by George Runyan | Jan 12, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Luke 4:1-2 – Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.
Jesus had to be temped, as it was written, “One who has been tempted in all things as we are” (Hebrews 4:15). Being directed by the Holy Spirit and using the Word of God, He overcame the evil one. God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13), but temptation will come to all, especially after we have determined to follow Jesus.
The Holy Spirit has been given to enable us to follow, obey, overcome, and help others experience God’s amazing grace. The Holy Spirit is always present to empower each believer to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). He will establish us in the Word of God, He will lead us to divine appointments, He will guide us to overcome temptation, and He will release His gifts so that we can effectively give witness to Christ as the Risen Lord. So many believers try to work out salvation in their own strength and understanding. This has brought many to a place of discouragement and infancy rather than “growing up into the full measure of the stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
One distinctive change which is meant to take place when we become believers and followers of Christ is a life led by the Spirit. Paul shares in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 that the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit. It is only the spiritual man which can appraise all things. Are you led by your natural reasoning most of the time or have you become a spiritual man, one led by the Holy Spirit?
Father, I want to be the spiritual individual You will me to be. I choose to surrender my thoughts and my ways to You. I invite the Holy Spirit to take control of all areas in my life. Father, fill me daily with your Holy presence and lead me through the wilderness of this life, into Your purpose of ministering to others Your wonderful grace.
by George Runyan | Jan 11, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Luke 3:21-22 – Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove.
Jesus is the perfect man before God and sets the pattern for all of us. Thirty years before His baptism, Jesus was born from a divine act of God through the person of the Holy Spirit as Mary conceived. Now, thirty years later, Jesus came to John, His cousin, to be baptized in water. The Jews understood baptism as a cleansing, but Jesus was baptized in witness of His coming death, burial, and resurrection. For Jesus, it was His public testimony of His commitment to the will of His Father. The Father’s response was to open heaven and send the Holy Spirit in “bodily form” to anoint Jesus for His ministry. After Jesus’ ascension, the Father poured out His Spirit upon those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, the Holy Spirit is here with us. He is not only with each believer, but He has come to indwell each one who is trusting Christ. Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to come on you and indwell you? Just as with Jesus, every believer that has trusted Christ has been born of the Spirit of God. In the same way that Jesus came to the waters of baptism submitting Himself to the will of God, we too must yield to the full will of the Father as we consider our life on earth. This will take the power of God through His indwelling Spirit. Many believers, once they trust Jesus for their salvation through forgiveness of sin, do not go on to being filled daily with the Holy Spirit. We need empowerment to live the life of a disciple, to witness with power, and to overcome the evil one who ever waits to tempt and distract us from the Father’s will.
Many times, in the book of Acts and throughout the apostle’s letters, we are instructed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. On one occasion, Paul says “… be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19).
Today, let us yield to the Father as Jesus did. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower you for the call of God in your life. Ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit every day. Then open yourself to receive of the Spirit’s presence and guidance.
by George Runyan | Jan 10, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Luke 24:49 – Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
Everything the Lord does, He does with purpose and in the context of His own timing. The disciples had experienced the Holy Spirit’s power while Jesus was with them. Now, our Lord was going back to the Father, taking His place at the Father’s right hand. He was about to receive the Promise of the Father and give the Holy Spirit to everyone who believed one Him. The Spirit came to empower believers for the work which God has appointed in establishing His kingdom on earth.
The disciples waited for the promise. After ten days, He fell upon them like a great blast of wind and mighty manifestations. Today, He is here with us, but we still need to wait before the Lord with expectation for the empowerment of the Spirit’s presence. Many times, we read the Scriptures and assume the promises of God are automatic. This is not an accurate understanding of how God works in fulfilling His promises. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Seeking the Lord is foundational to receiving His promises.
Many believers depend upon others who have sought the Lord. Some depend upon their pastors to study and seek God for understanding of His Word. Some depend on the faith of others in receiving the promises of God. The Father desires that all His children would seek Him personally. As believers, we should be thirsty for righteousness. It is only through our relationship with the Holy Spirit that we can receive all that the Lord has for us to fulfill His will in our lives.
If you have not committed yourself to wait upon the Holy Spirit, why not begin today? Ask the Father for the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself in increasing ways. Expect Him to manifest His presence to you and open up your understanding to the Word of God and its application in and through your life.
by George Runyan | Jan 9, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 7:37 – If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
There are two different kinds of thirst that human beings experience. The natural thirst for water and the spiritual thirst for God. A person can go without food for many days. The body will begin to draw from its own resources until they are depleted and the person begins to die of starvation. This is not true of our need for water. In a very short time the body dehydrates from a lack of water. The body does not store water like a camel which has a reservoir that holds water for long periods.
Jesus begins to reveal that He is their source which can satisfy spiritual thirst. Only by coming to Jesus can one be refreshed with a supply of living water. He goes on to explain in verse 38 that the one who believes in Him will experience this living water flowing like a river from one’s innermost being. The spiritual water that Jesus is referring to is not from an outside source, but the source will be within the believer. Literally, this means from the person’s “belly”. Jesus states that this is the promise of Scripture. He is referencing Isaiah 58:11, “You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
John 7:39 explains that Jesus was referring to the coming work of the Spirit in the life of those who believed. First, Jesus had to be raised from the dead, glorified, and seated next to the Father. The Spirit was manifested on the day of Pentecost when the promised Holy Spirit came with a number of manifestations, as revealed in Acts 2. Every believer needs to have their personal Pentecost. The disciples believed on Jesus, but they needed to receive the Holy Spirit. Have you asked to receive the Holy Spirit? Can you relate to Jesus’ words “that from your innermost being will flow living water”? If not, why not ask Him today to give you the Holy Spirit and the promised “living water.” Perhaps you have received, but you need to be filled again with the Spirit. The Bible teaches that there are many fillings that one might experience.
Today, receive the Holy Spirit and let Him release the living waters from your innermost being! Why not pray right now? Father, I ask today that Jesus would fill me with the Holy Spirit. I recognize I need to be filled daily and sometimes more than once in the period of a day.
by George Runyan | Jan 8, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 – For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually, just as He wills.
The Apostle helps the Corinthian believers understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual believer within the community of the church gathering. Some have wrongly interpreted this passage as saying that the Holy Spirit gives one gift to each believer as He wills. Paul had concern because the Corinthian believers were misusing the gifts by making them personal rather than for the edifying of the body. When believers gather together in an assembly, it would be confusing if everybody spoke in tongues or tried to prophesy at the same time. Within the corporate body the Holy Spirit gives to each as He wills for the edification of all.
In our daily walk and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we live out our life around others who do not know God. The Holy Spirit desires to reveal the love of God through us by releasing His gifts. He chooses what He deems beneficial in helping our witness. It is possible that one might find a few particular gifts of the Spirit working regularly in their life, but all are available to the believer as the Holy Spirit leads. In the corporate body, He distributes to each one individually just as He wills, but outside the gathering of the body, all His gifts are available to the believer at any given time.
Father, I ask for the Holy Spirit to use me today as you so desire. I am Your servant and cannot effectively share Your love with others unless You empower me. Be free to release Your gifts through my life to assist me in ministering to those You chose to bring across my path.
