Pastor’s Corner:

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;”

Beloved, I don’t know about you, but for me that is great news.  I can certainly use all the help I can get.  What better help than the realized promise of the Lord.  A promise that “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”  (John 14:26).  We have a promise that the Holy Spirit is given to live inside those of us who believe in Jesus, in order to produce God’s character in our lives.  The Holy Spirit will build love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control into our lives in a way that it is impossible for us to do on our own.

Another bit of great news for many of us is the fact that God asks us to rely on Him to produce these qualities in our lives rather than us struggling on our own to be loving, patient and kind. How?  When we are born again by believing and receiving Jesus Christ, God resides in us through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not vague; neither is the Holy Spirit merely an earthly shadow.  The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force.  The Holy Spirit is a person equal in every way with God the Father and God the Son.

A primary role of the Holy Spirit is that He bears “witness” of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit tells our hearts about the truth of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit also acts as our teacher revealing God’s will and God’s truth to us.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to do the work that promotes Spiritual growth among believers.

By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit works in the non-believer as well. The Holy Spirit convicts people’s hearts of God’s truth particularly as it relates to how sinful we are.  It is the Holy Spirit that tugs at our hearts and minds, reminding us to repent and imploring us to turn to God for forgiveness and a new life.

God Bless,

Rev. W.