The Holy Spirit 2

1. He helps us understand the Bible

The relationship of the Holy Spirit with the Bible is twofold.

He inspired the writing of the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20–21) and helps us to understand the Bible (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:9–11; Heb. 3:7; 10:15).

When it comes to understanding a passage from Scripture, the Holy Spirit will help you to understand what it means and how it changes your life.

The Holy Spirit will work through your personal reading of the Bible, family and friends, and especially through the proclamation of the gospel and the Bible (Rom. 1:16; 10:14–16).

So ask for the Holy Spirit to help you understand the Bible as you read and study its message.

Also, if you’re in a position of teaching the Bible to your family, friends, small group, or church, it’s a good idea to ask for the Holy Spirit to help your listeners understand the passage you are sharing.

What Bible passages have you read struggled to understand? Commit to reading it over the next week, with the Holy spirit’s help did the understanding improve? How? What did he reveal to you about the passage?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. He calls you to work

The Holy Spirit not only calls people to faith in Jesus Christ, but he calls us to a specific vocation or task. This means that the God of the universe will guide you into the vocational decisions you make. Sometimes our life will appear to be a random hodgepodge of loosely connected events tied together, but this is not the case at all. God is directing your steps and guiding your life—even when it comes to work.

Here are just a few examples:

The Holy Spirit asked for Barnabas and Saul to be set apart “for the work to which [he] called them” (Acts 13:2).

The Holy Spirit led Philip to help an Ethiopian eunuch understand the Old Testament (Acts 8:26–40).

The Holy Spirit even forbade Paul from entering specific regions to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 16:6–7).

Sometimes the Holy Spirit will supernaturally guide us in the decisions we make. But normally, the Holy Spirit guides us through the ordinary ebbs and flows of life. As you trust God (Prov. 3:5–6), read the Bible (Rom. 12:1–2), and seek godly counsel (Prov. 11:14), the Holy Spirit will guide you into the work he has called you to.

As instructed, trust God, read and seeking counsel, through this begin to listen for instructions from the Holy Spirit for the work he has called you to do. Has he revealed it to you? If so, what work? Now begin to discover how this advances Gods agenda and glorifies the Kingdom of God. Are you ready to do this work? Why or Why not?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. He Empowers you for service

The Holy Spirit also empowers us for service. This means he enables us to do what we’ve been called to do.

From the pages of the Old Testament we observe the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence in the lives of Joshua (Num. 27:18), Saul (1 Sam. 11:6), David (1 Sam. 16:13), and many others, to accomplish what they were called to do.

In the New Testament, we see that he empowered Jesus’ earthly ministry (Luke 4:14), the early disciples (Acts 1:8), and the preaching of the gospel (Acts 4:8, 31; 6:10; 1 Thess. 1:5).

The Holy Spirit is capable of empowering our natural abilities and improving upon them for a special task or purpose. This explains how God is capable of accomplishing his work through your average, ordinary, and even rejected members of society, which I’m personally thankful for. For example, Peter and John, two of the most important men in church history, were considered “unschooled, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13), yet God powerfully worked through their lives. He adds his Super to our Natural!

For “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor. 1:27).

How is the Holy Spirit empowering you for Service? What scriptures will you employ to support what he’s revealed to you?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. He helps you pray

The Holy Spirit is active in aiding us in our prayer life (Rom. 8:26–27).

There will be times—not maybe—in your life as a Christian when you feel inadequate in your prayer life or have no idea what to pray for. In these moments the Holy Spirit will help us when we do not know how to pray for God’s will in a particular situation.

When you find yourself in these moments, remember to ask for the Holy Spirit to help you in your weakness.

Have you had moments where you didn:’t know what to pray or in what order in which you should pray? How did you feel in that moment? This week reflect on Romans 8:26-27 and let the Holy Spirit push you into what to pray for. Did it work? How did you feel afterwards? It’s imperative that we begin to lean on our spiritual muscle for spiritual works, how do you plan on exercising him?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________