By Susan Nero

A TRIUNE GOD

GOD HAD ALWAYS PLANNED AN ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO THE HUMAN SIN PROBLEM. He promised that he would send the ultimate sacrifice one day, and this sacrifice would be in the Messiah. He would deliver the people of Israel from their sins, as well as anyone else who trusted in Him

THROUGH THE SHEDDING OF CHRIST’S BLOOD; God would forgiveand forget our sins, and we would come into right standing with Him. We would be justified - just as if we had never sinned.

Even the disciples, who had been with Jesus for years, couldn’t comprehend God’s plan of salvation. It wasn’t until He appeared to them as the risen Savior that they began to understand what transpired when Jesus died on the cross.

ONE PROBLEM from Jim Cymbala”s book “Spirit Rising”. (READ)

No outward teaching can compare to the INWARD POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

How much loss do we suffer because we don’t expect the Spirit to show up as promised? Everything we read about the church in the New Testament centered on the power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of Christian believers. They believed in Christ’s word, they expected the Spirit to do great things, and He came through as promised.

He will do the same for us today!

CHRISTIANITY IS HOPELESS WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

But the coming of the Holy Spirit would not have occurred without Jesus and Jesus would not have occurred without the FATHER.

Our Perfect God 3 in 1.

Devotion:


“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. NKJV

Our devotional today is on Romans Chapter 15 verse 13 : And is a wonderful prayer that Paul offered for the believers at Rome.

Not surprisingly we can see that this prayer proves to be “for just such a time as this” as the word hope or rather our need for, loss of, or search for hope is the most desperate cry in our world today. Again, it is not coincidental that our choice for our summer studies was “Our hope in God.”

I thought at first that our devotional with the title “Hope by the Power of the Holy Spirit” would focus once again on the blessings of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives —and it does but this time it will focus on His importance in regard to the hope we have in Jesus.

Today we will be focusing on the source of this abundant hope; and divine means for abounding in it. We should notice that the three members of the trinity are all mentioned in the context of our verse this morning:

God the Father is the God of Hope. The object of our hope is Jesus Christ the Son of God. The power for joy, peace, and abundant hope comes from the Holy Spirit.

What does the Bible say about hope? The word hope in English often conveys doubt. For instance, “I hope it will not rain tomorrow.” However, that is not the meaning of the words usually translated hope in the Bible. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word “batah” has the meaning of confidence, security, and being without care, therefore, the concept of doubt is not part of this word. In the New Testament, the word hope is the Greek “elpis/elpizo. Again, there is no doubt attached to this word.

Therefore, biblical hope is a reality and not a feeling. It is on a sure foundation upon which we base our lives, believing that God always keeps His promises.

When we were lost, we were without hope, but in Jesus we have a “living hope”

(1 Peter 1:3-4) “by which we were given great and precious promises that encourage us day by day.”

PROMISE LIST

What tremendous promises Jesus has given us: the promise of eternal life. And the promise of His Presence gives us power by His Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians 1:19-23 Paul prays for the church in Ephesus:

(19) “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe in Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ; who fills all in all.”

Here Paul is talking about divine, dynamic, eternal energy, available to us by His Holy Spirit and that this knowledge will give us an understanding of our need for Him and His availability (living in us) 24/7.

Starting with our devotional verse:

”NOW MAY THE GOD OF HOPE FILL YOU WITH ALL JOY AND PEACE”

We will look at Romans 5 verses 1-5:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” NKJV

From these verses we learn that because of God’s grace and through our faith, we have been saved by the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And as a result, we have received reconciliation with our Father and therefore His peace (Verse 1) joy (Verse 2c) love (Verse 5( and hope by the Holy Spirit (Verse 5).

Paul had already mentioned joy and peace in connection with the Holy Spirit. “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 14:17

Both joy and peace are listed as part of the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in the believer who walks in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16, 22) So we see that we can abound in hope as we are living in the Spirit (or being controlled by Him.) When we speak of being “filled” with the Spirit we are not talking about how much more of Him we need but of how much more control over our lives we need to surrender to Him.

We must remember that the qualities of joy and peace that the Spirit of God produces in us do NOT come from having a certain personality type. A Person with Holy Spirit produced joy is not just a person with a bubbly optimistic personality. A person with Holy Spirit produced peace is not just someone “laid back” who doesn’t get ruffled. Rather these are qualities that are not natural. And they do not come from being in favorable circumstances where just about anyone would be joyful and full of peace. In fact, they are quite often noticeable when a person is in a situation where almost everyone would be depressed, anxious, or in the midst of grief. But the Spirit filled believer is full of joy and peace.

Peace and Joy continued

In thinking about this I realized that I have a list of people that will always remember and remain in my heart as I’m sure you do. I also remember the work of the Spirit in my life where I was amazed that I had such peace while undergoing devastating circumstances. There was never any doubt where these gifts came from. Just remembering, increases my hope in God.

Other examples of the work of the Spirit we find in Scripture:

Paul described himself as “sorrowful”, yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10a).

Paul mentions joy 21 times in his letters.

It is especially helpful to study joy in Philippians 4:6-7

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

“………SO THAT YOU WILL ABOUND IN HOPE BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

God the Father is the God of Hope. The object of our hope is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The power for joy, peace, and abundant hope comes from the Holy Spirit.

The power of the Holy Spirit is nothing less than the power of God that created the universe!

He spoke and it was done. (Psalm 33:9)

The Spirits power is the resurrection power that gives new life to dead sinners. (John 3:6-8)

The Spirit opens our minds so that we can understand the truth of God’s Word. (1 Cor.2:9-13)

The Spirit is the power that produces His holiness in us as we walk in dependance on Him.

(Galatians 5:16-23), (1 Cor. 6:11)

The Spirit confirms our adoption as children of God and helps us as we struggle to pray.

(Romans 8:15-17, 26)

The Spirit strengthens us with power in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. (Ephesians 3::16-17)

The Spirit seals every believer so that we are kept for the day of redemption. (Eph. 1:13-14)

And so we see that the Spirit is the power who produces in us His fruit of joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we abound in hope.

I’d like to share a commentary by Andrew Murray that I believe perfectly encapsulates the Holy Trinity of God. It is just overwhelming that we should be invited to join this PERFECT UNION!

Andrew Murray from his commentary in 2 Corinthians 3:3, 6-10

“The Holy Spirit is the great gift of the New Covenant. His coming from heaven was the proof that the Mediator of the Covenant was on the throne in glory, and could now make us partakers of the heavenly life.

The New Covenant has no power to save and to bless except as it is a ministration of the Spirit. That Spirit works in lesser or greater degree, as He is neglected and grieved, or yielded to and trusted. Let us honor Him, and give Him His place as the Spirit of the Covenant, by expecting and accepting all He wants to do for us.”

“He is the Spirit of faith, who enables us to believe the otherwise incomprehensible blessing and power in which the New Covenant works, and to claim it as our own.”

“He is the Spirit of grace and power, by whom the obedience of the Covenant and the fellowship with God can be maintained without interruption.”

“He Himself is the Possessor and the Bearer and the Communicator of all the Covenant promises, the Revealer and the Glorifier of Jesus

“Begin at once, child of God, to give the Holy Spirit the place in your life He has in God’s plan. Be still before God, and believe that He is within you, and ask the Father to work in you through Him. Regard yourself, your spirit as well as your body, with holy calm and fear (reverence). And be sure that all that God calls you to be, Christ through His Spirit will work in you.”

AMEN

The following are Bible verses for further consideration:

PSALM 33:9 “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.”

JOHN 3:6-8 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”

1 COR. 2:9 “Eye has not, seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man; the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”

1COR. 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

1 COR. 6:11 “ And such were some of you, But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

GALATIANS: 5:18 “But, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

ROMANS 8:15-17 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

EPHESIANS 3: 16-17 “that He (God) would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…..”

EPHESIANS 1:13-14 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also

you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory.”