What a wonderful promise to remember! The Holy Spirit is for you AND for your children! Maybe, as you read this verse, you say, "But it says the promise is only for those who God invites. I am not good enough or don't deserve the Holy Spirit in my life." Or you may be thinking of how naughty your children have been recently, and can't imagine that the Holy Spirit wants to live in them!! I want you to come with me to John's gospel, chapter 7. There in verse 37, what does Jesus say - He actually shouts it out:
" If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!....."
Who does Jesus invite to come - ANY man or woman or child! ( One day I will post another study to show from the New Testament that Jesus always included children!) What does "any" mean? Does it mean just those who qualify. At present the Olympic torch has just started its relay journey around Britain. It is true that "anyone" can attempt to enter the Olympic Games, but most of us most definitely would not pass the first hurdle. You have to be super-fit and extraordinary at your chosen sport. So, in the end, "anyone" is not "anyone". You have to qualify. Let us see what Jesus says about qualifying?
"If any man is thirsty,"
This means we can all come with our failings, weaknesses and disappointments - we can come because we are thirsty for HIM and for His love and grace for us. We may feel empty and useless and worthless, but that does not disqualify us - it qualifies us!! Jesus continues to tell us that as we come to Him, believing, He will fill us and overflow us and rivers of life will flow out of us. The Bible tells us:
"He was speaking here of the Spirit...."
Jesus promises the Spirit to ANYONE who is thirsty and believes and comes to Him. Peter, in his first sermon, tells us that this promise is for us and for our children. Be thinking about what this means for your family. And we will come back in another post to the amazing blessing of knowing the Holy Spirit is with your children - and with you as a mum or a dad!
When I was only 13 and had recently asked Jesus to come into my life, we returned from England, where my father had been working in London for 2 years, to Kenya, where I had spent my childhood up to 11 years old. I had to go to boarding school as soon as we got back. This was very hard for me, as my parents and sisters went on from Nairobi to Kisumu where my father was to begin work - 200 miles away. BUT Jesus was with me. And, although I didn't know much about the Holy Spirit, He was in me! One night the other girls in my dorm went into the cupboard room after lights out, with their torches, to play a game. Well, I had no worries about disobeying school rules, and went to play this "game" with them. They put the letters of the alphabet in a circle and we sat around with a glass in the middle. Well, you know, I expect, what this is about, but I had no idea! I was only 13. The first girl asked a question and we all had to put our fingers on the glass, and it was meant to start moving. At that point, I just knew I shouldn't be involved, even though I was sure they were pushing the glass! So I got up and went back to my bed. When I was in bed again, I prayed and asked for the blood of Jesus to protect me and to protect the other girls. At that time, no one had taught me about the power of the blood of Jesus to protect us from evil. But I remember praying that specifically. Then I went to sleep. The next morning, I heard the other girls talking and bemoaning the fact that the glass had not worked - and they never, to my knowledge, tried it again! Looking back, I KNOW that it was the Holy Spirit in me Who alerted me to the satanic nature of this so-called "innocent game", and also taught me to pray the blood of Jesus for protection! If our children and teenagers know Jesus, we can trust the Holy Spirit in them. When we can't be with them to guide and shield them, the Holy Spirit can and will guard them from all evil.
John 14:26 (NASV) "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 16:13 (Mssge) "But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is...."
Friend, Helper, Guide - He, the Holy Spirit is in YOU! And with you! Every single day, in all the ups and downs, He will never leave you or your children alone!
