Never alone

P 3390 Without Jesus we can do NOTHING…

/ DVH

… ergo … Jesus must become the central focus of our lives. He talked about a way to live – not just a life-style with optional extras. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. Nothing eternal can happen without Jesus, and what He has already done for all of us. Nothing. He died, rose again and sent us back the Holy Spirit to help us, and now we dare not do anything without that guidance. After all the Holy Spirit is the Spirit Who helped Christ live and die, for His Father’s glory.

Let’s chew on this next scripture a bit: “If I give all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3. If we can do nothing without Him, (and the scriptures make that clear), then why would we get up every single day and try very hard to do the things that we think or hope will please God? Instead let’s make His kind of love our priority, and stop striving our way through each day. Love has to be our starting place not an add-on. Every time we listen to the Holy Spirit and do things Father God’s way, we are glorifying the Father.

Jesus deliberately sent the Holy Spirit back to help us.“I will not leave you alone, I will come to you.” John 14:18. Listening to the Holy Spirit means we are listening to Father God’s will. In another version it says: “I will not leave you as orphans.” Because of God’s great love for each one of us, we are not orphans, because we are never alone. He has promised to be with us. If we want to live this life in fellowship with Him, we need to learn how to speak His language of love and remember that everything He does comes from that love. Here is something to think on:  it is utterly impossible to speak ‘love,’ and go out and live and act like everyone else does. That’s why we’ve been called ‘vessels set apart, fit for the Master’s use.‘

So, I need to do more than just memorise the scriptures, although: ‘…hiding His Word in our hearts, so we may not sin against Him”… is not a bad thing. However, as we learn and experience what the bible says about the way God Himself sees love, then we will begin to understand how to speak His language. Love sent Jesus to the cross — first of all it was His all-encompassing love for His Father, plus His overwhelming love for all of mankind. Love for us caused His Father to send Him here in the first place! If the Lord Jesus could do nothing without the Holy Spirit’s help, then neither can we.

Let’s look at the way Jesus faced death: “And going a little farther He (Jesus) fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 36:29. The Lord prayed for relief … for rescue … for a way out … but there was none. The next time it appears as if you are stuck in something or other, then try praying the prayer Jesus Himself prayed when He was faced with the unthinkable. “Not what I want, but what You want Father.”

The major difficulty we face daily, is that we want an easy answer to everything, so we can continue to live our lives uncluttered by complications. But that is not how God loves – He sees trouble and difficulties as normal – as opportunities for change . (John 16:33) His love looks for the best in us because He can already see the results! I think, for Almighty God, cost is a part of expressed love and the results are often long term! We can’t afford to do this living day-to-day stuff – without His ongoing guidance. And He has not left us alone.

It can be easy to ask: “why won’t God answer my prayers? Well, maybe neither you nor I know what’s good for us! Perhaps the Lord has entirely different plans for our specific situation … ask Him! “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. I’m sure you can see from that verse that the Lord has our future in mind, not just the immediate present. The nation of Israel became Jesus Christ’s own people – God’s plans for Israel were already in place.

There is more than one way to look at the things we think that God is saying. I think this is why we shouldn’t use the scriptures to hurt one another, because the bible can say more than one thing at a time. It’s in layers. Have you ever read a verse and gone back 6 months later and seen something brand new in it, something you had never seen before? Maybe that’s why brother-such-and-such doggedly says: ‘this verse only means that’ … and sister I’ll-always-argue-with-you says: ‘no it doesn’t, it means this.’ It may well be that both people are just looking at the same thing from a different direction!

We can’t understand what the Lord is saying, if we already have a pre-conceived idea what the answer should look like. Let’s live this brand new way of life with bigger thoughts. His. We can do nothing without Him. 1 Corinthians 13:12  “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as He knows us!” Bye. 👋

P 3232 We are never alone.

/ DVH

Despite how we might feel – we are NEVER alone. When we give our lives to the Lord, He comes to live IN us and WITH us, in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Right after Jesus told the disciples that He had to leave them – He explained the Holy Spirit will be with them instead. Let’s start chewing on these verses, because Jesus said them, and this stuff is the very substance of comfort when our world blows up! God is always with us.

Both Philip and Thomas ask the Lord questions that show they have no clue what is going on. But the Lord Jesus is extraordinarily patient with them, and He further explains Himself in John 14:15-17. “If you love Me, keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to HELP you and BE WITH you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.”  He didn’t say they would ‘feel’ the Holy Spirit, instead Jesus said He would be with them. This is a faith matter.

During this conversation Philip and Thomas have taken what the Lord is saying to them literally. Our own thoughts, unless we ask the Holy Spirit to help us, will just confuse us, and we need His input. Jesus is explaining to His disciples that He has to leave, but the Holy Spirit is coming to help all of them after He is gone. The Lord is introducing them to the One called Comforter. He is already resident in Jesus, and BECAUSE we know Jesus – we know Him!

These two disciples have their humanity showing, they want to know what comes next and they think they need proof. Our inadequacies don’t bother the Lord, at all. What we see here shows us that even our earthly way of thinking can draw Him into revealing deeper truths. These two conversations teach me about the Way God responds to our honest, if not sometimes misguided, questions. He responds with enduring, endless patience and kindness, and imparts to us the potential to see deeper. I urge you to be like Joshua! Don’t run out of His Presence when God gives you an answer, stay a while, and wait for what He will say NEXT. Meanwhile, if we feel condemned in any way, that’s not the Lord we are talking to! 

Jesus does not do what you or I might do, and call these men idiots because they weren’t paying attention to this or that sermon. He is incredibly generous with both of them. They are His beloved disciples and friends, and He knows that the thought of Him leaving is scary. I am greatly comforted by the fact that this shows me that no question is too dumb! These men teach us it is better to ask a dumb question than it is to remain silent.

Jesus tells His disciples they are to wait for the Holy Spirit to come, because He is going to return to heaven. Do you see that? The Greater revelation is coming, they just have to wait for HIM. The Father will personally send the Holy Spirit back to them to be their comforter, teacher, guide, counsellor, the One Who would be there beside them and IN them. All of these verses show us the Lord is focussed on US…His disciples. Jesus isn’t expounding theology, He is revealing truth – even though these men don’t get it yet. 

Meanwhile, disobedience, not stupidity, or silly questions, can get in the way of us hearing and obeying Him. Humility is needed, otherwise we will have blocked our own ears. However, just because we don’t understand what He says to us, that does not mean we’ve done something wrong. The Holy Spirit loves to help us understand – His aim is communication, not information! His ability to be everywhere with everyone, all at the same time is to our advantage. We simply need to remember that we can’t put a timer on God’s answers. He will answer us, in the fullness of HIS time. 

Because of these verses we can see that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are ALL engaged on our behalf to help us and comfort us whenever we feel lost and alone. Even if we have sinned, or done, or said something dumb, They are there for us, to walk us to a new place where we can understand. Just don’t give up when you don’t get it. Wait! Press in, keep asking the Holy Spirit for His help.

Jesus teaches us that we can recognise the Holy Spirit because the Spirit of God will make Himself real to us.He will say the things we daily read in His book..“ALL Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honourably with personal integrity and moral courage];…” 2 Timothy 3:16.

If we need His comfort, we can read from anywhere in the bible and the Holy Spirit will reveal God’s comfort to us. It doesn’t matter where we read, just press in and wait. We will discover His comfort. It’s all over His book, but we won’t see it if all we want is answers. God is not Google – Google is just a servant of our times! The Holy Spirit is God sent to us to help us understand. What is under the microscope is that God Himself has given us His Word. WE can be faithless, but He is always faithful, God speaks faith – we will always be learning.  Please remember, we are never alone – He’s always there. Bye. 👋