Appointed To Bear Fruit: A 90 Day JourneySample

Our Divine Teacher 

If you want to meet an important person, you need to make an appointment first. Otherwise they won’t have time for you. But this is not the case with the most important person, Jesus. One thing that has always amazed me about Jesus is that no one ever needed an appointment to meet Him. They could come to Him in the middle of the night like Nicodemus or touch Him on the street like the woman with bleeding. We see this occurrence repeatedly in the gospels. So far in this dinner table conversation, Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Judas (not Iscariot) have asked questions, and Jesus patiently answered each of them. We, too, should never be afraid to come to Jesus with our questions. When we are confused, we can ask Him and He will answer us, just like He did with the disciples. 

Once Jesus returns to heaven, He has promised to still be around through His Spirit to answer our questions. This is an important role of the Holy Spirit. Christ knows that we will continue to have many questions. It’s normal to sometimes forget what was taught to us or to be confused by what we read in the Bible. But, God’s Word is full of answers for us, and that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. He is our guide to help us understand the things of God. Whether we are in the village or the city, or whether we have much education or little, the Spirit is in us to answer the questions that arise in our hearts. 

When you read the gospel stories, we are reading the very the words of Christ. We are taught directly by the Spirit just as if we were being taught by Jesus Himself. The Bible helps us understand more deeply who Christ is and the depth of His love for us. Even though we have read the stories of the Bible before, each time we read them the stories should speak to us again. This is evidence that the Spirit is indeed in you. Through the Word and His Spirit, God still speaks to us today revealing to us the spiritual truths about Jesus and His work of salvation. 

Remembering, understanding, and obeying Christ’s words is not possible without the Spirit. Neither can we do the works that Christ did without the Spirit. That is why Jesus told us that doing greater works is only possible, because He was going to the Father (John 14:12). Jesus’ works demonstrated the power of God. We need the same power, for we can’t do anything without the Holy Spirit. When Jesus went to the Father, the Spirit came upon us, and as a result, Jesus sent us forth to proclaim the gospel only after He gave us the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-23). Through the Spirit’s power, we can do the works that Jesus did by sharing the Good News that people’s sins can be forgiven in Christ. Whenever you go out, you can have complete confidence that God will give you everything you need as you testify for Him through the power of the Spirit. 

Application:  What are you asking to Holy Spirit to teach you today so that you are better equipped to testify to the world about Christ?