Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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The Holy Spirit Who Renews Everything
1 Corinthians 2:10-16
Vs. 12 "What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us." 
God’s presence in the world is manifested through the Holy Spirit. It is a gift of God. “I will pour out my spirit on all people,” Joel 2:28. In 2 Tim.1:7, we read that "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."  So the Holy Spirit is the power of God. In John 6:63, we see that “the Spirit gives life.” Virgin Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus when He was baptized. God poured out His Spirit even on a larger crowd at the Pentecost. John 14:16-17, says, “And I will ask the father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. John 16: 13 stated that “when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you in to all truth. In John 15:25, we read, “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; but you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” We are given manifold gifts by the Holy Spirit to be his ambassadors and to glorify him. In 1 Cor. 2: 11-14 we see that the Holy Spirit enables us to discern spiritual things. Jesus selected ordinary people to be his messengers, like fishermen, tax collectors, tent makers, farmers etc., but Jesus empowered them with the Spirit of the Lord.

As believers, we are given the mind of Christ and hence the mind of God and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit also as they are three in one. Therefore, “be filled with the Spirit,” Ephesians 5.18. In Cor. 2:13, it is said that the Spirit we have received is not from the world but from God. It is the Spirit that opens our hearts and minds to the Word of God. It is the Spirit that renews and converts. Paul was looking for converts in Corinth. Its proof was in the changed lives there. It is the Spirit that points us to Jesus as the truth. When a person receives Jesus as the Lord and Savior, he becomes a new creation in Christ. He has to yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit. In John 3:3 Jesus said, “Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We are told to “pray in the Holy Spirit,” Jude 20. In Mathew 12:32-33 we read, “Anyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” Jesus said, “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you,” John 16:7. So, God’s will on the earth is carried out by the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” 2 Cor. 13:14.
 
Thought for the day
“The spiritual man makes judgment about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment,” 1 Cor. 2:15.
Alex Thomas
Jackson, Tennessee

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