When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into believers, He did it because He knew we'd face tremendous trials, temptations and challenges in life. Praise God that He is willing to go ahead of us and smooth our path!
Today's Devotional Scripture - Isaiah 45:2-3, New International Version
"I will go before you
and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
I will give you treasures of darkness,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name."
(Isaiah 45:2-3, New International Version)
God Wants You to be Equipped
God wants you to be thoroughly equipped to walk across the world and share the salvation message of Jesus Christ. He and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, so we can succeed as Christ's ambassadors.
I mentioned in Day 24's devotional that we are called to serve like Jesus, so there's benefit in quoting 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 again: "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
We are new creatures with new marching orders. We are to let the people in our world know that Jesus died for their sins. God sent His Son Jesus to reconcile the world and give everyone an opportunity ro believe in Him and receive the gift of eternal life.
It is probably to our advantage that we do not know how many times God has gone before us and cleared the path. And it always begins with an instruction from Christ, our master and teacher to "follow me."
Jesus is asking us to walk with Him, lean on the Holy Spirit for guidance and declare the mighty works of God. I may not be able to fully explain God's grace, but I am so glad that I benefit from it.
As we prepare for Easter, we should remember that God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are working in visible and invisible ways to make our walk with them as smooth as possible.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I praise you for going before me. I take comfort in knowing that I am not walking into uncharted territory alone. Thank you for loving me so much. Your Word tells me that you summon me by name. That makes me feel special and unique. Please expand my heart to receive more of who you are Amen.
You can comment on this article or send me an email at deni-martin@att.net.
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