COVID-19 Novel Encouragement Sample

TRUTH

[We] walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ... but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind of the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  Romans 8:4-6  

Living in this city during this outbreak season, life has had many unexpected challenges: in the outside world, we've seen challenges to the environment, to the economy, to governments, and to education; at home, we've seen different pressures from our marriages, families, and our own internal worlds. Even the life of your soul has probably been influenced. How are you viewing God? When you see all these things, what do you see? When you lift your head to look at God (Psalm 121:1), what do you see? What do you ask Him? Do you have times of despair?

In the midst of difficulties, how can we access the breakthrough that comes from God? How do we see further? How can we see more clearly? What is the truth? The spiritual breakthrough comes when we work together with Holy Spirit who God has sent to us. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you’re ready to begin.

Maybe you've studied the teachings about Holy Spirit in "Systematic Theology", about Holy Spirit's work, why He lives in believers, His spiritual fruit, as well as the glory to God that He brings. These are all important points to study and understand. When you see Jesus's promise below, what do you see?

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."  (John 14:16-17)

In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul challenges the believers with this question: “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”

The Holy Spirit is not just a theological concept, topic of instruction, or spiritual principle. He is a true, vibrant presence; He is alive; He lives in believers. You may ask: Where in our bodies is He? The Bible's answer is this: "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out 'Abba, Father!'" (Galatians 4:6)

Now, if the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, then we should respectfully invite Him to rule our hearts. When the New Testament talks about the heart, it's referring to the center of our thinking. This is one of the beautiful aspects of how God created us; he made us with minds to think, and then to speak or act. Now here's the challenge: how would you solve Solomon's mystery? Proverbs 4:23 says: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

"[Guarding] our hearts" is something that we must pay attention to and train ourselves to do. The question is: how can we do this effectively? If we rely on ourselves, we will certainly fail, but the Holy Spirit dwells within the center of our thoughts 24-7. At every moment, He sees the struggles, choices, and decisions of our hearts and minds. He always has already received a clear, wise, and correct direction or answer from God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit wants to give all He has received to us, and to teach us step-by-step how to guard our hearts and keep watch over ourselves. The Holy Spirit wants us to follow His leading because everything He leads us to is to train us and is for our good; it all is aligned with the purposes of God and aligned with the teaching of Scripture. This is because God always considers the good of His children.

The question comes again: in our daily lives, how can we follow the Holy Spirit? How can we practice following Him and thinking His thoughts? How can I "discipline my body and keep it under control"?(1 Corinthians 9:27) How can I "put to death" my old self? (Colossians 3:5) How can I produce the Holy Spirit's fruit? (Galatians 5:22-23) How can I live and act in a way that is holy? (1 Peter 1:15)

We must actively seek the Holy Spirit and ask for the perspective and vision that He gets from God. Then we must choose to think correctly and more deeply about God's principles and traits. Finally, we must ask the Holy Spirit to give us discernment and allow us to feel the existence of problems more deeply, to see what the main problem is in each, and how to use wisdom to solve them. This is when we will experience spiritual clarity.

What happens if we don't pay attention to the Holy Spirit, or we ignore His leadings? The Holy Spirit has already been given everything by God the Father and Jesus Christ. He is continually directing us and urging us, but we may choose to ignore Him or not follow Him. In cases like these, the Holy Spirit will respect our choice. He will not put everything He has received into our minds. We all have a switch in our minds to spiritual things. When this switch is turned off, all of God's power, wisdom, favor, blessing, and peace are stuck outside of our minds. It's not because God doesn't want to give us his grace and power; instead, it's because we chose not to submit to the work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we can mistakenly believe that God didn't answer us! At the same time, we can't overcome our own weaknesses.

We need to regularly spend time with the Holy Spirit, get to know Him, talk to Him, and draw close to Him. We should ask Him to show all that He has been given to us, to teach us, and so make us into God's true children, and not just nominal children. This attitude of humble entreaty is not easy. We need to let go of our own selfish perspectives and desires, prideful inclinations, lazy habits, and changeable emotions. We need to regularly invite the Holy Spirit to help us discipline ourselves. In this way, we will turn that switch controlling spiritual movement on. When we truly seek the Holy Spirit, he will lead our thoughts and help us to have appropriate feelings and to be aligned with God's will. (Hebrews 13:21) When we seek the Holy Spirit in a disciplined way, we will begin to experience new and powerful images that we never knew of before: new possibilities, new perspectives, new values, new ways of doing things, new wisdom and knowledge, new abilities, as well as new ways of talking to our children. We will experience being "filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ..." (Colossians 1:9) (Emphasis added) This way, we will begin to understand the truth of the spiritual world, comprehend the Bible with greater depth, and once again gain power, wisdom, grace, and peace from the Holy Spirit. So, what Paul said above is living truth. "to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:6).

I have drawn some pictures to explain how this works; I hope they will be useful to you.

Let us submit to the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, learn new perspectives from the Father through him, and see real truth through the Father's perspective.

Prayer: Dear Father God, we thank you for understanding our deepest needs, and we thank you for sending the Spirit of Christ to live in our hearts. Thank you Holy Spirit for helping us get rid of stubborn, selfish, wrong habits. Holy Spirit, help us to control our selfishness and pride so that we may submit to your leading and live out your fruit. Help us become vessels of the Lord so that we may bless those around us. Thank you for the work you are doing in our lives to make us more like Jesus. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

In the protection of the Lord,

Pastor Chin

Sanya, Hainan, China

(All English Bible quotations are from the ESV. )