Sunday morning dew service for 20th of July 2014 Enjoying Friendship with the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17, 25-27) Revd Ebenezer Okechukwu One of the things the Holy Spirit came to be on earth is our FRIEND. When we discover friendship with the Holy Spirit, life would be easy and sweet for us. Friendship exist in different capacities: • there are the acquaintances, the Holy Spirit didn’t come to be a mere acquaintance to us • there are the casual friends. The Holy Spirit did not come to be a casual friend • beyond casual friends, we have the close friends. Here there is no full trust as such and the Holy Spirit didn’t come to be just a close friend • beyond close friends, we have the INTIMATE FRIEND, these are people whose heart are bonded, our soul mate, constantly that friend occupies our thoughts. That is the kind of friend the Holy Spirit came to be to us, he came to share in our thought. To become intimate friend means to have a lasting bond just like the friendship of David and Jonathan in 1sam18:3. The Holy Spirit came to offer us a friendship that goes beyond death. In this kind of friendship there is always the exchange of strong vows and there is always intense emotional attachments (bear it in mind that the Holy Spirit has feeling and expresses it to us). What does the friendship with the Holy Spirit offer us? 1. The Holy Spirit sharpens us. He delights in sharpening us. He wants to sharpen us wherever we are not up to date (Proverbs 27:17) 2. Favour will follow us when we are friends with the Holy Spirit (Job29:4) 3. It offers you support in times of need. The Holy Spirit is a friend in need. He meets our every need 4. We get access to secret information/revelation from the lord (psalm25:14). He reveals secret plans to us (Gen18:17, John15:15) 5. Friendship with the Holy Spirit offers us extension of God’s mercy to people around us. This means that because we are friends with the Holy Spirit people around us will also benefit from it. What to do to cultivate this friendship? 1. Reverence: God’s friendship is for those that revere him (Psalm25:14). In life we have 3 categories of friends, we have those below us, our peers and those above us. The Holy Spirit is above us so he is our senior friend. How come we find it difficult to kneel down when we are praying, we seem so casual in our friendship with him. Let me tell you, the Holy Spirit watches us, he knows the arrogant man from afar. 2. Always bear in mind that the Holy Spirit is not a thing, he is a person. Whatever characterizes a person is in the Holy Spirit. Visualize him sitting before you, visualize him holding you. 3. Give the Holy Spirit time: if you don’t spend time with somebody, you cant call that person your friend. Time is what we use to buy friendship. Friendship is built when you give time to the Holy Spirit.Abraham earned the friendship of God because of his obedience (Genesis22:17). Each time you obey the voice of the Holy Spirit your friendship with him is strengthened and each time you disobey, you lose a degree of that friendship (James2:23.24) What to do to strengthen our friendship with the Holy Spirit? 1. Worship him and work for him and with him 2. Adore the Holy Spirit 3. Take a walk with him, that is, go with him wherever you are going 4. Get involved in what he is doing 5. Spend time with him Child of God, the Lord does not want you to go through life alone, he wants you to be his friend. Welcome his friendship and see your life turn dramatically. Prayer Point: Holy Spirit I welcome your friendship. Help me to develop this friendship you have offered me. Just to add this, to become his friend you have to have sameness of heart, interest, and goal. Until your interest and heart agrees with His, then nothing can happen.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 07:45:38 +0000
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