LEAD US HEAVENLY FATHER

LEAD US, HEAVENLY FATHER Man is dead, destitute of life; he must be born again and receive life. And this eternal life is given by the Son of God to all who believe in Him. God wants people from everywhere to be born in a new way, born into the family which He began through Jesus. (John 1:12) The Spirit indwells believers. The Spirit never speaks on his own authority (John 16:13). He does not seek his own glory; only that of Christ. As born-again Christians, we have a race to run. We should therefore strip ourselves of any hindrances to this Christian completing the course. The race is not about who wins but is about completing the race (2 Timothy 4:6-8). The devil has the principalities and powers at his command. Our struggle is not with human beings. Our enemies are demonic. The force against us is powerful, wicked, and cunning. But the devil’s powers were defeated at the Cross and are under Christ’s feet. The devil is a dangerous wolf but enters Christ’s flock in disguise as a sheep. Sometimes he roars like a lion but more often is as subtle as a serpent. The Gospel or the Good News is that: Jesus Christ died for our sins, he was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Holy Spirit to all who repent and believe. Prayer: Dear God, I believe I am a sinner separated from you. I can never reach heaven by my own good deeds. But you have made provision for my sin. Right now, I place my faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son who died for my sins and rose from the dead to give me eternal life. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to live for you. Thank you for accepting me and giving me eternal life. Amen. Christ is the moral teacher, the great high priest, the unique God-man, the Heavenly Bridegroom, the gracious Saviour, the social liberator, the Jewish Messiah, the global Lord, the First and the Last, and the Living One. Jesus, then, has received the Spirit in the heavenly places in the sense that he now has Lordship over the gift of the Spirit given to the church. The Spirit of prophecy promised through Joel, has become the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7) and, therefore, he is now able to distribute its individual and varied gifts (Acts 2:33). Paul tells the Corinthians that 'in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13). It is noteworthy that he states that all believers have received this baptism – not just some. Jesus was worshipped from the earliest days of the post-resurrection church, and we can offer a justification for that worship.