The last of the seven blessings also has a present and future flavour: Not only did God give us His Son, but He has also given us His Spirit!
The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Counsellor, Conscience (He convicts us of sin), and Guide. He empowers us with spiritual gifts and produces fruit in us. He reminds us of the words of Jesus and He is the power of the resurrection working in us.
The Holy Spirit is the One who enables us to be Renewed, Regenerated and Reborn - it is by His prompting that we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
But Paul tells us more! The Spirit's presence in our lives marks us with a seal: we belong to God - we are His! We are His sons and daughters. We confidently pray "Our Father" because of the Spirit!
AND the Spirit is the "deposit" or "down payment." He is our guarantee that there is more to this life - we are certain of the resurrection and the life hereafter.
What an awesome blessing! The Holy Spirit who aids us, equips us, marks us as God's children and assures us of our long-term future with God.
Thank You Lord for your indescribable goodness!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
