JESUS’ MOST PRECIOUS GIFT - UOA WM WEEK. edited.pptx

JESUS’ MOST PRECIOUS GIFT - UOA WM WEEK. edited.pptx

• 1.
  JESUS’ MOST PRECIOUS GIFT WHATDID JESUS TEACH ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT?
• 2.
  JESUS MOST PRECIOUSGIFT  Are you acquainted with Jesus’ most powerful message?
• 3.
  personal testimonies  Backto our “first love:”  A sister wrote to me: My friend and I are currently studying the “40 Days” book for the third time alternating with the booklet “Steps to Personal Revival”. Before we discovered this material our faith experience and prayer life wasn’t what it once had been.  We longed to find our “first love” again.  They have become a great and long-awaited blessing in my life. Just like many other church members and a sister something was always missing in our faith experience and now we have had the privilege of experiencing how Jesus has entered our lives and has begun to change us. He is still working on us and step by step is drawing us closer to Him.”
• 4.
  Jesus’ disciples asked themselves:How can Jesus exercise great influence?  Was it connected with His prayer life? That is why they asked Him: “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus responded to their request.
• 5.
  PRAYER LESSONS  Threeparts to learn from the book of Luke 11:1-13  Luke 11:1-4 – The Lord’s Prayer,  Luke 11:5-8 – The parable of the friend coming at midnight  Luke 11:9-13 – The continual request for the Holy Ghost
• 6.
  THE LORD’S PRAYER Oneof His disciples said to Him, Lord teach us to pray Prayer is a unique process
• 7.
  The parable ofthe friend coming at midnight  In the parable visitors arrive at a man’s home late in the evening and he has nothing, which he can serve them.  Because of his need, he immediately goes to his neighbor.  He explains to him that “he has nothing” and asks for bread.  He continues to ask until he finally receives the bread.  Now he has bread – bread of life – for himself and for his visitors.  He has something for himself and is now in the position where he can share.
• 8.
  The parable ofthe friend coming at midnight  Now Jesus links this parable (problem: I have nothing) with the request for the Holy Spirit by saying:  “Therefore I say to you, ask, and it will be given you.”
• 9.
  Jesus’ special Appeal Therefore ask for the Holy Spirit.  There is a particular Bible passage in which Jesus emphatically/forcefully commands us to ask for the Holy Ghost.  Here He emphasized 10 times that we should ask for the Holy Spirit.
• 10.
  JESUS’ SPECIAL APPEAL Luke 11:9-13  “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
• 11.
  JESUS’ SPECIAL APPEAL Doesn’t He clearly show us that we have to take action in order to be filled with the Holy Ghost?  It means that we aren’t to ask only once, but rather to ask continuously.  Here Jesus doesn’t only make asking a matter of urgency but also expects us to continually do it.  He also wants to awaken our desire for the Holy Spirit with this heartfelt invitation  He is calling our attention to the fact that we need the Holy Spirit. He wants us to continually receive the rich blessings of the Holy Ghost.
• 12.
  Jesus’ special appeal Jesus wants us to be sure that we will receive the Holy Ghost when we ask in the appropriate way.  With this promise and other promises we can ask in faith and know that we have already received what we requested.  1 John 5:14-15  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him
• 13.
  Jesus’ special appeal The Holy Spirit is God’s greatest gift – the gift which brings all the other gifts with it.  This was Jesus crowning/greatest gift to His disciples and clear proof of His love.  I think we can understand that such a valuable gift wouldn’t be pushed on someone.  It is only given to those who express their desire for this gift and appreciate it.  He will be given to those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus  He will be given to those who live in continual commitment.
• 14.
  Jesus’ special appeal John 15: 4-5  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, apart from me you can do nothing.
• 15.
  commitment is expressedby  A longing for God (“whoever thirsts” John 7:37)  Trust in God (“he who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said” John 7:38)  Complete surrender as a result of trusting God (“placing your whole life at God’s disposal” Rom. 12:1)  Following God in everything (“those who obey Him” Acts 5:32)
• 16.
  commitment is expressedby  Give up their own way, go God’s way and do this according to God’s will (“repent and be baptized” Acts 2:38)  Not to plan anything wrong (“if I regard iniquity/wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” Ps.66:18)  Realize and admit to our great need (“I have nothing” Luke 11:6)  Continually ask for the Holy Ghost (Luke 11:9-13)
• 17.
  WE CAN PRAY John 7:37 “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”  We can pray: “Lord Jesus, I completely say yes to all the prerequisites for receiving the Holy Ghost.  I sincerely ask that you now – for today – fulfill them in me.” Our wonderful God is even there for us in fulfilling the prerequisites.
• 18.
  The Holy Spiritis the Source of a Fulfilled Life  According to Jesus why did He come to this earth?  He said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  John 10:10 Jesus wants us to experience this new life now and to continue it in a completely different dimension after His second coming as eternal life in God’s kingdom.
• 19.
  CORRESPONDING EXAMPLE  DuringHis life here on earth did Jesus give us a corresponding example?  We know that Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Ghost. (Matt. 1:18).  We know that after His baptism He prayed: “And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him ....” (Luke 3:22)  Under these circumstances was it necessary and important that He receive the Holy Spirit daily?  A quote from E.G. White: “Morning by morning he communicated with his Father in heaven, receiving from him daily a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
• 20.
  Jesus’ Farewell Wordsand the Holy Spirit  In Jesus’ farewell words He conveyed joy and hope by telling them that the Holy Ghost would come in His place.  Jesus tells something surprising to the disciples in John 16:7:  “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.”
• 21.
  A New Advantageous Solution  Jesustold the disciples something surprising:  “It is to your advantage that I go away.”  This means that the new solution, that He is with us through the Holy Ghost, is more advantageous than Jesus being personally present.  In this way He isn’t limited, but rather He can be by each person, no matter where He currently is.