The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

.... When Jesus came into the world and His ministry began, He chose the twelve apostles "that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach." (Mark 3:14). They were about to receive some very personalized training that would reshape their lives. They would hear His lessons, continue with our Lord in His trials, and learn of His character in this way (Luke 22:28). In other words, Jesus would become their living example as they walked through each lesson together, and they grew into His likeness as a result.
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.... But during the time that Jesus was on earth, He was limited by the essence of His humanity. For example, He could only be in one place at a time, so He could only reach a limited number of people at once; and even though He knew the heart of each man, He had to communicate through a language of human understanding. All of this interacted with the same human limitations on our own end, as the other side of the same coin.

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.... Because Jesus would soon be leaving the earth, He concentrated His teaching on twelve key persons, who would become messengers and examples to us all. But for even this to be effective, the Holy Spirit had to minister through them in the same manner that He had ministered through Jesus Himself (Isaiah 11:2; 42:1). And so our Lord would say to them (and to us):

.... "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

(John 16:7)

.... Unlike Jesus while He was on the earth, the Holy Spirit has always been omnipresent, which means that He can be everywhere at once (Psalm 139:7-10). He can teach and guide each one of us, even in very minute detail and at all times. Furthermore He can teach us from within, bringing the heart and soul of Jesus’ meaning to our understanding by way of our own spirit. This can provide a much deeper level of perception than would otherwise be possible, and with a much greater ability to transform us as we are receiving from Him. As such, the Holy Spirit can bring a level of attention and tutoring even deeper than Jesus was able to offer, due to the limitations of His flesh and of ours, while He was here among us.
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.... In a powerful way, the Holy Spirit can also work through us to minister the life of Christ to others, just as He worked through Jesus Himself – and in fact, now He can even excel that ministry. For Jesus Himself has now been glorified, and the Holy Spirit takes those things that belong to Him and ministers them to us:

.... "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

(John 16:14-15)

.... and,

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.... "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

(John 14:12)

.... Now that Jesus has ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit both draws from our Lord's fullness and reveals Him to us in the process; He conforms us to the same image through the whole experience in order to to glorify our Lord (John 1:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18). The ministry of the Holy Spirit is all about deepening our personal relationship with Christ as we walk with Him, share life's trials with Him, and allow Jesus to shine through us in every way.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 8