POURING IN AND POURING OUT
Part 5

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord”
(2 Corinthians 3:18).

HE POURS COMFORT IN US AND THROUGH US

The Holy Spirit who dwells within us is called the Comforter. What a beautiful name. The Greek word parakletos means an “an intercessor, consoler, advocate, advisor/helper, comforter.” Read John 14:26, 15:26; and 16:7-11.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us to console, encourage, and help us. How blessed we are. We cannot continue to live in a state of despair when the Holy Spirit is in us. However, we are realizing that the work of the Holy Spirit within us is not only to bless us, but others. One of the evidences of the Holy Spirit in us is that we comfort others—our husband, children, and people who are part of our lives.

What do you think of when you think of a comforter? We think of someone who is kind, compassionate, consoling, encouraging, and who lifts us up. I have to ask myself: “Am I a comforter to my husband, my family, and all I meet? Each new day? “Please help me to be a loving comforter to them, dear Father.”

However, we have to be a true Holy spirit comforter, not a counterfeit comforter. Just as we learn to discern the cries of our little baby, we discern the cries of our children. Sometimes they need consoling and comforting words. Other times they cry because they feel sorry for themselves or are mad with their brother and sister. This is not a time to side with their attitude. It’s a time to lift them up to see beyond themselves and teach them that life is not all about pandering to them, but to think about the other person. It’s time to pray with our children and lead them to a higher plane.

There are many adults who still have this kind of attitude. I have often seen a woman crying and another rushing up to her and putting their arm around them as soon as they cry. Sometimes this is the right thing to do. The very thing they need.

But not always. Maybe they are crying because of self-pity. “Poor me. Everyone is against me.” Maybe they are selfishly thinking of their own agenda and want people to side with their side of the story. These women also need true Holy Spirit comforting—lifting up their spirits to see that God is bigger than their circumstances, that God is in control, that God is more interested in making them into the image of Christ than letting them stay in their state of self-pity and depression. Instead of siding with them, we need to encourage and pray with them, and lift them up from their miserable state.

I remember reading a book by Watchman Nee where he wrote of a woman who gently went to a woman who was crying. Instead of saying, “What are you crying for, my dear?” she asked, “Who are you crying for? Yourself or for someone else?”

When Jesus promised His disciples to send the beloved Comforter to them in John 16:7, He immediately states in the next verse that the Comforter “will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (verses 8--11).

May God give us great discernment. Let’s look to the Lord for His anointing as we comfort. Let’s comfort the way the Holy Spirit comforts—lifting us up to a new plane rather than covering a wound with a patch of nice words when the problem still festers underneath.

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of ALL comfort; Who comforteth us in ALL our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4).

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“OI thank you, Holy Spirit, that You are my Comforter, Encourager, and Help. Your comfort is enough for any situation. Help me to always be ready to comfort others the same way You comfort me. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

If the Holy Spirit is filling my life, I will be interceding and praying for, helping, and cheering up all who need God’s comfort.

POURING IN AND POURING OUT
Part 4

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”
(2 Corinthians 3:18).

HE POURS GOD’S POWER INTO US AND THROUGH US

Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The word “power” in the Greek is dunamis and means “miraculous power, ability, mighty and wonderful works.” This word is translated “miracles” nine times. I wonder why we see so few miraculous works through our lives? Our lives are so opposite from the early New Testament Christians, aren’t they?

The dunamis power of the Holy Spirit is not only for special evangelists, but for every believer in whom the Holy Spirit dwells! It is the normal Christian life. It is for you. It is for me. Paul confessed that he declared the gospel “through mighty (dunamis) signs and wonders, by the (dunamis) power of the Spirit of God” (Romans 15:19). Let’s come up to the level that God has for us instead of groveling around in our boring lives.

You don’t have to wait to go on some mission trip to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Believe God for miracles as you face the daily challenges of mothering. When your children are sick, pray for them and believe God to heal them. When you face a problem in dealing with your children, pray, and expect God to give you His wisdom or do a miracle. Expect to see the power of God working through you daily as a mother.

God wants you to know and experience “the exceeding greatness of his (dunamis) power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:19). Did you read that? It’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! You better read it again to take it in.

We love to quote 2 Timothy 1:7 don’t we? “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” What has God given us? It’s His dunamis power! For your daily living in the home. Do we only recite the Scripture or do we believe it?

But you say, “I’m weak. I keep failing.” That’s not too hard for God. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength (the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit which dwells in you – yes, the word is dunamis) is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power (dunamis) of Christ may rest upon me.”

HE SPEAKS A WELCOMING LANGUAGE IN US AND THROUGH US

God’s favorite word is Come (Isaiah 55;1-4). Jesus’ favorite word is Come (Matthew 11:28-30). And the Holy Spirit also loves the word Come. Revelation 22:17 says: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Is Come one of your favorite words? “Come, Holy Spirit, please work in my heart. I yield myself to Your moving in my heart. Convict of the things that grieve You. Draw me more and more into the ways of Christ. Give me a hearing heart to hear what You want to speak unto my life. Amen.”

This Scripture tells us that it is not only the Holy Spirit who says Come, but the also the bride. This is her favorite word too. Do you like to say Come? This should be our word towards children. The disciples had the humanistic attitude of shooing children away, “But Jesus said: "Let the children COME TO ME. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children" (Matthew 19:14 NLT). Are we open for children to come to our womb and into our family? When a little baby comes into our lives, do we love to say Come. “Come, baby, I know you just nursed ten minutes ago, but you are still fussy. Come again and I’ll feed you.”

Do we continually say Come to people, inviting them to our home? “Oh you must come and have a meal with us. What about this Friday evening? Or what about after church on Sunday?” If you mean it, you’ll make a time and you’ll urge them to come. The words of Jesus are: “Go out into the highways and hedges, and COMPEL THEM TO COME IN, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23).

And of course, our hearts will resonate with Revelation 22:20: “He which testified these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so COME, LORD JESUS.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Holy Spirit, I thank you that You come into my heart to direct me more and more toward Christ. I give you freedom to come in all Your fullness to mold me into the image of Jesus. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I love the word Come. I want Jesus to come fully into every area of my life. love children to come to me. I want people to come to my house.

POURING IN AND POURING OUT
Part 3

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16).

Isn’t it amazing what the Holy Spirit does in and through us?

HE POURS STRENGTH INTO US AND THROUGH US

Ephesians 3:16: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” How often our spirits lag. How often they feel disappointed, weak, and full of self-pity. Praise the Lord, the precious Holy Spirit who dwells within us strengthens our inner man. If we let him. Sometimes, we want to stay in our weakness. We enjoy groveling in our self-pity. But this is our own decision for the Holy Spirit is in us to strengthen us. The word is krataioo and reveals that the Holy Spirit “empowers us, increases our vigor, and enables us to become stronger and stronger.”

When we yield to the Holy Spirit, instead of our flesh, He invigorates and refreshes us to bring strength to others. Dear precious mother, you have the Holy Spirit in you to help you mother your children each day. Often you feel inadequate and weak, but yield to the Spirit of God. Thank Him for strengthening and empowering you. Thank Him for making you strong to mother. Thank Him that even when your outward man languishes, your inward man is being strengthened day by day.

HE POURS TRUTH INTO US AND THROUGH US

Jesus spoke to His disciples many times about how the Holy Spirit teaches us. Let’s check it out:

John 14:16, 17: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 15:26, 27: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness . . .”

Again in John 16:13-15: Jesus reminded His disciples again: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come . . . He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.”

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. He is the revealer of truth. As we faithfully read, meditate, and live richly in the Word, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see truth which the natural man cannot see. He teaches us all things and is the best translator of God’s Word.

As He teaches us, He wants us to pour out His truth to others, firstly to our children and then to all we meet. 1 Corinthians 2:13 says: “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

Please read the following Scriptures for further understanding: 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; Ephesians 3:5; and 1 John 2:27.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit into my heart to strengthen me in my daily walk. I don’t have to rely on my own strength for the Holy Spirit strengthens me with His dunamis mighty power. Thank you for teaching me and leading me in the way You want me to go. Amen.”

AFFIRIMATION:

Facing each new day with the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit.

POURING IN AND POURING OUT
Part 2

“Be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”
(Ephesians 5:18, 19).

We continue to share about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives:

HE POURS OUT RIVERS OF LIFE IN US AND THROUGH US

John 7:38, 39: “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly (innermost being) shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.)” The Holy Spirit within us is not a stagnant well. He is a flowing river and wants to flow rivers of life our from us. There are so many who are parched and thirsty, spiritually lifeless and dying. They are desperate for the manifestation of the life of Jesus through you and me.

As mothers we are to be life to our husband sand children. We cannot do this by ourselves, but only as we allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us. Let’s pour out life to our families today. Every day pouring out more life. Never a dried up well, but overflowing continually with the water of life.

The Spirit of God within us invigorates our mortal bodies with life. Romans 8:11 says: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” The truth of this Scripture is mind-boggling. Because the Holy Spirt who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, He is able to make alive and raise up our mortal bodies. He intends us to walk in divine health.

Are you sick and languishing? Do not doubt any longer. The Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells in you to heal you and make you alive. He is your Life-giver. He is your Healer. He is called the Spirit of life in Romans 8:2 and Revelation 11:

Keep your mind and heart richly filled with God’s Word. Jesus said: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

HE POURS OUT INTERCESSION IN US AND THROUGH US

Romans 8:26, 27: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for us we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Read also Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:1; and Hebrews 7:25.

Jesus Christ is our Intercessor. As our High Priest he continually intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father. Because He is an intercessor, He wants us to be intercessors too. He is in us to help us intercede for others.

When the Holy Spirit truly dwells in our hearts, we will be motivated to intercede for others. As mothers, we embrace our responsibility to pray and intercede for our children. If we don’t pray for our children, who will? Pray together with your husband for your children each day.

Do you have a prayer meeting in your home? The Holy Spirit within us loves prayer meetings. To experience more of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your home, organize prayer meetings. Weekly Prayer meetings have always been part of our family life--prayer meetings for Israel, prayer meetings for the community, prayer meetings for revival, and prayer meetings for the nation. Currently we have nightly prayer meetings with our extended family because we face a big challenge in our family.

And don’t forget to pray together morning and evening as you gather your family together for worship and Bible time. The Holy Spirit in us seeks to woo us from our selfish lives to pour out intercession for others.

Ephesians 6:18: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Thank you, dear Holy Spirit, that you are within me to motivate and help me to pray. I yield myself to the anointing of your intercession with me. Use me to pray for my family and for others. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

The Holy Spirit within me is a fountain bubbling up and pouring out rivers of life to my children and everyone I meet.