Love God, Love People
Last week we left the conversation off with some of Jesus’ most powerful words which are found in Matthew 22:37,
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ i 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ j 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Really over the last 5 weeks in Deeper there has been a shift in our conversation. We’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit and who He is and what it means for us.
Week 1 we looked at the Holy Spirits presence from the beginning, in Genesis 1:2,
The earth was aformless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
involvement in the Old Testament and how He would empower specific people to accomplish His purpose. People like Moses, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and David to slay the giant Goliath, and really the Old Testament is packed with stories of regular people doing Holy Spirit inspired things.
Then Week 2, we asked the question, “What’s the big deal?” It’s great and all what the Holy Spirit did in the Old Testament, but what in the world does that have to do with me? We unpacked the Old Testament prophet Joel’s words in Joel 2:28-29 which says,
“And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Then we saw that prophecy be fulfilled when Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait, and the result of that waiting in Acts 2:2-4,
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues x as the Spirit enabled them.
Finally last week we stepped further in Acts and came to 2 fascinating passages,
Acts 2:3-8
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
& Acts 2:44-48
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues o and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
We learn that the Holy Spirit is available for all people! But for what? To accomplish His purposes, it is the Holy Spirit that leads us closer to God the Father. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts our sin and it is the Holy Spirit that does incredible works in our lives.
The Apostle Paul teaches on the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11,
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
Honestly for me, I couldn’t live my life knowing all that Jesus has given for me, the fact that I live under the grace of God, given by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to me that means that my life is His. Before I chase money, before I chase power, before my own happiness, I want to live my life in pursuit of Him.
God’s heart is people
God empowers us, to do His purposes
Galatians 5:22 shows us the fruit of the Holy Spirit,
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.