth of your need of the Spirit? For many, they presume on God’s help and are passive about it. Jesus commands us to “Remain in me!” Anyone reading the New Testament would see that the promises of God are to be apprehended by faith. One must pray for the grace of the Spirit with diligence.

Jesus has not left us as orphans. He has come to us by the Spirit. He promises to come alongside and help! Let our response be a daily “come Lord Jesus!” 

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