SECRET #50 OF FOLLOWING JESUS
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Early in the teaching ministry of Jesus, He said: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given. (John 7:37-39) NOTE the believer/followers of Jesus will become channels of streams of living water, flowing inside out. A believer/follower of Jesus is a fountain of spiritual refreshment. This brings us to SECRET #50: The follower of Jesus has the Spirit of the Master indwelling him like a refreshing fountain.
When Jesus gathered His disciples in the "upper room" before going to His death and resurrection, Jesus taught a lot about the Spirit: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to 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." (John 14:15-17) He continues: "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 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. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 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." (John 16:8-15)
Here Jesus introduces more fully the coming of the Spirit of God. Before Jesus came, the Spirit came on believers temporarily for specific tasks and missions. Now, Jesus says the Spirit will be given to believers to be with them forever and He will live inside all those who are believer/followers of Jesus.
He is to be our constant helper and comforter as we walk this walk. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and He enables and empowers us to work out into our lifestyles the salvation that is within.
It's also important to note that the Spirit of God is the key to Jesus' disciples doing greater things than Jesus did. Jesus did some amazing things, much of it was not even recorded. Although it seems like so much more, there are only 35 miracles mentioned in the Gospels that Jesus performed. Now, as Jesus' disciples are powerfully indwelt by His Spirit, they will be able to bring His miraculous touch to millions upon millions!
As you walk with Jesus and with others you will get to know the Spirit. He will become very real to you In your greatest weakness, need, desperation, and troubles. In a lot of ways the Spirit of God has been placed within us to be our spiritual adrenaline.
The Spirit gives you the possibility to enjoy a mighty and mature partnership with your Creator-God! I see it following a natural progression. FIRST-Possess the Spirit-You possess the Spirit when you place your FAITH in Jesus. SECOND-Possessed by the Spirit-Then you become possessed by your FAITHFULNESS. This is by your habits of holiness. It's not that you get more of the Spirit, but the Spirit gets more of you! THIRD-Practice the presence of the Spirit-This is as you learn to FOLLOW His lead. You will learn to cooperate with His nudgings and promptings as you grow older in your faith.
The last words of Jesus to His disciples were about the Spirit: After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:3-8)
This is why Paul spoke so emotionally about the Spirit in I Corinthians 3 and 6, when he said, "Don't you know that your body is the holy dwelling place of God? Therefore glorify God in your body!" Don't you get it? The very presence of God lives inside you right now, so maybe it's time you ACT LIKE IT. SECRET #50: The follower of Jesus has the Spirit of the Master indwelling him like a refreshing fountain.
