Holy Spirit Communication

 Holy Spirit communication can be extremely difficult because it tends to demand we open up completely and makes us admit what we are feeling. Do you have a physical friend with whom you are not hesitant to share ANYTHING. The Holy Spirit is closer to the Christian than such a friend. As you communicate with the Spirit, you must realize nothing should be held back. He already knows your desires and biases, therefore everything you say or do, the real motivations are known to Him.
Although He knows your motivations and reasoning, He will not stop a bad decision from playing out with its consequences. He rejoices with you in your good decisions, and feels the hurt from the bad ones. While we would like to shift the blame for some of our decisions, it cannot be. The comment about actions without responsibility, “the Devil made me do it,” is an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for our actions. Perhaps an ungodly germination, but the final decision was our own. Such redirections will not be accepted when the Spirit knows all our motives. When we better understand this, we might better understand Jesus' goals for His siblings."

Resurrection

A time in coming when our life on earth is complete and we will pass into a time of waiting. Perhaps reminiscent of the disciples waiting for Jesus’ return after His crucifixion, we will wait for something of which we know little about its true realization. However, we are promised we will become like Jesus and live with Him forever. Paul spoke to the Thessalonians about the time after death, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” - 1 Thess. 4:13-18 (ESV). John also spoke about the hope for the future with Jesus and the benefits this commitment provides at the end time to those who will accept Jesus and follow Him now and into eternity. On that glorious day, “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” – Rev. 22:17 (ESV). Whether the time is the last or now, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are calling and inviting anyone to come to Jesus without cost and allow Him to cleanse their sins. At this time we can drink deeply of the waters of true life.

HolySpirit yeast

Opposed to the Jewish teachers lectures, Jesus provided understanding using stories which encompassed activities His hearers encountered most every day. What better way to describe the change expected when one enters the Kingdom of Heaven than the transformation which occurs when an invigorating element is added to what we consume for sustenance. As the yeast produces a different presentation of the same material, when the Holy Spirit come to indwell a person, that person is changed. Then Jesus told the people another story: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough (bread) rise." — Matthew 13:33 (ERV)

How should Christians respond?

When people drink enough wine, they lose the ability to act normally, or as others expect. Those who drink too much are often described as “overcome,” something else has taken control of them, something has caused them to act differently than expected. Whether one remembers Peter at the Pentecost wherein the Holy Spirit was given to men or Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, these men were overcome and demonstrated something had taken control of them in times of difficulty. The Holy Spirit motivated Paul to encourage these believers along these lines, “Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit. Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts; you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah” Ephesians 5:18-20 (ISV)

Inheritance promise guaranteed

When a person finds a property they want to purchase, many times they will indicate their seriousness about completing a purchase transaction by making a pledge towards that decision; they invest “earnest money" towards that eventual, final transaction. In order to legally validate such a commitment, this initial action is personally signed, “sealed” or recorded as authentic. God has done the same with those who accept Jesus as savior. “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." - Eph. 1:13-14 (NASV)

Bodies

Who owns your body? Owners care for that which their own. Business advertising constantly bombards humanity with promotions designed to remind us of our appearance, for self and others. Many people become obsessed about how they appear to other people, physically. Taking care of our physical body is important, however we must realize the physical body changes over time. There is a more important aspect to our human existence than physical attributes. We need to place more importance on treatment of the spiritual aspect of our body because it lives for eternity. We must take great care of the entire body because it belongs to God. What does God think of your human existence? "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own" - 1Cor. 6:19 (NIV)

Good

Jesus responded to a man by saying that none is good except God alone (Mk 10:18, Lk. 18:19). From this we need to understand that when we allow the Holy Spirit to direct us, the result will turn out to honor God, when our values are similar to God’s we should be satisfied that the results are “good” for the Father, not necessarily what we may expect or define as 'good' for us. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” — Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Hidden

Many people become uncomfortable when information or actions are hidden from them; they want to know more information about many things. When information is uncertain, humans create explanations. Jesus was careful to instruct His disciples about His coming death, but they did not understand without the help of the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit helps us to understand at a rate we can comprehend, the only pathway to an eternity with the Father. “But God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God. Is there anyone who can understand his own thoughts except his own inner spirit? In the same way, no one can know the thoughts of God except God's Spirit. Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God.” 1 Cor. 2:10-13. (ISV)

Difference in expectations

One struggle we find when trying to understand scripture is that the writings were initially for other people in another setting, a foreign culture, and those people probably had a different life goal than you understand for your life. Beyond this, the writers were led by the Holy Spirit and viewed their audience from God’s viewpoint, as a group of people, not individuals. Today, most readers have an individual focus. This can create a large difficulty as we study scripture, understanding the dividing line between group and individual focuses. Bluntly, God is concerned with both the group and the individual, but scripture speaks widely about groups, not individuals. In the Old Testament, groups of people were known by the family name of one ancestor.
When Jesus came to earth, He fulfilled the plans God had made through out history when He established God’s kingdom. This was also a designation for another group of people, but God allowed only the people who believed in Jesus to be admitted into this group, or kingdom. This means these people also believed God exists and provides for His individual servants, who inhabit this kingdom. Another designation of this new group was Christians, or those of the family of Christ. Another designation for this is the called out into a kingdom, church. In these names and descriptions, we observe an intersection of two different groups who trust in God, Israelites, who trusted in God and those who trusted in Christ, or Christians.
In the letter to the Romans, Paul uses history of God’s people to reveal this intersection. This is an appeal to the Jews asking them accept Jesus as Messiah, providing all that God had been promised throughout history. When Paul speaks of the Remnant of Israel, he means a remnant of those who believe in God and follow His guidance, and accept Jesus as the Messiah. Paul argued the reason Gentiles are being accepted into this prized kingdom was not a general rejection of all those who believed in God previously. Rom. 11:1 set this context, “ I ask, then, has God rejected his people?” Israel was a group of people who came to be known as Jews of the tribe Hebrews. In their struggles to survive and serve God, their challengers are groups of people, not individuals. Even the individual, Goliath was representing a group of people, Philistines.
Those first believers asked the fundamental question, and we observe a shift from group action to individual action, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”- Acts 2:36-39 (ESV). This question was about how to resolve their sin toward God, and everyone of us, nowadays must also address this same question. After baptism, we are then left in the wake of this action: I am now indwelt by the Holy Spirit; I am a servant of Jesus, “what does He want me, personally, individually, uniquely, to do in order to please Him? I have tried to read the Bible and I see many statements about what He will do, but He doesn’t seem to be doing this for me.” You might think further, “I accept that I am on a unique individual spiritual journey and I would like the Holy Spirit to help me understand, but I just don’t seem to receive what I think I need.” Even with the Holy Spirit guiding you toward sanctification and the end goal, you must understand, He will guide you at the pace you need; we must not become anxious. You may find the stories about how He guided other people were in another setting, a foreign culture, and had a different goal than you have for your life. Perhaps you arrive at a point at which you conclude, “there is no specific guidance about what I, personally, individually, should do. And I don’t want to make anymore mistakes!” This can be a frightening conclusion. The first thing one needs to realize is there is no mistake that will separate you from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Although His guidance may seem unclear at times, He can use whatever you choose to do that is consistent with those actions Jesus demonstrated as He lived life here on earth. He is our example.
{Israel?) Throughout Romans, Paul tries to explain how God’s chosen people, Israel, are not all of God’s people. Israel was not only a man’s name, but also a descriptor given to Israel's decedents, the people chosen by Jehovah God to do His will, never just a land mass. For centuries Israel had been told that God had only one group of people He cared for. The Israelites the only people who had descended from the patriarch Abraham and continued to follow God’s laws, despite a time most were completely away from them. These Israelites had staunchly defended their title as God’s people. When Jesus came, He initially focused on the Jews or Israelites. This is shown by comments such as to the Gentile woman asking for help, “He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs” - Matt 15:24-26 (ESV). But at another time, He would also say, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd”- Jn. 10:16 (ESV). This indicates, the title “Israel” (God’s people), was expanded to mean all those who accepted Jesus as God’s son, the Messiah, and Savior. Jesus also described recompense for the kingdom of heaven compared to some workers in a vineyard. When those who worked longer complained, he said, “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last” – Matt. 20:13-16 (ESV). This is one part of the issue Paul is addressing. While Paul points out that “All Israel (now those who believe in Jesus) will be saved, however unbelievers in this new manner of following God, or those who have turned away from God, will be rejected and removed, leaving a remnant of true believers in Jesus - Rom. 11:1-6 (ESV). After Jesus' resurrection, God’s chosen people, “Israel,” became anyone who accepted Jesus. Paul would describe this as, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” – Gal. 3:28 (ESV). Both Jesus and Paul have in mind a group of people, not specific individuals. So, when he tells the Romans, “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob” – Rom. 11:26 (ESV), he is telling them that Jesus is the Messiah, the deliverer of Israel (Jacob).

New life

When a couple marries and begin their new life together, one question in each partner’s mind is how can I please my new mate? I want them to be happy and want to be the reason for this happiness. Thoughts range the gambit, from how I speak to how I spend my free time to how I help them with any daily chores necessary to what they may like prepare for meals. This time becomes a shift in lifestyle. As you look around at your friends’ marriage, yours seems different. It is; it is as unique as the two of you are. Generally, as you walk this pathway the best advice is to ask your mate what they would like from you. When a person becomes a Christian, this is also a change in lifestyle and sometimes many things change. One issue that soon arises is: Now that I am a Christian and a servant of Jesus, “How does He want me to act in order to please Him, when I am in groups or alone? What does He want me to do personally, individually? The best response to questions about what God wants is, “Talk to God and listen. Read the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to communicate this to you.” Even with the Holy Spirit guiding you toward this goal, you may find the stories about how He guided other people were in another setting, a foreign culture, and those people had a different goal than you understand for your life. Perhaps you arrive at a point at which you conclude, “there is no specific guidance about what I, personally, individually, should do. Yet, I don’t want to make any more mistakes!” This, can be a frightening conclusion. In a nutshell, you have come to realize that God does not make decisions for you, you are responsible for what you choose to do. One help might be the instruction about fellowship Paul gave the Philippians, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” - Phil 2:12 (ESV). You are on a unique individual spiritual journey and you will make more mistakes. In these, you can learn a greater appreciation for Grace in your marriage (on both sides) and from God. The Holy Spirit has left many examples of how those who began activities were helped and directed, but only after they began on a pathway. As you read the Bible, the indwelling Holy Spirit may cause you to remember certain passages at the various times you pray, study, or contemplate what you have read. But you may think, “Jesus told His disciples what to do, why doesn’t He tell me?” A better understanding of this might be the disciples watched the things Jesus did and tried to imitate them, as they best understood. Jesus was teaching them to understand situations and respond: do what He did. Sometimes the disciples needed great power, but many times, they needed to open themselves to the people they met (Mk. 6:8). Most times they were successful, but sometimes, they could not duplicate what He did. Mark 9 tell of such time with a man’s son who had a demon, this kind needed more than they yet knew. There was also the time Jesus sent His disciples on their own to preach and help people not telling them exactly what to do and they did their best to follow what Jesus had taught them to do; He rejoiced for their success when they returned (Lk. 10:16-18). At other times, He would tell them to not bring food to eat or things to wear, (Lk. 10:3). Jesus’ final instructions to His followers have been understood with various nuances – (Matt. 28:16-20). Some understand this passage to be a direct command to do something, “Go,” while others understand the passage to describe, “what to do,” “as His followers went.” Whichever understanding you think best, the fundamental message remains the same, disciples of Jesus need to be caring for the physical and spiritual needs of others. You may think, “this didn’t help me at all.” The point is, you need to begin to try and do something, even if there is a possibility of making a mistake. The Holy Spirit can use things we consider failures as powerful tools for others. You may find that as you pursue activities which are interesting to you and beneficial to God, those activities may become something you understand as a task the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. This is not something you are instructed to do, but as you pursued your godly interests, an opportunity became apparent and you acted on it. This is similar to those first Christians spreading the news of Jesus as you went, “Matt. 28:16-20; Acts 8:4. The same power that motivate the disciples, lives within you. Allow Him to lead you, but realize He may not want something you consider grand or significant. Whatever the action is, it is for God’s honor, not yours.

Plain Speaking

While the disciples were privileged to spend time with Jesus, the things He did many times were so foreign to their thinking, they remained mystified. They even spoke among themselves to try and understand many things He said. In order to help them understand, [Jesus said,] " I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God” - Jn. 16:28-30 (ESV). There are times in all our lives when various pieces of information come together and we have an “ah ha” moment. Suddenly, things around us make sense to us and we have a better understanding. For the disciples and most others at that time, the Messiah was expected to reestablish the supremacy of the Israelite nation; those who held the nation captive would be defeated and the nation freed, as in the Egyptian captivity. Instead, Jesus came to free each individual from sin. Changing from a group mentality to an individual focus was challenging. However, once the individual relationship with God was restored, then the relationship with others among the group could thrive. It could even be extended to others outside the group. What was the "ah ha?"
Jesus was with the Father in heaven before time began. At the Father’s command, Jesus created all that there is (Jn. 1:1-5) and the Spirit hovered over the waters to provide organization (Gen. 1:2). The creator loved His creation so much He chose to come and live among His created world as one of the created ones, both God and man. The solution to the challenge of sin was to allow Himself to be totally rejected and then sacrificed for those He loved. While it appeared He was defeated by the insurmountable force of death, God demonstrated His control over all things by raising Jesus from the dead and restoring Him to his initial place in glory. To continue His work in a cleansed creation called a kingdom, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit to guide His servants along their individual unique spiritual journeys in the created world. In whatever place a person finds themselves along the journey, they live with the promise that He has prepared a place with Him in heaven. Those on this journey have been sealed (Eph. 1:13) to assure all creation Jesus will return and bring them to the place He has prepared.

New Lifestyle

When a couple marries and begin their new life together, one question in each partner’s mind is how can I please my new mate? I want them to be happy and want to be the reason for this happiness. Thoughts range the gambit, from how I speak to how I spend my free time to how I help them with any daily chores necessary to what they may like prepare for meals. This time becomes a shift in lifestyle. As you look around at your friends’ marriage, yours seems different. It is; it is as unique as the two of you are. Generally, as you walk this pathway the best advice is to ask your mate what they would like. When a person becomes a Christian, this is also a change in lifestyle; many things change. One issue that soon arises is: Now that I am a Christian and a servant of Jesus, “How does He want me to act in order to please Him, when I am in groups or alone? What does He want me to do personally, individually? The best response to questions about what God wants is, “Talk to God and listen. Read the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to communicate this to you.” Even with the Holy Spirit guiding you toward this goal, you may find the stories about how He guided other people were in another setting, a foreign culture, and those people had a different goal than you understand for your life. Perhaps you arrive at a point at which you conclude, “there is no specific guidance about what I, personally, individually, should do. Yet, I don’t want to make any more mistakes!” This, can be a frightening conclusion. In a nutshell, you have come to realize that God does not make decisions for you, you are responsible for what you choose to do. One help might be the instruction about fellowship Paul gave the Philippians, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” - Phil 2:12 (ESV). You are on a unique individual spiritual journey and you will make more mistakes. In these, you can learn a greater appreciation for Grace in your marriage (on both sides) and from God. The Holy Spirit has left many examples of how those who began activities were helped and directed, but only after they began on a pathway. As you read the Bible, the indwelling Holy Spirit may cause you to remember certain passages at the various times you pray, study, or contemplate what you have read. But you may think, “Jesus told His disciples what to do, why doesn’t He tell me?” A better understanding of this might be the disciples watched the things Jesus did and imitated them, as they best understood. Jesus was teaching them to understand situations and respond: do what He did. Sometimes the disciples needed great power, but many times, they needed to open themselves to the people they met (Mk. 6:8). Most times they were successful, but sometimes, they could not duplicate what He did. Mark 9 tells of such time with a man’s son who had a demon, this kind needed more than they yet knew. There was also the time Jesus sent His disciples on their own to preach and help people without telling them exactly what to do and they made the best choices they knew to follow what Jesus had taught them to do; He rejoiced for their success when they returned (Lk. 10:16-18). At other times, He would tell them to not bring food to eat or things to wear, (Lk. 10:3). Jesus’ final instructions to His followers have been understood with various nuances – (Matt. 28:16-20). Some understand this passage to be a direct command to do something, “Go,” while others understand the passage to describe, “what to do,” “as His followers went.” Whichever understanding you think best, the fundamental message remains the same, disciples of Jesus need to be caring for the physical and spiritual needs of others as they live their lives. You may think, “this didn’t help me at all.” The point is, you need to begin to try and do something, even if there is a possibility of making a mistake. The real focus is not your performance, it is to provide glory to Jesus and Holy Spirit can use things we consider failures as powerful tools to help others. You may find that as you pursue activities which are interesting to you and beneficial to God, those activities may become something you understand as a task the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. This is not something you are instructed to do, but as you pursued your godly interests, an opportunity became apparent and you acted on it. This is similar to those first Christians spreading the news of Jesus as you went, “Matt. 28:16-20; Acts 8:4. The same power that motivate the disciples, lives within you. Allow Him to lead you, but realize He may not want something you consider grand or significant. Whatever the action is, it is for God’s honor, not yours.

Alive Again!

For humans, death is the one experience that is challenging since there is no away around it and no way to fix or repair it; it is permanent! When someone has an accident or is quickly overcome with an illness that causes death, we are perhaps surprised and sad. Then comes the funeral, the grief, and an adjustment to life without the individual who has died. Death is an expected event with an unanticipated timeframe. Most people believe this irreversible action will happen at some unknown time, but they do not really want to think about it, for ourselves or others. Linked with physical death is the end of all opportunities to change one’s spiritual relationship with God. But what if, there was a way to reverse physical death? Would you view it as an expected event with an unanticipated timeframe? However, what if something happened that was totally unexpected, shocking – a person did become alive again after experiencing death. This actually happed around Jesus at one time, and they were shocked and news spread far around. “Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. ” – Lk. 7:16-17 (ESV). Only God can overcome physical death. Would you be shocked if a similar thing happened today? Well, it did! Extracting the information from major US News sources, the story was this: On January 19, 2015, a similar think did happen. John Smith, a 14-year-old young man from Missouri, was walking with friends and fell through the top of an icy lake. While his friends escaped with minor injuries, Emergency crews required 15 minutes to arrive and extract John from being underwater. Efforts to revive him continued another 30 minutes. After John displayed no heartbeat for 45 minutes, doctors said they called his mom, Joyce, so she could say goodbye. Reports say that a distraught Joyce began praying. "A few seconds later, we had a heartbeat," Dr. Bauer said. "It gave me goosebumps." The next morning, John opened his eyes. Nurse Wendy Hoff described the story as "a miracle." "I remember everybody just kind of started crying," she said. But even after John woke up, doctors weren't immediately sure that he would be the same. John had been without oxygen for much longer than the time it takes to cause major brain damage. Within 48 hours of regaining a heartbeat, doctors say, John opened his eyes. And they decided to test the young basketball player. "We said, 'John, pretend your left hand is Lebron James and your right hand is Michael Jordan,'" Dr. Jeremy Garrett said, adding that the teen also correctly answered a series of questions, indicating that his brain functions would return to normal. "It's really amazing," Garrett said. But doctors say John still has a way to go before he's fully back to normal. He has a persisting cough and must undergo physical therapy to regain movement in his hands.”
This was not an exact duplication of the healing done by Jesus in the first century, but nonetheless, only God can restore physical life. Later John said, "I'm thankful that I'm alive now." Also important is the area to which the news spread, this time it was essentially the whole world via media outlets. Even a Movie, “Breakthrough,” has been made, but it is not focused on what John experienced during the time he was dead, it recounts the events surrounding his life being restored. And only God accepts the sacrifice of Jesus to restore our spiritual life and set us on a unique individual spiritual journey led by the indwelling Holy Spirit. This amazing recovery for our spiritual life is available to us all and we can experience the feeling of being happy we are alive now and forever with God.

More training

I talked to person about a week ago about repairing the newer automobiles.  He said that when the newer, more electronic, vehicles came out, he was frustrated. He knew the fundaments of how motors, transmissions, and guide systems worked, but he no longer understood all the details because some had become electronic. He could not diagnose or work on the difficulties he began to encounter. Frustrated, he enrolled in some training courses to learn how the new designs worked. While he still didn’t have much of the sophisticated equipment needed to completely diagnose many problems, he had enough knowledge to avoid servicemen who wanted to take advantage of his ignorance. He continues to learn more all the time. As we talked, I thought about the struggles encountered by the Jews when Jesus arrived on earth. While their understanding was incomplete, they thought they understood how to serve God. When Jesus arrived, everything changed. They were confused as the new pathways were being learned. It was like someone pulled a veil over their understanding. Paul tells the Corinthian Christian Jews something similar. He said, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” – 2 Cor. 3:16-18 (ESV). When the mechanic returned to school to learn how the new systems worked, he was no longer confused. There remained some things he could not do, but he understood better the workings of the new automobiles. A similar thing happens when a person decides they need to understand more about how to please God. His greatest desire is for them to accept Jesus for what He was and what He did. When this happens, not only are they cleansed from all their previous sins, they begin their own individual unique spiritual journey. This journey is a teaching process called dedication to God or sanctification. This is a period of continued guidance, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” - Acts 26:18; “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” - 2 Tim 2:21; “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” - 2 Thess. 2:13 (all from ESV).  As each person is guided (retrained) by the indwelling Holy Spirit, they will learn both how to avoid further disappointments to God and how to help others on their own individual unique spiritual journey. The twists and turns, up and downs on these journeys will be somewhat different, but they both share the same Holy Spirit who led Jesus along his journey. At the end, they will both hear the desired, “Well done good and faithful servant,” - Matt. 25:21 (ESV) as they enter into eternity with God.