#Christian – Instructions To A Young Life

How to Avoid a Life of Much Sadness

Sadness is a difficult burden to bear not only for the one who is sad but also for many of the people who live with a person who is sad. Sadness is normal under certain circumstances but when sadness controls our life then it is not normal nor healthy. It is not healthy for the person nor for their relationships. How can we keep from having a sad life and being a sad person. Gladness is the opposite of sadness and is good medicine for everyone.

Proverbs 15:13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

A joyful heart, or in other words, a heart full of joy not only makes a cheerful face but is good medicine.

Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

When life is overwhelming and circumstances are beyond your control and you are very sad then go to the rock that is higher than you. Ask the Lord to life you up. We can not lift ourselves up but He can and will allow us to live above our circumstances.

Psalm 61:1-4 Hear my cry, O God;
Give heed to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a refuge for me,
A tower of strength against the enemy.
Let me dwell in Your tent forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Learn to live in His presence and your heart will be filled with joy. You will be much better prepared for the circumstances of life that are beyond your control if you are healthy emotionally and spiritually. The Lord has not called us to understand everything but He has said that we can trust Him in everything.

Psalm 143:4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart is appalled within me.

When your spirit is overwhelmed and your heart is broken then call on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is near to you and is a present help in time of trouble.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

As you draw near to Him then He will draw near to you and in time you will know His presence. His peace will flood your heart and His joy will be made known to you.

James 4:8a Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Get in and stay in His Word. His Word will comfort you so that you do not despair. You will see His goodness once again in the land of the living. He will come to you and bless you.

Psalm 27:13,14 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

The Lord is the God of all comfort and He will comfort you if you will believe in Him and come to Him.

II Corinthians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

Your afflictions are temporal and so should your sadness be. His love and comfort is eternal and so your gladness and joy should be continual. You need strength for the journey of life because we all get knocked down but He will lift you up so that you do not stay down. His grace is abundant through Jesus Christ.

A Life Knowing a Loving God

There is only one God and He is the only God and Savior. He existed before anything and He created everything. He has always been and there is no God besides Him.

He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:2,3

God became a human and lived amongst us. He existed from all eternity and He entered time and space that we might know Him and that He might bring us to Himself.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” John 1:14,15

Jesus Christ came, He lived, He died and He rose again to bring us to Himself.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, I Peter 3:18a

We know God, the Father, through Jesus Christ. They are one and the same.

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. John 1:18

Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who the Father sent to be the Savior of the world. Jesus Christ died for the world that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

They are equal and everything that Jesus did on earth it was in submission to the Father. Jesus Christ did nothing on His own. He became a man and although He was still God, He laid aside all of His rights, privileges and power of being God and totally relied on the Father. He emptied Himself and lived a life of trust and obedience to the Father.

Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5b-8

Jesus Christ had to learn the Word of God and He had to learn obedience. He had to learn how to live by faith. He does not ask us to do anything that He did not have to learn to do.

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8

Jesus Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was made like Adam after Adam sinned and yet Jesus Christ never sinned. He always did the will of His Father in heaven. The only way that He could do this was to surrender His will completely to the Father. The only way He could surrender His will completely to the Father is if He trusted the Father completely. He had to trust in the Father’s love, His knowledge, His power, His Word, His righteousness, His justice and His faithfulness. Jesus had to first become a disciple of the Father before He could make disciples.

He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.Isaiah 50:4b

The only way that it was possible for Jesus Christ to trust the Father completely was that Jesus Christ had to know the Father and the only way that He could know the Father was through the Word of God. Jesus Christ had to learn the Word of God just as we have to learn it also. Jesus learned and became knowledgeable of God’s Word in the Old Testament and He obeyed it. Jesus Christ lived in the love of the Father. He abided in the Father and in His love. He did the Father’s will.

saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42

If we want to be a Christian and if we say that we are a Christian then we must live as the Lord lived. A life of trust in the Lord and obedience to Him. This is what He taught His disciples and this is what He teaches us who want to be called by His name, who want to belong to Him and be His disciple.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:15

This is the only way that you can learn to trust Him. If you will keep His commandments then you will live in His love just as He kept His Father’s commandments and lived in the Father’s love.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. John 15:10

We become His child and we receive His love by receiving Him as our Lord and Savior. We live in His love by obeying His commandments.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, John 1:12

We can experience His great love for us every second of every day by being His child and keeping and abiding in His Word. Jesus Christ did not leave His disciples and followers to do this on their own. He said that after He rose from the dead that the Father would send them His Holy Spirit to be their Helper. The Holy Spirit helps us learn and obey His commandments so that we can live in His love and truth. When we receive Christ into our lives at that time we receive the Holy Spirit and begin that wonderful relationship of being a child of God and living in His great love.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. I John 3:1

Jesus was full of grace and truth. We know God’s truth through His Word and we receive His grace through the knowledge of Him.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; II Peter 1:2

We will become more like Jesus Christ as we grow in our relationship with Him. We grow in our relationship with Him through trusting in His promises. As we see His faithfulness then we trust Him more. The Christian life is growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. II Peter 1:3,4

The Lord has given us everything that we need to trust Him. He has given us Jesus Christ and in giving us His Son, He has given us everything else that we need.

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32

There is nothing that can separate us from His love.

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

It is by faith that we live and it is His faithfulness that keeps us. He says in His Word, “that He who began a good work in us will complete it to the end.” He also said that “it is good to declare His lovingkindness in the morning and His faithfulness by night”. When we, by faith declare His lovingkindness at the beginning of our lives, our struggles, our dreams, our relationships and anything else then we will “see” His faithfulness and declare it with great joy. Just as it was the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, He will also raise us up. Not just after we pass out of this life but as we go through each day. It is His desire that we live in His love and experience His faithfulness every minute of each day. This is what it means to know a loving God.

that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ Acts 13:33

How to Avoid Being Disappointed in Life

Hope deferred brings disappointment but desires realized are sweet to the soul and refreshing to those who see their desires fulfilled. Expectations will often lead to disappointment and will weigh the heart down. How do we avoid disappointments in life and how do we deal with disappointments so that our hearts are not discouraged?

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

There is only One whom we can put our hope in and who will never disappoint us. Since we are all sinners we will eventually disappoint each other. For this reason, you must look to Him and point others to the One who will never disappoint. His love is poured out within our hearts if we have the Holy Spirit living within us. He loves you and sees your heart and knows your needs.

Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

If you are looking to Him and He is your hope then your desires will be realized for He is the Giver of all things. He is the only One who promises us that we will not be disappointed if we believe in Him.

Romans 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Expectations in people will always ultimately bring disappointment if we put our trust in them to meet all of our expectations. Political leaders, even if they are good leaders will bring disappointment because they can never meet your expectations. Parents will ultimately disappoint you if you are looking to them with expectations. Husbands will disappoint wives if there are expectations. No one can meet all of your needs. You must look to the One who is God alone. He is the only One who will never disappoint you. This may seem hard since you can not see Him but He is faithful to His Word and He has promised those who believe in Him that they will not be disappointed. If you have never had this kind of trust and faith in Him then ask Him to help you. Pray the same prayer as the man in the Bible prayed, “Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief.”

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

Faith and trust in the Lord is increased through reading, studying and meditating on His Word. If you are not reading it every day then start there and read it every day. If you are reading and not studying the Word of God then find a Bible study that will help you study the Bible. If you are reading and studying but not meditating and putting it in your heart then start doing that and putting God’s Word in your heart. You can memorize and meditate on at least one verse a week. Watch God’s Word do His work in your life and increase your faith and trust in Him. You will not be disappointed.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

A Life of a Victorious Christian

The Lord wants us to ride on the heights of the earth or in other words He wants us to live above circumstances. He wants us to live an abundant life of great joy, peace and love. He did not come for us to live a defeated Christian life but a life of abundance. He came that we might have life.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10b

The secret to living a victorious Christian life is to exchange the temporal for the eternal. There was a person in the Old Testament that the Lord found much delight in. In fact, he is the only person in the Old Testament that the Lord said that He loved. He loved this man so much that this man’s name is mentioned more than any other name in the Bible other than the name of the Lord. His name is Jacob. The Lord loved Jacob. The Lord loved Jacob because he chose the eternal over the temporal. The Lord despised his brother, Esau, who chose the temporal over the eternal.

Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:13

In fact, the Lord defines immorality as choosing the temporal over the eternal. Every time we sin we choose the temporal desires or pleasures of this life over the eternal value of knowing God.

that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. Hebrews 12:16

If we want to please the Lord then we must live a life of faith. The righteous shall live by faith. Faith is trusting the Lord for the eternal over the temporal. Bitterness comes when we choose the temporal values in life over the eternal value of knowing the Lord through trusting Him and living by faith. Esau chose the temporal values and became bitter. Jacob chose the eternal values and Jacob came to know the Lord.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; Hebrews 12:15

Knowing the Lord God through His Word is eternal and our souls are eternal.

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3

Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us so when we live by the Word of God then we are choosing the eternal. When we choose Jesus Christ then we choose to obey His Word. When we reject His Word then we reject Christ.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

How do we choose the eternal over the temporal? Everything is temporal that is not eternal. The temporal includes our life and everything in it: our health, our loved ones, our dreams, our future and anything else that is precious to us in this present life. We must count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, Philippians 3:8

How do we count all things to be loss that we may gain the knowledge of Christ? We present our bodies to the Lord as a living and holy sacrifice. It includes everything that it temporal in our lives. It is a spiritual service of worship that we might love Him with all of our heart.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1

The Lord offered all of Himself in death on the cross for our life, that we might live. It is when we die to ourselves that we learn to live. Jesus Christ died to His will that He might do the will of the Father.

For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Romans 6:10

In the same way, when we offer ourselves to God we deny ourselves, that is, we die to ourselves that we might live for the will of God to obey Him and do His will.

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34

No man can serve two masters, the Lord said in His Word. We can not serve ourselves and serve Jesus Christ. We must either die to ourselves and live for Jesus Christ or we must turn our back on and deny Christ. That is the choice that everyone has. For this reason, each of us will be judged for what we did with Jesus Christ. Do we choose to worship Him by giving our life to Him to do His will or do we choose our own desires and to live for what we want?

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. John 3:19

When we choose ourselves and our will over choosing the Lord then we are choosing to live in darkness. When we choose the Lord Jesus Christ and choose to live for Him it is by faith. When we choose Jesus Christ we begin to live in the light. Jesus is the light of the world and all who come to Him receives the light.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12

The Christian lives by faith and by faith we die to ourselves and live to Him. We can give ourselves completely to Him because He gave Himself completely for us. He gave Himself to us because of love and it is love that motivates us to give ourselves to Him. He first loved us by dying on the cross for us. Our love for Him is a response to His love for us. It is love for Him and trust in Him that allows us to die to ourselves and live for Him.

We love, because He first loved us. I John 4:19

We can trust the Lord with the temporal and all that seems precious to us: our lives, our loved ones, our health, our dreams, our future and anything else because we can trust His love for us. His love is perfect and perfect love casts out all fear.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, I john 4:18a

We hold onto “things” because of fear of losing them. When we give all to Him then He gives back to us what is good, acceptable and perfect. What we give to Him no longer controls us but we are free from the worries and control of holding on to what was precious to us. The Lord loves us and does not withhold anything that is good from us.

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11b

How to Avoid a Life Empty of Love

Love is a basic human need for a healthy development and happy relationships yet it seems illusive at times and often the ones that we “hate” the most are those closest to us or that we have been close to at some time. How do we love others on a long term basis and keep loving, happy, healthy relationships? Love is the greatest commandment and if we fulfill this commandment then we will fulfill them all.

Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Just as moral excellence is the root of love so love is the foundation of the Law and Prophets. The Law was to teach us how to love God with all of our heart and soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves. The prophets were continually calling the people back to loving the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind and their neighbor as well. There is no peace, love or joy apart from love. There is no love apart from God, for God is love. Remove God from society, families and all relationships and you will eventually remove love.

I John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

The opposite of loving God and others is selfishness. Selfishness is loving ourselves at the expense of someone else. It is taking and not giving. It is me and not you. No one can serve two masters. He will either love the one and hate the other or vice versa.

Matthew 6:24a No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You can not love yourself first and love God second. You must love God first and that will include loving others and then you love yourself next. If you love God first then He will watch out for your interests and He will be your security and defense. If you love yourself first then you will not be loving others the way you should. All of your “love” for others will be selfcentered and not love for them at all. There will always be a conflict of interests. For this reason, the Lord says that if we are to follow Him and love Him then we must die to ourselves.

Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

This is what it means to take up your cross daily, it is to die to yourself. The cross represents death. You can not truly love others if you do not learn to die to yourself. When you get married, the question is not, “Do I love this person more than everyone else?”. No rather, the question should be, “Do I love this person more than myself?”. If you truly love your mate more than yourself then you will truly love that person the way the Lord wants you to love them and there will never be another person that you will ever love in the same way (while you both shall live) because all marital unfaithfulness is all about loving yourself. Most marriages that fail began with selfishness and ended with selfishness in one or both spouses. Selfishness is loving or not wanting someone else for what they have or don’t have to offer to you.

I John 4:7-9 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression and manifestation of love. If you want to know love then you must know Jesus Christ. He came into the world to love and He loves everyone and the gift of His love is offered to everyone. Whoever will receive Jesus Christ will receive His love. We can not love others with a Godlike love without Jesus Christ.

I John 4:10-12 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

Jesus loved us and took our sins that we might receive and live in His love. He came that we might be able to love God and love others as He has loved us. If you know Jesus Christ then you will know true love and His love will be perfected in you. When you live in His love then His love will overflow into the lives of others. The life of love, joy and peace will truly overflow within you and you will begin to experience heaven on earth and what it means to live in His kingdom.

I John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Hate comes from unresolved anger and unresolved anger comes from unforgiveness from being hurt. If you have been hurt and still struggling to forgive then take that hurt to the Lord and ask Him to help you forgive. He went to the cross to forgive us and because He has forgiven us then we can forgive others. He is the source of all love and because He loves us then we too can love others even those who previously seemed unlovable. You will also find that as you love others then your life will be filled with the love of others. Through Him we can love the world and everyone in it but apart from Him we can love no one.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

A Life with Love Listens and Hears

Love hears because love is listening for the voice or cry of the one whom they love. Every mother understands this fact. Even in her sleep she is always listening for the cries of her children. She knows their cries and their voices and each one is unique. She knows their sounds because she loves her children. Her heart is attentive to them.

But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. I Thessalonians 2:7

So also the Lord hears our cries and He delivers His children from all of their troubles. He is attentive to each one of us.

The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. Psalm 34:17

The Lord loves us and wants us to cry out to Him. He does hear our voice and the sound of our prayers. He hears our cries of distress.

I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1,2

Just as the Lord hears us He also wants us to listen to Him and hear Him. He said over and over again when He was on earth, “He who has ears to hear let him hear”.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24

It is through hearing His Word that we believe in Jesus Christ and receive eternal life.

He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” John 8:47

An unbeliever can read the Bible but the unbeliever will not be changed because they are only reading words with their mind. When a person becomes a Christian then they will read God’s Word with their mind and heart and it will no longer be just reading words but they will hear God speak to them through His Words.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

It is through hearing God’s Word that we receive faith. Is your faith little? If you struggle in your faith then read God’s Words over and over again. Ask the Lord to increase your faith. Faith and fear can not reside in the same vessel. Are you fearful? Get into God’s Word and stay in God’s Word until you know His peace.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27

The Lord hears your cries and He listens to your prayers. He loves you. If you will come to Him then you will know His comfort and His peace. He will be with you in trouble.

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; Isaiah 66:13a

Being a Christian is having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He hears the cries and prayers of His children and He wants us to listen to Him also. He speaks to us and He wants us to talk to Him. Being a Christian is far more than just believing intellectually in God and believing that Jesus Christ is God’s Son. Being a Christian is having a living faith that lives on His promises and follows Him in obedience. When a person is a true Christian then they will no longer “listen” to the world but they will “listen” to the Lord. For this reason, their lifestyle will be different. They will no longer want to do the things they did before. They will choose different friends if their nonChristian friends do not want to listen to the Lord. The Christian’s values will change. The Christian will have become a new person in Christ for they will have heard from God. God is still calling for those who will listen.

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts Hebrews 3:7,8a

The Lord says that “Today” is the day of salvation. If you hear His voice then come to Him. Do not harden your heart for you do not know what tomorrow holds and you do not know if you will hear His voice again or if you will have another chance.

for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— II Corinthians 6:2

He hears you because He loves you. He is listening for your prayer and cry to Him.

A Life Understanding the Holy Spirit

There is much confusion concerning the Holy Spirit and there is much that is written and can be written.* The Lord says in His Word that God is not a God of confusion. If you are confused in your thinking then you need to stop and do more research in God’s Word. God’s Word is who He is and the Bible says that “knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. The more that you know the Lord then the more you will understand. We have no understanding on our own concerning the Lord God.

there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. Romans 3:11

We do not seek God on our own and we can not understand God on our own. The knowledge and understanding that any of us has of the God the Father, Jesus, who is God’s Son and equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who is God the Spirit, is what He has revealed to us in His Word. Even then we only know in part and see as through a glass dimly. One day, we, who have received and trust Him now, will see the Lord face to face and know fully.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. I Corinthian 13:12

We can only know the Lord if we have a relationship with Him, that is, if we are His child. God’s desire for all humans is that they would surrender their lives to Him now and come into a relationship with Him and become His child.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, John 1:12

When we become a child of God then we are born again into His family. It is a spiritual birth. We become spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit awakens our conscience and comes to live within us.

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:5-7

When we are born again by the Spirit of God, We become a child of God and a recipient of God’s great love. When we are born again by the Spirit of God, that is, the Holy Spirit, then we become a part of God’s family. It is not enough to know about God. We must have a relationship with God through receiving Jesus Christ personally to experience eternal life.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and we are. I John 3:1a

Before a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit makes known to a person their need for a Lord and Savior by showing them that they have sinned. Sin is missing the mark of perfection. We have all sinned. The Holy Spirit makes known to us that we are under condemnation because of the judgment of sin against us. Condemnation brings death. It is an eternal death. Apart from Jesus Christ each person will spend eternity separated from God, who is all goodness and all love. They will be in a place of torment.

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; John 16:8

The Holy Spirit convicts the world, which includes everyone, concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. However, once a person receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit no longer convicts the Christian. The Holy Spirit comforts the Christian. The Lord promised His followers that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to them to be their Comforter, Helper and Teacher.

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 that I said to you. John 14:26

He no longer convicts the Christian because conviction involves judgment and judgment involves condemnation and condemnation involves death.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

The Holy Spirit comes and lives within the Christian. He becomes our Helper and the Holy Spirit never leaves us.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16,17

The Holy Spirit is the promise of our salvation.

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Ephesians 1:13

When we become a Christian, a child of God, we receive all of the Holy Spirit at the time of our spiritual birth. He comes into our life, into our innermost being, which is our conscience. The Holy Spirit cleanses our conscience and that is why when someone becomes a Christian they are clean on the inside, they are set free from their sin and guilt. The Lord Jesus redeems us through His blood by dying on the cross for each one of us. He took the judgment, the condemnation and the death that we all deserved and He gave us His righteousness and life. We were given His life through His resurrection. Jesus Christ lives today and because He lives, we can live.

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14

Before a person becomes a Christian they will often “hope” that their good works will outweigh their bad works. There are no good works but they are dead works and can never appease for our bad works, which is sin. When a person becomes a Christian it is out of love that the child of God serves the Lord. They realize how a great a love it was that paid for their sins.

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. I Peter 1:18,19

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

A Christian can and does grieve the Holy Spirit when they sin, for there is no one who does not sin, even after becoming a Christian. However, it is their conscience that makes known to their own self that they have sinned. It is very important that the Christian learns to confess their sin to the Lord so that He can cleanse their conscience so that they may continue in fellowship with God.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

When a Christian sins, the relationship does not change but the fellowship is not experienced. They have grieved the Holy Spirit.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

If they continue to sin then it is a matter of time before they will doubt their salvation. The Holy Spirit gives the Christian the assurance that they are indeed a child of God.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:16

No one can give to another the assurance of their salvation. Only the Lord can give that assurance through His Holy Spirit and through His Word. The Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and makes it come alive for the Christian. A nonChristian can read the Bible but it will often seem boring to him or He won’t get anything out of it. An evidence that someone has indeed become a child of God is that there will be a hunger for God’s Word.

like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. I Peter 2:2,3

When a person becomes a child of God then they taste the kindness of the Lord and they will hunger for more of God. God’s Word is called the living Word because it gives life and is life. Is God’s Word alive to you? Come to Him and give yourself to Him. He will give you life and allow you to drink of the living water that comes from Him.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

I realize that this is not a full explanation of the Holy Spirit. Rather, I am hoping that this may clarify some of the understanding of the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s life. I too, am on a journey to know the Lord and this a devotional of some of what the Lord has taught me through His Word. How good He is and patient with His children.

A Life Understanding Truth

Truth is what makes us feel secure when we understand it. Truth does not change and it is an absolute. There is only one source of truth and that is the Lord God. Jesus Christ is God and He is the Truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; John 14:6a

There are many different truths in the Bible and although they are all summed up and understood in Jesus Christ, it is important to understand that truths are like diamonds and there are many facets to the same truth. Each facet is a different aspect of a particular truth. Often when people argue about a truth they are often arguing about different facets of the same truth. However, if we are to understand the truth about anything then we must first know the Lord.

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10b

If we want to know and understand a certain truth then it is good to do a word study of that truth in the Scriptures. Often one verse will communicate one aspect or facet of a truth. An example of this would be if a person wants to understand how to find favor with God and with people. There are 141 instances and verses in the Bible concerning favor. Here are a few on favor.

The Bible tells us that Jesus kept increasing in favor with God and men.

And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Luke 2:52

However, the Bible also tells us how Jesus lived to increase in favor with God and men. Jesus had to learn the Scriptures just as we do. He was fully God, but He laid aside His God powers when He became a man. (Philippians 2:6,7) He had to live like us and yet He did not sin. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) . He was made like Adam after He sinned and yet Jesus never sinned. He was tempted but never yielded to the temptation. For this reason He understands our weaknesses and our temptations (Hebrews 4:15).

So, Jesus had to learn that everything He did needed to be characterized by kindness and truth.

Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:3,4

Another wonderful verse about favor is the Lord tells us its value. The Lord says that favor is better than silver or gold.

Favor is better than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1b

There are many other verses about favor. How to receive favor from the Lord and how to lose favor with people. The Lord tells us that if we are wise then we are wise for ourself. A life of favor is one which is much easier than struggling with little or no favor from the Lord or others.

There may be another area that you are struggling with in your own personal life. When you are frustrated then often it can come from not knowing God’s truth in a particular area of life. The Lord says that “knowledge is power”. He wants to give us the knowledge and power to live an abundant life. He offers wisdom, instruction, knowledge and understanding to all of us.

Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding. Proverbs 23:23

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

When the Lord says “without reproach” then what it means is that He does not scold us for not knowing what to do or for even being in a troubling circumstance. Rather, He is communicating to us that He wants to help us. He wants to give us the truth on what to do in our struggles. That is what wisdom is. It is the knowledge of the truth of what to do in a particular situation. It is the right truth of what to do so that we can have peace and quietness and confidence.

And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Isaiah 32:17

Are you weary of not knowing the truth about what to do? He says to “Come to Him.”

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

The outcome of knowing truth is not only peace, quietness and confidence but it is also rest for your soul. Come to Him and you will not be disappointed.

To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed. Psalm 22:5

A Life that is Morally Upright

Morality and immorality are opposites. Immorality is exchanging eternal values for temporal values. Esau was immoral by trading his birthright for a meal. His birthright was his so why was his action immoral? His birthright was what had eternal value and the meal had temporal value.

Hebrews 12:16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

If we do not wait for God’s timing then we are also godless. Esau would have gotten some food but he could not wait.

Isaiah 64:4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

The Lord has far more for you than what you can see or have heard of if you will only wait for Him.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

He can even do more than what you can think of if you will only trust Him and wait for Him.

James 1:16,17 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Do not be deceived and listen to the lies of the devil that come out of the world or that even come into your thoughts. The Lord wants to give you good things and perfect gifts.

Isaiah 55:8,9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Learn to think His thoughts and learn His ways. His thoughts are revealed to us in His Word and that is also how we learn His ways. He has given His Word to us. It is His revelation of who He is. It is the only way that we know the only true God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us through Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

He wants to teach us His ways and He wants us to observe His Words, by observing He means to study, know and obey them.

Psalm 25:4 Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

Are you thinking His thoughts and learning His ways. It is a lifelong process and the more we know His ways then the more we will know Him and experience His good gifts. That is why the Lord says over and over again in His Word that the ones who keep His commandments and follow His ways are blessed. Morality is keeping His ways and being obedient to His Words, which are eternal values. Immorality is doing what you want to do and satisfying your flesh, which are temporal values. You can be morally pure today if you will turn to the Jesus Christ with all of your heart. It is the state of your heart today and has nothing to do with your past. If you have blown it morally then confess your sins to Him and He will cleanse you and give you a new start and make you a new person. The old things pass away and all things become new.

II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

How to Avoid a Life of Sorrow

It is our choice in life if we want to experience unnecessary sorrow or experience and live in the love of God. Sorrow is a part of life but much of the sorrow that we experience is because we either don’t want to or don’t know how to experience the love of God. How can this be?

Psalm 32:10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.

The wicked person trusts in himself and wants to “be the master of his own destiny”. The godly person trusts in the Lord and wants the Lord to guide their life and be their Lord and Savior. Many are the sorrows of the wicked. You may get your “own way” but the price that you pay will be great sorrow. The person who trusts in the Lord will have great joy and experience much lovingkindness.

Psalm 16:4a The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied;

One of the amazing aspects of the Lord is that He gives us a free choice. We don’t have to worship Him. We can worship whoever or whatever we want, whether it is an idol fashioned by hands or if it something else such as money, material things, houses, cars, sports, people, beauty or anything else that we allow to control our lives and determine our direction in life. If it controls our happiness then it has the capacity to bring us sorrow and it will in just a matter of time. If God controls us then He will give us joy.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

Jesus took our sin and our sorrows that we might have His righteousness and joy, which are everlasting. He is eternal and what He gives to us is eternal. When we give our sorrows to Him then He takes them and gives us eternal life. We realize that we have placed our hopes and joy in what can never satisfy and we come to Him and give Him all that we had earlier put our trust in.

II Corinthians 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Are you sorrowful? Have you thought that someone or something could satisfy you and then have realized that person or thing can never fill your heart? Come to the Lord. He will take your sorrows and give you joy. He wants you to live in His love. Abide in His love and your cup will overflow with joy.

John 15:9-11 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

The secret to avoiding a life of sorrow is to abide in God’s love. The way we abide in God’s love is to first give our hearts to Him and then once we have surrendered to Him and been born again, we are to keep His commandments. Jesus kept the Father’s commandments and did exactly as the Father commanded Him. He did not tweak it by saying, “God really did not say this or mean this…” Yes, if He said it in His Word then He means it. Keep His commandments and your joy will be made full.