Holy Spirit, the Advocate!

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:26-27 NIV

God, our heavenly Father (Ephesians 4:6) and the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1), has poured His Spirit into us after Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection to guide us in all of the truth that God wants us to go through (John 16:7-15). This is probably why Jesus Christ has wanted to gain supremacy, so all of us may able to obey and bow before Him (Philippians 2:6-11). “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Colossians 1:16-18) However, most of us confuse with abiding the Holy Spirit and moments of inspiration because they are very similar occuring. The devotionals of Oswald Chambers tell us that moments of inspiration are visions or where we stand at mountain top of God that would empower us to know what the will of God is (Ephesians 5:15-19) or to glorify God with all of our being (1 Corinthians 10:31). “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) Nevertheless, moments of inspiration come only for a moment because we ought to worship and glorify the Lord in our “normal” lives until the end of the age.

Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. (Psalm 111:10)

Therefore, we must abide in the Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:3-11), instead of abiding into the world (Galatians 5:24-25). “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8). In fact, James 4:4-5 declares, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?” To be more specific, God wants us to crucify our worldly nature as it leads us to sin and death, and He wants us to open the door of our hearts for Jesus Christ to fully come in as the Spirit of God (Revelation 3:20). The main reason why we have do crucifixion on our part is that the desires of the Spirit are contrary to the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:17). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) This is the reason why 1 John 2:15-17 tells us to overcome the world (1 John 5:1-5) and focus on what pleases the Lord. What this means is to do the will of God by putting faith in Christ Jesus first. This because the main way to please God is putting our trust in Him (Hebrews 11:6). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Furthermore, we should not fear in everything that we do for the kingdom (Matthew 7:21) and the glory of God (Colossians 3:3-4). This is because love comes from God, and therefore God is love (1 John 4:7-8). In addition to this, 1 John 4:18 states, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. (Galatians 6:7-10)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:1-13)

When I almost finished writing devotionals for today, I am a little bit concerned the way I approach God, because I do not know that I am actually doing the will of God or just being spiritually lazy. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” The reason why I brought James 1:2-4 up is that it might be one kind of trial that I am facing right now. This is because I started having headache or I am about to have one if I am staring at my laptop for whole time. Today, I stopped writing devotionals when I was tired and was about to have a headache, so I turn my laptop off, lie down on my bed for a few minutes and watched a Korean television program with my family. The reason that I did these is that I do not want to make devotional-writing as my religious routine and I want to have the peace of God (John 14:27) for the rest of my life. Hence, I did not do much today as usual so I really have to abide in the Holy Spirit and concentrate what the will of God is. Furthermore, I have to sleep before 1-2 am, in order to make my life count for the Lord.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)