 |
||||
|
THE PROMISE THE PROMISE-YOU HAVE PEACE GOD the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We have learned about the Father and especially his work of the creation of the world and mankind. We have read about Jesus Christ, God's Son and all he did to save us. But what about the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit? What has he done for us? Briefly stated, the Holy Spirit is true God together with the Father and the Son. They
are one. They are equally powerful and holy. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that is
also of great importance to us. The second important thing the Holy Spirit does is to give the believer many wonderful spiritual gifts. We have already learned about the gift of the forgiveness of sins. But there are many others. You and I now have peace with God. We do not have to be afraid of God. We learn that he is a loving, forgiving God. "The fruit of righteousness will be peace," the Bible tells us. You and I have hope. Our everyday lives are filled with many hopes. A small child may hope to go to school. A young person may hope to find a faithful husband or wife. An older person may hope to have good health. But the Holy Spirit gives us a greater hope. He gives us the hope of eternal life in heaven. God's Word reminds us, "We wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." You and I have a life filled with joy. When we become discouraged and even despondent
because of what is happening in our lives, through the gospel our spirit is lifted up. We
look to God for help knowing he will hear our prayers. As a result, our lives can be
filled with joy. We read in the Bible, "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings." As a result of our faith in Jesus, we will be kind and forgiving to others as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. We will want to be patient with our fellowman. Gentleness too is a characteristic of a believer. We will want to control our tempers, our evil desires, and our excesses in personal evil habits. All of these virtues are part of the life of a believer created through the work of the Holy Spirit using the gospel in our lives. But there is yet one other work which the Holy Spirit carries out in our lives. The devil, the unbelievers in the world, and our own sinful nature try to weaken our faith. They try to keep us from doing good works. It is the Holy Spirit who strengthens our faith. He renews our faith to do God's will and keeps us in the faith throughout our lives until we enter the eternal joys of heaven. God wants you to be saved. Therefore, you need to hear God's Word. You need to study the Bible. You need to let the Holy Spirit create faith in your heart and cause you to lead a Christian life. Let that Word shine brightly in your heart. If you do not have a Bible, get one. If you have a Bible, read it. Especially in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you learn about the good news of Jesus. He has the words of eternal life for you. __________
<Previous Page
- Next Page> |