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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

OUR Perfect Change ...

Our Perfect Change...
                                       
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Beginning in Acts 4, Peter and John are called before the Sanhedrin, the Temple elders and leaders who put Jesus to the cross, and was questioned because of their preaching and teaching concerning the resurrection of the dead.  The Sanhedrin was filled with Sadducees who did not believe in any resurrection.
Acts 4
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.11He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. '12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."13When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.



One of the most important topics for our faith rarely preached about, rarely heard about in Sunday Schools, and rarely talked about in Bible Studies is the fullness we can find in feeling the movement of  the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is can be difficult to know, recognize, and understand the in-filling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8), the very real presence of it in our lives unless you have seen it, have been taught about it, but best of all vividly experienced it.

In your reading this message, consider the following thoughts from scripture that comes to us from the New Testament: 

1-  God puts our faith in us (Romans 12:3).

2-  Jesus died for showing us how to live and
      belief in Him as our Savior is our
         Salvation from our sinful selves
(Romans 10:9).

3-  But, it is receiving the Holy Spirit in our humble acceptance of Jesus and genuine confession of our sins that truly brings the fullness of God and Jesus to our lives(Acts 2:38) and
    the Holy Spirit continues to change us forever.

It is then the Holy Spirit that 

   fills us with boldness  (Acts 4:8)
      providing us Strength and Power (Ephesians 3:16),
        leads us (Matt 4:1),
          speaks in, to, and through us (Matt 10:19-20),

             convicts us of our sin (John 16:8)
                Brings us Renewal for a righteous life (Titus 3:1-10),
                  Gives us Joy (1 Thes 1:6),
                     fills us with Peace and Patience 
(Galatians 5:22-23) and

these with many other functions that helps us
   build our Trust in God just as
      the Holy Spirit did for the disciples.



The Promise of and Work of the Holy Spirit


Jesus in His patience had to suffer from the lack of real understanding about His mission by and from His very own disciples.  In His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus reveals to the disciples His coming suffering and death and Peter said 'NO", then again He stops Peter from fighting the guards when being betrayed by Judas in the Garden.

In John 16, we see Jesus presenting to the disciples parts of his plan for them, the Promise of the Holy Spirit.  And again, they do not understand.

Jesus promised one who would come after Him (the Holy Spirit) to give the disciples a Counselor to guide them in their days ahead.  They did not totally understand the promise and how this would affect His mission through them.  

In the next several weeks as Jesus' Passion played out as He had predicted, they forgot Jesus' promise and rather, became as scared little boys.

John 16

5  "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'

6  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.
7  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
8  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
9  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
11  and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12  "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
13  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
15  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
16  "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

The Disciples Received the Holy Spirit
     after the Resurrection of Jesus

After the death of Jesus, according to the Gospel of John, the surviving disciples gathered in a room, and the doors were shut!  They feared the Jews and just considered they would be the next to die.  At the lowest of their lowest times, in the dread of their deepest fear, and in the fullness of their greatest emptiness Jesus in His perfect timing came to His disciples and fulfilled His promise to them.



From John 20:
18  Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

19  Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."
20  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21  So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
22  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
23  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."


In the same manner we are promised 
        the glorious in-filling the Holy Spirit!


In our proper behavior, 

    in our belief in Jesus, 
      in our repentant nature, 
we too receive and are anointed by the Holy Spirit:

Paul writes:

Acts 2:

33  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
34  For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand,
35  Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '
36  "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
37  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
38  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In their lowest of times, the disciples were changed by Jesus when He breathes on them the Holy Spirit.  The disciples, changed by the Holy Spirit, were suddenly filled with new understanding of His mission and became as conquerors for Christ.

We too find a new humility, meekness and boldness for Christ when we accept and feel the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Through the Holy Spirit within us, we come to more fully feel the presence of God's love and protection, and Jesus' redemption from the evil around us and the sinfulness in our lives.  With the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we come to truly feel the "peace that passes all understanding"
(Phil 4:7).

Just as with the disciples, when we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives, our circumstances do not change very much, but our response to circumstances, our vision of our future, and our desire for Loving God does change us.  Knowing that it is God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit that gives us the courage, the strength, the patience to not just survive in our lives but much better; the Holy Spirit gives us the wonderful desire to thrive in our lives- living In God's grace and mercy to a Glorious life.

We may have little in our lives, but remember, Jesus took 2 fish and five barley loves to feed thousands of people; He created the universe out of nothing; truly, with the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit in us, our lives will most assuredly thrive.  Seek the Kingdom, Pray daily for humility to better understand the infilling of the Holy Spirit, then feel God's Spirit present in your everyday life, filling you with your Spiritual needs exactly as you need it, just as He did with Peter before His first meeting with the Temple Elders.

Faith, Patience and Prayer


The best lesson on the realization on infilling of the Holy Spirit came to me the first Sunday in January 2009.  The preacher that Sunday made this statement- "to have and feel the Holy Spirit in your heart, you much pray and pray and pray...... everyday.... often".  Doing that changed my life making me realize what truly happened to me on June 3rd, 1972.

Pray in humility and meekness as the preacher indicates, and in time you will feel a greater fullness of the Spirit as your pray more often.  In its total fullness, the Spirit may just fill you to your greatest when you are at your lowest time.  In my lowest time on that June 3rd, 1972 I was filled to my greatest, and the peace provided by the Holy Spirit descended on me, in the midst of the war around me and the war within me.


Through our belief in Jesus, humility, and confession of our sins, we receive the greatest source, guidance, and influence to change our lives, the Holy Spirit.  It is God's plan, a most perfect plan for our lives.

Thanks Be to God.

lonnie

Click here for   June 3rd, 1972.

© lonnie coggins

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lonnie

Publication  0212


intro

A GREAT CHANGE COMES TO US IN ACCEPTING JESUS, A CHANGE that is with us forever.  It is not a change of our doing, but what Jesus brings us, just as He did for the disciples.  Click the link for more on this great change.
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http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2014/04/our-perfect-change.html



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