December 19, 2018: SOAP #3303:  John 5-6

Scripture:  John (NIV) 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

Observation:  Much of Jesus teaching was about His Father.  And much of Jesus teaching was about the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was sent from the Father.   And when He left, He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in believers and through them to continue the ministry of Jesus!

The Father sent Jesus to live as a sinless man totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to fulfill His assigned ministry. While Jesus was living as a sinless man on earth, it was the Holy Spirit who was the life of God within Him.  The Holy Spirit was the source of the words spoken by Jesus.

Jesus told us, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.”  Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.  Being forgiven and justified, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us as He did within Jesus.  Jesus was sent to rely on the Holy Spirit, so if I have been sent in the same way, I too must rely on the Holy Spirit.

Application: When I confess my sins and ask Jesus to forgive me on the basis of His death on the cross, the same Holy Spirit that came upon/within Jesus comes to take up residence in me!!!   My life’s goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through me as He did through Jesus!

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, You and Jesus, what a team in honoring the Father.  Keep working on me to become your partner in ministry. Take the lead in my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!