JESUS, CONTINUED - Chapter One

After weeks of inviting you to join me in reading J. D. Greear’s book, Jesus, Continued: How the Spirit inside you is better that Jesus beside you, the time has finally come to get started. I am encouraged to hear how many of you are excited to read the book. I am hoping that we will learn together what it means to live in the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
Each week, I will share a few thoughts with you from the chapter we are reading. My hope, however, is that you’ll interact with the book (and the Holy Spirit) personally and in small groups of others who are reading along.
 
Let’s pray that God will use His Holy Spirit, His Word and His servant (J. D. Greear) to teach us about His Holy Spirit and how to understand life with Him.
 
Here we go…
 
CHAPTER 1: A FALSE DILEMMA
 
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples after they left to remind them of all that He had said while He was with them on earth. He prays that they will better understand the truths of the gospel because His Holy Spirit would come to dwell in them as they took His message of salvation to the world (see John 14:26; 15:5, 26; 16:7-8, 14)
 
He points out that the Holy Spirit will be active in a few particular areas:
1)      Scriptures: He will help us understand the Word of God and apply it to our lives
2)      Son: He will direct people toward and glorify Jesus
3)      Salvation: He will convict the world of sin and their need for salvation
4)      Sanctification: He will provide the power to overcome sin and live holy lives
 
To the extent that we are active in these same pursuits, we will experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Conversely, if we rarely spend time in the Word of God or sharing our faith with others through evangelism and discipleship – if we are not serious about overcoming sin in our lives through the Spirit’s power – then we may be hard pressed to point to any real interaction with the Holy Spirit in our day to day experience.
 
This week, take a few moments asking the Lord to help you better understand the role of His Holy Spirit in your life. Spend time in the three areas mentioned above and watching for God to ‘show up’ as you do.