HE PROMISED US HIS SPIRIT

The disciples of Jesus were sad to learn the He would be leaving them,

and no longer be physically with them, when He told them before He
was crucified, but He promised them that He would not leave them as
orphans. He promised them the Holy Spirit, His Spirit that would come
and dwell with them. Jesus did not promise them a book, or a Bible or
anything else. He promised His Spirit.

We
read in John 14:16-25, Jesus said: “I will ask the Father, and He
will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;17that
is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because
He abides with you and will be in you.

      18“I
will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19“After a
little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see
Me; because I live, you will live also. 20“In that day you
will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21“He
who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and
he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and
will disclose Myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to
Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose
Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered and
said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My
Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with
him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and
the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

      25“These
things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26“But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I
said to you.”

We
read in john 16:5-15 Jesus said: “But now I am going to Him who
sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’6“But
because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your
heart. 7“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage
that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to
you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8“And He, when He
comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and
judgment; 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in
Me; 10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father
and you no longer see Me; 11and concerning judgment, because the
ruler of this world has been judged.

      12“I
have many more things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. 13“But when He, the Spirit of truth,
comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on
His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will
disclose to you what is to come. 14“He will glorify Me, for He
will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15“All
things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes
of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

After
Jesus was crucified and resurrected, before He ascended to heaven He
spoke to them. We read in Acts 1:4 “Gathering them together, He
commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the
Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of
from Me;5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with
the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The disciples did go to
Jerusalem and were united in prayer, waiting on the gift that Jesus
promised. We read in Acts 2: 1-4 “When the day of Pentecost had
come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there
came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled
the whole house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared to
them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on
each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them
utterance.”

The
bystanders enquired about what had happened and Peter explained it to
them in many words, upon which they asked him what they should do to
receive the Holy Spirit. Peter said to them, “Repent, and
each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. 39“For the promise is for you and your children and
for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to
Himself.” Acts 2:38-39.

The
Holy Spirit baptism with evidence of speaking in tongues is not only
about speaking in tongues, but about the indwelling of Jesus,
disclosing Himself, revealing Himself in and through those who have
received Him, being with them for always, teaching and guiding them
in all things. It is the fulfillment of Emmanuel, “God with us”,
“Christ dwelling in us” becoming born of the Spirit to be
children of God.

Receiving
and following the Holy Spirit, obeying Him, being taught and led by
Him is integral, essential, vital for every believer in order to be
in the right relationship with Jesus. It is not just a token or a
symbol but the supernatural unification with Jesus. We cannot follow
Jesus if we have not received His Spirit. We cannot be in communion
with Him. It is an absolutely essential requirement for everyone who
wishes to become one of His sheep, hear His voice, follow Him and
have eternal life.

The
first Christians did not have Bibles. They were taught the
commandments of Jesus by the disciples and they received the Holy
Spirit. They were led by the Holy Spirit.

He
promised us His Spirit. Have you received His Spirit? Are you in
communion with Him. Do you hear His voice and do you follow Him? Are
you one of His sheep?

May
Jesus bless you.

Who will protect us?

The world has become a terrible place and people are concerned about their safety. They ask:"Who will protect us?" Many purchase firearms and improve the security of their houses.

Your safety depends on whom you trust in and whom you depend on. If you depend on yourself and on other people you will be disappointed. There is only One person who can

keep us safe and that is Jesus Christ. I speak from experience.

For some time we lived on a farm in a remote area of South Africa. It is an area that is extremely unsafe where farmers get attacked and killed daily. We had no weapons, we did not try to protect ourselves but Jesus Christ protected us. One night Jesus showed me a vision of a huge horse with a rider on top of it at the entrance to the farm but this rider and horse were immensely huge. It was an angel that was keeping watch over us.

Not so long ago I had a dream one night of this person who was helping me but I did not realize that he was that tall. I looked up and I saw that he was about twenty feet tall (7 meters). This person was protecting me and he would shrink himself to the size of a normal man. I said to him:"You are actually a tall guy." He just smiled at me. The purity that I saw in his face I have never seen in a human face. That was an angel of God.

The Lord knows how to protect His own. He sends out His angels to protect and to keep those who belong to Him. Our safety depends on Whom we trust in.

I read Psalm 91

1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

            Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

      2I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

            My God, in whom I trust!”

      3For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper

            And from the deadly pestilence.

      4He will cover you with His pinions,

            And under His wings you may seek refuge;

            His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

      5You will not be afraid of the terror by night,

            Or of the arrow that flies by day;

      6Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

            Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

      7A thousand may fall at your side

            And ten thousand at your right hand,

            But it shall not approach you.

      8You will only look on with your eyes

            And see the recompense of the wicked.

      9For you have made the LORD, my refuge,

            Even the Most High, your dwelling place.

      10No evil will befall you,

            Nor will any plague come near your tent.

      11For He will give His angels charge concerning you,

            To guard you in all your ways.

      12They will bear you up in their hands,

            That you do not strike your foot against a stone.

      13You will tread upon the lion and cobra,

            The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

      14“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;

            I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.

      15“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;

            I will be with him in trouble;

            I will rescue him and honor him.

      16“With a long life I will satisfy him

            And let him see My salvation.”



In whom do we trust? In people or in ourselves? Or in the Lord? He gives His angels command to protect those who serve Him.

I read from Hebrews 1:13.

"13But to which of the angels has He ever said,

            “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

            UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES

            A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”?

14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"

In whom do you trust? Do you trust in Jesus Christ? He is the only One who can protect you. He looks after His servants.

May Jesus bless you.

Where will He find you?

If we are followers of Jesus Christ and children of God then our only concern will be our Father's Business, God our Father and looking after His affairs, His business. I read from Luke chapter 2 verse 41 in the King James Bible: ”Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 44But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? 50And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.”

The boy Jesus was at His Father's business. He was teaching the scribes and the pharisees. If we follow Jesus we will be at our Father's business, not busy with other things, the things of this world. We will be speaking the wisdom that God gives in us because we walk with God and we hear from Him and we will be teaching others, bringing them to Jesus, building the the Kingdom of our Lord.

The modern Bible translations have changed these words to “I have to be about my father's HOUSE,” (verse 49) because they want to take you to CHURCH, not to Jesus Christ. When I read this modern translation of the Bible I also see that they have changed the references to Jesus to small letters, they are not capital letters any more. When they talk about Him and He it is small letters. The modern translations of the Bible have been perverted to make you slaves of the church, not to take you to Jesus Christ.

We have to be about our Father's Business and if we follow Jesus He will teach us and He will guide us into all truth. The Holy Spirit will set our priorities and will highlight to us the PERVERSIONS in modern Bibles. We have to be led by the Holy Spirit and be at the Business of our Father. Jesus did not have a Bible, He was AT HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS being led by the Holy Spirit. He SPOKE what His father told Him to SAY and He DID what His Father told Him to DO.

Jesus Christ was at His Father's business being LED by His Father's Spirit. Are we being led by the Holy Spirit and are we AT our Father's Business, doing the will of God? Many people are studying the Bible and they never come to the truth because they are not at their Father's Business and they are not led by the Holy Spirit. Do we KNOW our Father's VOICE? Do we LISTEN to HIM and are we at His Business?

May Jesus bless you.