Quick Thoughts

When a person first receives the Holy Spirit, they are likened to the size of a grain of mustard seed. A mustard seed has everything it needs inside to grow to be the biggest of trees. And thereby, to have an immense influence on its environment. (Matthew 13:31-32). Spirit-filled people are in a position to be of great influence to those that are around them. The encouragement is to ensure that such influence is not discouraging but encouraging of fellow spirit-filled people and even more so, those who have not yet received the Holy Spirt.

Have you ever had the situation where you were told you look like your parent or, if you are a parent, your child looks like you or has some similar features and characteristics?  When a person receives the Holy Spirit they are given the characteristics of God. These characteristics are described for us as the manifestations and fruit of the Spirit. (1Corinthians 12:8-10; Galatians 5:22-23) As spirit-filled people we have the wonderful ability to show others the nature and character of God through what we say and more importantly what we do. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone said to you, I can see the features and characteristics of God in you.

What statements of Jesus Christ do you think would apply for those who want to follow God fully and completely through out their entire lives once they have been baptised and received the Holy Spirit? There will be many, and we will just put forward a few: ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…’ (Matthew 6:33); ‘Love (serve) the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37; ‘Love (serve) your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39). These statements are directions of the Lord that underpin the life of a spirit-filled follower of God.

God’s people found themselves in a very precarious situation. Faced with captivity they mourned when they remembered what they had and what they had forsaken through disobedience to God’s Word. Even though their situation was bad they did not take heed to the positive prophecy through Jeremiah that their captivity was only going to last 70 years. At the end of that period they would have the opportunity to return to their homeland. At anytime in our lives we may face circumstances that cause us to feel alone, isolated or under attack. If that happens, God’s people are to remember the great and precious promises He has made to them through Christ Jesus. God has promised an eternal release from our captivity, which is from our mortality, into an everlasting existence in his glorious presence.

These are the comforting and reassuring words of Jesus Christ as He gave the disciples (and all true followers) the authority to preach the gospel message of His death and Resurrection. Jesus had warned His followers that they could expect opposition and even hard times when they spoke of Him. But Jesus affirmed that whilst there may be tribulation, His followers were to be bold and courageous and have confidence because  through His death and Resurrection God had provided the way to overcome all the conflicting issues of the world, with the greatest victory being over death. Matthew 28:20

In the early church there were some who did not believe in the promised resurrection from the dead. (1Corinthians 15:12) Paul was even persecuted for bringing this teaching.(Acts26:6-8) If there is no resurrection then what purpose would there be in our life? God’s people need to surround themselves with those who believe in and live in the expectation of the resurrection as promised by God through Jesus Christ

In Isaiah 40 we are given word pictures and encouraged to lift our thinking up high to try and comprehend the magnitude, magnificence and splendour of God. Whilst this is really beyond our capacities, what we can do is appreciate no matter how ‘big’ God is, He is prepared to come inside us by His Holy Spirit and then we can have an individual and very personal relationship with Him. And then, as written in Psalm 46, God becomes our refuge and strength and very present help in times of trouble.

The pinnacle of man’s wisdom is found in King Solomon of the biblical Israel nation. When God said to him, ‘ask what I shall give you’, King Solomon asked for an understanding heart to be able to judge God’s people and so he could discern between the right and wrong. King Solomon became so famous for his wisdom that the Queens of Sheba travelled to see him. People will naturally gravitate to the wisdom of man. And even more so in our era of the internet where the ‘wisdom’ of man is on tap for all to find. However, is this the ‘wisdom’ that God’s people should be gravitating towards? Jesus Christ made reference to the magnitude of the wisdom of Solomon and then stated that ‘a greater than Solomon is here’. Of course, he was referring to himself and the wisdom of God that comes by the Holy Spirit.  Instead of seeking out the wisdom of man, God’s people, and anyone else for that matter, should be seeking out, and applying the wisdom of God.