Do you know what is the greatest gift the Holy Spirit gives you?

 

Please click this link for the video version:   https://youtu.be/EGcR3HoIyxY 

Bible in one year by Nicky Gumbel:

https://bibleinoneyear.org/en/

Nicky Gumbel's Bible in one year today:

https://preview.mailerlite.com/a9t6l2x2m8/2020072701342784386/n9u2/

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)

          Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.

          Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.

          Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.

      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

    

    The link to today's Time with Abba passages:   http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/

    Time with Abba passages: (Psalm 90:1-10, Esther 8:1-10:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13; Proverbs 21:23-24)

    Today's key passage: 

      Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 

       And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

       If I speak in the tongues[b] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[c] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8

    Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to him.    

    My Listening

    The topic I received today is: Do you know what is the greatest gift the Holy Spirit gives you?

    Paul starts to explain the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 and today we come to one of the most famous chapter in the Bible - the chapter of LOVE.

    But, the verse before that chapter could be the most important message Paul wants to give:

    "Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 

       And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

     Paul reminds them and us that no matter how powerful we are having many gifts of the Holy Spirit, if we do not have this greatest gift - love, then all those gifts are useless. Because if we are being filled with the Holy Spirit, then we should have receive this gift. If not, even we have other gifts then it might only be the gifts received in the past!  

     If you want to be sure that you have the presence of God with you and filled with the Holy Spirit, the answer actually is quite simple - do you have the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit?

    

     Dear Holy Spirit,  

     Help us to live out the greatest gift you give us that we are able to love. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

     Reflect on these questions:

     1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch?

      

      2.  What is your next step?

      Family Corner:

     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 

     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org