JESUS SPEAKING
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear isn’t mine but the Father’s who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all of the things that I have said to you” (John 14: 22-26.)
INSPIRED THOUGHTS
Jesus had been speaking to his disciples about his death, resurrection, and ascension. He promised that after his ascension, he would send to them a replacement; someone to comfort their hearts, and to give them the power to continue his works on earth. The world wouldn’t receive this Spirit, but only those who loved God. Jesus said the Spirit would manifest itself by teaching them all things; he also said that the Spirit would remind them of all that he had said. The Holy Spirit would bring out of each person’s heart, his treasured words. These treasures were both from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus said, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” Every follower had become a conduit through which God’s words would be presented to the world; the Holy Spirit was the means by which the proper scriptures were used in each situation, to minister to the lost and to edify His followers. Jesus said, “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
During the course of writing this message, I was speaking to a girl who was writing a book on Zombies; a book about the dead coming to life. As we talked, we spoke about inspiration, and I was able to tell her that in each human being, there is a place, deep down inside, where ideas come from. This place is where a person’s heart is. I quoted a scripture brought to mind by the Holy Spirit, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I told her that there is no way to keep from expressing in her writing, what was in her heart. The Holy Spirit led me to talk about the power of words, as she was a writer and used them to express herself. I asked her, how it would feel if, as she was writing, she just happened to see her main character walk past the coffee shop window. I told her that Jesus had been written about long before he was born, and that he was the word of God made manifest in the flesh, quoting John, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” So the character of Jesus walked off of the Holy Scriptures and in to the world of flesh and bone. We then defined a zombie as half living and half dead. I responded by telling her about ‘new birth,’ and how everyone born is alive and yet still dead; I told her that full life comes when someone is reborn and filled with the Holy Spirit. I quoted to her the experience Jesus had with the demoniac, who was a living man, hanging out in a cemetery (he was naked and had been cutting himself); a real life zombie; living among the dead; as Jesus passed by he exercised the demons within him, and the man was restored to sanity and fully clothed. The Holy Spirit had brought to my mind this story, as it was fitting for our conversation. Finally, she told me about her other novel she was writing, and she told me that it was about ‘How love saves.’ I told her that was interesting; I motioned to the open bible before me, and told her the bible was a book about the exact same thing. She said, “You’re right; the bible is pretty much about the same thing.” This entire conversation was set-up, orchestrated, and led by God’s Holy Spirit speaking from within me. I just had to willing to let Him lead. The girl, near tears, convicted in her heart of the lifestyle she had been living, said (roughly), “All I came in here to do is write a little bit of my story…But He is always after me (the Lord.) He never wants to let me go.” As it turned out, she grew up faithful to the Lord, but had walked away because of a man she had been seeing. She left knowing she had a decision to make. (There were so many more scriptures that I quoted to her and didn’t mention here, all of which were brought to my mind at the right time.)
Today, God is seeking to use you to minister his word to others. The first step is reading His word, and storing it up in your heart. The second step is to believe in His Son, His death, resurrection, and ascension. The last step is to find a quiet place, sit down and ask God to give you His Holy Spirit and he will. The Holy Spirit will then testify to you concerning the truth of God’s word, and you will for the first time “know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He will bring to your remembrance the words of Jesus Christ. You are then qualified to begin ministering to others.
“Lord Heavenly Father, we ask You for more of Your Holy Spirit, and we desire to be Your ministers in this place. Give us the power to speak Your words, and to love others according to Your testimonies. We love You Lord, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.” God bless all of you.
Jesus Speaks 