“The Promise of the Holy Spirit”
Jesus promised to give us the Holy Spirit who will help us obey Jesus.
Key Verse: John 14:15-16 (NIV)
If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.
Bible Passage: John 14:15-21 (NIV)
If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
Lesson Thought
God has created us with free will. We have a God-given privilege to do whatever we want. Don’t misunderstand that statement. It does not mean that we should do whatever we want; it just means that we can. We can choose to do whatever we want; however, we cannot choose the consequences of what we do. We have not been pre-wired by our Creator to do His will. He wants us to surrender to His will of our own accord. And we willingly surrender our will to His, out a deep love for what He has done for us. It is this act of total surrender that characterizes the true believer. Yes, I could continue to live my life as I want, but out of a deep and abiding love for Jesus, I choose to surrender all. At some point in our lives, we must come to the realization that life is not about us, but about God. We are put here on earth to glorify and honor Him. We do that by freely giving up the privilege to do it my way and choose to do it His way. Jesus promised to give the Holy Spirit to those who love Him. The Holy Spirit will empower, or help, us to obey Jesus and surrender to His will.
Application: What does this lesson say to us today?
1) Are you like Frank Sinatra in his famous song, doing it “My Way?” What is in your life that you are holding onto, that you value more than Jesus and are reluctant to give up for Him? Rebel no more, and determine to surrender and to trust and obey Jesus.
2) Ask God the Holy Spirit to help you surrender everything in your life that prevents you from being more like Jesus.
Family Activities: putting the lesson into action
Go outside and play a game of Follow the Leader. Have Dad or Mom be the leader. The leader should do things that are easy and enjoyable as well as things that are difficult and unpleasant. Be sure to assist and encourage when needed. At the end of the game, the leader should ask, “When was following the leader easy? When was it difficult?” Then ask, “Why did you do the difficult or unpleasant things?” After everyone has had a chance to share their thoughts, draw the analogy that sometimes following Jesus is not easy. However, we can follow Him in total assurance, because we know that He loves us and that we can trust Him, just as we trusted Dad and Mom in our game.
Suggestions for further study
John 21:15-23
1 Samuel 15:1-24
Galatians 2:20
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