5 During the time when Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to Abijah’s group. His wife came from the family of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were both good people who pleased God. They did everything the Lord commanded, always following his instructions completely. 7 But they had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.
8 Zechariah was serving as a priest before God for his group. It was his group’s time to serve. 9 The priests always chose one priest to offer the incense, and Zechariah was the one chosen this time. So he went into the Temple of the Lord to offer the incense. 10 There was a large crowd outside praying at the time the incense was offered.
11 Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah. 12 When he saw the angel, Zechariah was upset and very afraid. 13 But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John. 14 You will be very happy, and many others will share your joy over his birth. 15 He will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
16 “John will help many people of Israe
l return to the Lord their God. 17 John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming. He will be powerful like Elijah and will have the same spirit. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.” (Luke 1:5-17, ERV)
·
The Holy Spirit is the third person in
the Godhead trinity (and is completely God).
·
The Holy Spirit is a
person with qualities such as love, grief, intelligence, and a will.
The Holy Spirit does the work of preparing
your heart for reconciliation (repentance). See Luke 1:15-17 above
1. The Holy Spirit prepares your heart to reconcile
with God. (The Holy Spirit breathes and regenerates new spiritual life into your
heart.)
4 The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not
believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the Good News about the
glory of Christ, who is exactly like God. 5 We do not preach
about ourselves. But we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord; and we preach that we
are your servants for Jesus. 6 God once said, “Let the light
shine out of the darkness!” And this is the same God who made his light shine
in our hearts. He gave us light by letting us know the glory of God that is in
the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6, ICB)
2. The Holy Spirit prepares your heart to reconcile
with others. (The Holy Spirit softens your heart towards those who have hurt you so
forgiveness is possible.)
22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives,
much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for
others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with
things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic
holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal
commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct
our energies wisely. (Galatians 5:22-23, MSG)
This
Christmas let there be peace on Earth (with the help of the Holy Spirit).
Our message is that God was making all human beings
his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins and he
has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. (2 Corinthians 5:19, GNT)
“Earthly wisdom is doing what
comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do.”
(Charles Stanley)
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