Bible Study Notes 7/30/2024

Word Alive! Bible Study ©2024

Spring Series: Experiencing The Holy Spirit In & With Us © 2024

Concord Baptist Church of Boston in Milton

Conley Hughes, Jr., Senior Pastor

Tue., 29 July  2024 Lesson 6, Part 1, pp. 83-97

Quiet Time: H&M Blackaby, Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Shaping Us To Serve– Many have held the view, correctly so, that God does not choose us because of any expertise on our part. When God summons us for His service, we come before Him, not perfect, but with potential. It is not who we are that is as important to the work of God, as what the Lord can do with us. In their book, Experiencing the Holy Spirit, Henry and Melvin Blackaby says, “Because God has a purpose for your life, He has sent you the Holy Spirit to enable you to fulfill the assignment He wants to accomplish through you.”  It is always what God intends to do through us that’s most important. We see clear evidence of this in the Scriptures. Even those persons who were described as “upright” or “perfect,” were far from human perfection. In their moments of weakness, most of them responded with vulnerability at the least.  We note in the Scripture, however, it was the Spirit who prepared people for their assignments.  Isaiah prophesied the pouring out of the Spirit on Jesus, to fulfill His mission on earth. Isaiah describes the ministry the Spirit empowers through the Word; healing; comfort; and freeing persons who are captive by sin and injustice.  (Read, Isaiah 61:1, NLT). The Holy Spirit who has been sent to us, is the same who shapes us for the work of God on earth. It is never our efforts alone that bring transformation. Transformative change comes only through the gifts of the Spirit resident in the lives of all believers who are faithful to Christ. The skeptical Gentiles were assured, “Christ lives in you. This gives you the assurance of sharing His glory.” (See, Colossians 1:27b, NLT). The ground beneath every Christian is level. Wherever God finds us; or where we encounter God, it is the Spirit of god who shapes us into someone who is useful to God. The Blackaby’s suggest, “God isn’t looking for proven leaders. He’s looking for those who have hearts that are pure and responsive, and then He equips them by His Spirit to become leaders.” Isaiah was a member of a priestly clan which held standing in the Temple. It was not Isaiah’s family background that prepared him for his call to prophetic ministry. The experience Isaiah encountered in the Temple one day, revealed his imperfection. Admitting to his failures, the Spirit of the Lord humbled Isaiah’s heart, and he accepted the challenge to serve God. It was during that confession; God began to shape Isaiah for His service. (Read, Isaiah 6:5-0a, NLT).  Ezekiel was with fellow Israelites in Exile, when God spoke to him beside the Kebar Canal. Ezekiel saw strange visions, which culminated in God summoning him to proclaim his message to Israel – and to denounce the nation for its sins. God sent Ezekiel on a difficult task, where fear alone could have destroyed him. Ezekiel was told to stand up and listen to God. In doing so, the Spirit entered his heart, and he accepted the assignment for which he was being prepared. (Read, Ezekiel 2:1-3, NLT). The Spirit who enters, remains to shape and form us into the persons God intends us to become. The great work of the Holy Spirit is for character formation and the cultivation of spiritual gifts. We must remain in fellowship with Jesus Christ so the work of the Spirit may be effective within us. Paul exhorted Timothy to keep alive the spiritual gifts he had received. (Read, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, NLT). It is the Spirit who prepares us to respond more readily to God!

Key Verses:

Isaiah 61:1, NLT

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”

Isaiah 6:5-9a, NLT

“Then I said, “It’s all over. I’m doomed for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Then one of the Seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had take from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” And He said, Yes go…”

Ezekiel 2:1-5, NLT

“Stand up, son of man, “said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” The Spirit came into me as He spoke, and He set me on my feet. I listened carefully to His words. “Son of man,” He said. “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says! And whether they listen or refuse to listen – for remember they are rebels – at least they will know they have a prophet among them.”

2 Timothy 1:6-7, NLT

“This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline!”