The Spirit Was There: Devotions From Time of GraceSample

The Spirit was there--inspiring

The fallout from Adam and Eve’s first rebellion was devastating--they had poisoned themselves; lost their innocence and divine image; lost their home in paradise; and lost their daily, easy communication with God.

The early chapters of the book of Genesis tell how quickly their descendants lost all knowledge of God. The world now essentially needed to be re-evangelized to rekindle the saving faith that they had lost. The only way that such faith can be created is through the Word of God. And it is to the Holy Spirit that we owe our gratitude for taking on himself the great task of bringing the Word through prophetic speaking and writing: “Prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

You might say that the prophetic and apostolic Word is “inSpired,” or “in-Spirited,” for the Holy Spirit both provided and edited the content. Only through the Word will we ever have any kind of certainty about who God is, what he has done, and how we fit into his plans. Only through the Word can unbelievers be transformed into believers. Only through the Word can we have a glimmer of how to live in such a way as to please him and fulfill the mission for which we were born.

When you read and hear the Bible, you can have 100 percent confidence that you are hearing God himself speaking to you.