Holy Spirit

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says: Why do you disobey the LORD's commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the LORD, and now he has abandoned you!"

—2 Chronicles 24:20 NLT

Key Thought​

Over the last several days, we have looked at grieving the Spirit and abandoning the LORD by our actions, our attitudes, and our words. The warning not to do these things was...

 

"Where is the one who led [the Israelites] through the bottom of the sea? They were like fine stallions racing through the desert, never stumbling. As with cattle going down into a peaceful valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. You led your people, Lord, and gained a magnificent reputation."

—Isaiah 63:13-14 NLT

Key Thought​

Rest — true, genuine, deep rest — comes from the Spirit of the Lord. And when that sense of rest is gone, we need to seek the Spirit of God...

 

Then [the LORD's people] remembered the old days, the days of Moses, God's servant: "Where is he who brought the shepherds of his flock up and out of the sea? And what happened to the One who set his Holy Spirit within them?"

—Isaiah 63:11 MESSAGE

Key Thought​

In their rebellion against God, the LORD's people forgot that they were the ones who had left him rather than him abandoning them. They wondered why the power and influence of the Holy Spirit weren't present in the...

 

[God] said, "Without question these are my people, children who would never betray me." So he became their Savior. In all their troubles, he was troubled, too. He didn't send someone else to help them. He did it himself, in person. Out of his own love and pity he redeemed them. He rescued them and carried them along for a long, long time. But they turned on him; they grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned on them, became their enemy and fought them.

—Isaiah 63:8-10 MESSAGE

Key...​

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

—Isaiah 61:1 NIV

Key Thought​

God's servants in every era, including now, are empowered by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit produces holy fruit in their lives (Galatians 5:22-23), shapes their hearts, and guides their efforts toward...

 

"As for me," God says, "this is my covenant with [the Israelites]: My Spirit that I've placed upon you and the words that I've given you to speak, they're not going to leave your mouths nor the mouths of your children nor the mouths of your grandchildren. You will keep repeating these words and won't ever stop." God's orders.

—Isaiah 59:21 MESSAGE

Key Thought​

The book of Isaiah furnishes so much language and imagery of the Messiah and the coming new covenant of God with...

 

"What sorrow awaits my rebellious children," says the LORD. "You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins."

—Isaiah 30:1 NLT

Key Thought​

In the time of Isaiah, God's people were in a very difficult predicament politically and militarily. They saw making alliances with foreign governments their only hope for survival. Why is it that we, the people of God, so easily forget that God is our only hope for survival...

 

[After the return of the people of Judah from Babylon, this is what the LORD said about them,] "They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven's Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD of Heaven's Armies was so angry with them."

—Zechariah 7:12 NLT

Key Thought​

God had told his people to "show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the...

 

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

—Galatians 6:8 NLT

Key Thought​

We have to make a choice. There are only two possibilities: Either we will choose to live out of our sinful nature, or we will choose to live to honor and please the Spirit of God within us. To do the first, we need no real commitment — we will live out...

 

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

—Galatians 6:1 NIV

Key Thought​

Spiritual people are those who live under the influence of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25). They then "Spirit-naturally" produce the Spirit's fruit in their lives (Galatians 5:22-23). When "someone is caught in a sin," then these spiritual people should help restore that person...