Biblical Success - Running Our Race With a Personal TrainerSample

In His final instructions to His disciples before returning to heaven Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father, The Holy Spirit, Who would “baptize” or “come upon” them. He told them that they would receive power to be witnesses to Him to the ends of the earth after they received this power. And so it was. The promise of the Father fell on them on The Day of Pentecost and life for Christ-followers has never been the same.

The Holy Spirit would now live IN believers fulfilling Jesus’ promise of John 14:15-17:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

What does this mean to us as Christ-followers? Who or what is the Holy Spirit? Why would He want to live in us? How does that work? Is it important to us to understand the role of the third person of the godhead in our lives and mission as disciples?

Jesus thinks so. In fact, to prepare Himself for the three critical years of His ministry Jesus presented Himself to John the Baptist to be baptized. And as He was; “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)

And a little later; “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.” (Luke 4:1a) After His win over the father of lies in the desert; “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.” (Luke 4:14)

In His last prayer for His disciples prior to His crucifixion Jesus prayed “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”(John 17:20-21)

We are those who believe through their word.

This Bible plan will use Hebrews 12:1 in relating key elements of “the race set before us” to a literal race. In this example, we will compare the use of a “personal trainer” by elite athletes in sports to the role of the Paraclete, our Helper, The Holy Spirit, in building the habits and disciplines we will need to cultivate our success as disciples who make disciples. As much as those early disciples needed the Helper to run the race set before them we need Him no less to run ours. Are you ready?

Tomorrow we will begin to discuss the roles and promises of the One called our Helper.