April 7

God’s Life Guide

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  ––Philippians 2:13 

Jesus’ physical guidance was going to cease: He was going to die, He was going to resurrect, He was going to make eight or nine appearances to validate His resurrection in history, and then he was going to go to the Father. The disciples were thinking and asking, “Where are you going?” “How are we going to manage on our own?” “Who’s going to lead us?”

Jesus told his disciples in their final huddle, I’m not leaving you as orphans; I’m going to provide a guide. He is going to speak to you. He is going to reveal to you what I want you to know, so that you can navigate life and your relationships. You can talk about me and the power in order for you to get to the summit of life as God’s man.

Jesus then tells them something shocking:  “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). We have the advantage of hindsight and two millennia of biblical study to help us understand what Jesus was saying, but the disciples did not. I’m sure this was confusing as they thought, Wait, you are the Messiah doing miracles and preaching the kingdom, and now you are saying that you have to leave because the Father is greater?

What Jesus was telling them was that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, would be poured out on all of them—that spiritual leadership would transition from a physical Person to an Omni spiritual presence, the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ kingdom authority is not limited to a physical presence and that’s why Jesus said it’s better that He go. And now, brothers, we have that same Holy Spirit as our guide.

A January 2023 report published by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary says there are now 2.6 billion Christians and that number will rise to 3.3 billion by 2050. To put that in perspective, when Jesus walked the Earth it’s estimated that the entire population of the planet was 300 million. That’s exponential growth.

All of this would not have happened if His Holy Spirit had not been supplied to and within each of us. Our Father in His wisdom knew that His spiritual power needed to be translated into the physical, so that His love could reach all. You have this power within you. He has chosen you to partner with Him in all His good deeds.

Father, You have chosen me to partner with You, and supplied the faith and power to act on it. Thank you!

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