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As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
In this session, we will explore more of what the Bible has to say about the ministry of the Holy Spirit and how we can keep in step with Him personally and help others do the same.
There is also an abbreviated study of the Holy Spirit as part of the MyFriends App.
Read Psalm 37:1-8.
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 he will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret – it leads only to evil.
This Psalm is a call to keep the delight of our heart set on the Lord. As we do this, our hearts will desire the right things and He promises to give those things to us. We do not have to give in to worry about how others are acting and how their lives appear on the outside. We are reminded that as we wait patiently on the Lord and keep our hearts set on Him, He will act on our behalf. The Lord is good, and He is with us.
Read your assigned verses and then tell the group:
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
15 ‘If you love me, keep my commands.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever –17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20 On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, ‘But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’
23 Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 ‘All this I have spoken while still with you.26 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.
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
5 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.7 You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.”8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,16 for,
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?’
But we have the mind of Christ.
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ.2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.4 Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
5 For of this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a person is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
The Holy Spirit’s presence is a gift from the Father. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would satisfy our deepest longings. Through the Spirit, we experience intimacy with God. The Spirit enables us to understand new life in Christ and experience assurance of being a child of God. There are three kinds of people:
We cannot live the Christian life in our own strength. The person who continually practices sin should realize they may not be a Christian.
We are filled with the Spirit by faith when we desire to surrender our hearts to Him. By faith, we confess our sin and trust in God’s promise to forgive our sins. Living a life of faith results in understanding spiritual truth, having the fruit of the Spirit shown in our lives and being empowered to share the Gospel.
Version 2.10
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