i will give you living water! - western plains district · "i will give you living...

"I WILL GIVE YOU LIVING WATER!" It's beginning to rain...I will pour my Spirit out on your sons and daughters, If you're thirsty and dry, lift your hands to the sky...It's beginning to rain" (a

praise song) Connie Rhodes

The Butterflies are symbolic of change...from our earthly sins to beautiful, graceful butterflies flitting about on His Grace. This Footprint is the story of

the Samaritan Woman at the Well in John 4.- Connie Rhodes

THE LIVING WATER

Scripture Reading: John 4:5-42(NKJV)

"So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by

the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her "Give me a drink". For His disciples had

gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a

Samaritan Woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, 'Give me a drink' you would have asked

Him, and He would have given you living water." The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.

Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our

father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever

drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I

shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will

become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." The

woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come

here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here".

The woman answered and said, " I have no husband," Jesus said to her,

"You have well said, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands,

and the one whom you now have is not your husband in that you spoke

truly." The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our

fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is

the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe

Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in

Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we

know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming,

and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and

Truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those

who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to Him,

"I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). "When He comes, "

He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He.' And

at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a

woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with

her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and

said to the men. "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.

Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him."

skip to verse 39: And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him

because of the word of the woman who testified: "He told me all that I ever

did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with

them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of

His own word, then they said to the woman, "now we believe, not because

of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is

indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world!"

FOOTPRINTS TO..

A CLOSER WALK

Chapter FOUR

"HOLY SPIRIT"

APRIL Devotional

Week ONE

"UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT THE

LIVING WATER"

DAY ONE----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week

(Devotional)------------------(Bible Study)

WHAT IS THE LIVING WATER?

Scripture Reading: John 7:37-39(NKJV)

"On the last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried

out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me, as the scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow

Rivers of Living Water" but this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was

not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

This scripture very clearly explains that the Living Water Jesus is

talking about is the Spirit. The scripture goes ahead and explains that the people of that day, when Jesus was still alive on the earth, had not yet received the Holy Spirit in his fullness, even though Jesus

was introducing this new concept to them at this time, that if they come to Him they would be able to drink in the Living Water of the

Spirit. Those of us today who have received Jesus' invitation to "Come" have received the Holy Spirit in His fullness! There are many things to learn about the Holy Spirit. I dare say that even thirty-one

days of study will not be adequate to cover all of the many wonderful truths about the Holy Spirit. But hopefully we will be able to at least

touch on the most important points. We will be revisiting the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well a little later on but first things

first; let us begin at the beginning.

Please write down all that you know about the Holy Spirit as of

today. Let us see what we can learn.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray that the study of the Holy Spirit will be very

illuminating and enlightening. I pray that the Holy Spirit would lead me to places that I have not been before and reveal to me some new revelations. I thank You so much for the work of the Holy Spirit in my

life. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY TWO----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week


IN THE BEGINNING

Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:1-2; 2:7(KJV);Job 33:4(NKJV)

Gen.7:21-22

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth

was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the

waters." "And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." "The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty

gives me life." (Because of the Flood) - "All flesh died that moved on the earth; birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that

creeps on the earth; and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of Life, all that was on the dry land, died."

From these scriptures we have been given a general understanding that the Spirit of God was there at creation; and the Spirit of Life was

given to all flesh; which is the "breath" of God, the Almighty. So, even animals had the breath of life in them, so this was not a

distinguishing characteristic of man from animal. We need to dig

deeper in order to find out what part the Holy Spirit played in the life of human beings as history begins to take shape and the earth

becomes more populated. Today I just want us to think about what it was like back then, at the dawn of creation, and then the great flood and the way that things were after the flood, as God began to relate

to man in very close encounters.

Does God speak to you? In an audible voice, or in your heart? Does He reveal Himself to you? In what ways?

Prayer

Lord, we have a record of your interaction with man from the time You first created man. Thank You so much for preserving all of this

information for us so that we can begin to understand You better. In

Jesus Name, Amen

DAY THREE---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week


IN HIS IMAGE

Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-27(NKJV); 1Pet.3:18-20; 4:6(Living)

"Then God said, " Let Us make Man in Our image, according to Our likeness - let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the

birds of the air, and over the cattle over all the earth, and over every

creeping thing on the earth. So God made man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

"Christ also suffered; He died once for the sins of all us guilty sinners, although He Himself was innocent of any sin at any time,

that He might bring us safely Home to God. But though His body died,

His Spirit lived on, and it was in the spirit that He visited the spirits in prison, and preached to them - spirits of those who, long before in

the days of Noah, had refused to listen to God, though He waited patiently for them while Noah was building the Ark. Yet only eight persons were saved from drowning in that terrible flood." "That is

why the Good News was preached even to those who were dead - killed by the flood - so that although their bodies were punished with

death, they would still live in their spirits; as God lives."

The Spirit of God was there at the beginning and will be there at the

end. All living human life has within them, the image of God. We learned that all of life has the breath of the spirit of life in them and

that this does not distinguish man from animal. What distinguishes us from the animals, is this "image of God" within us. I believe that this is what is meant by the "Soul of Man". We know that each man

has a choice of whether to accept Jesus' salvation offer. Those who do not accept, are all of the lost souls that the Bible speaks of; that

we are to win back from Satan. Those who are saved are the souls of the redeemed that have attained eternal life. Also, pertaining to

spirits, there are evil spirits and good spirits, and so we see in the

words above us that even the wicked spirits of those in Noah's day, were preserved for a later time when Christ could go and visit them

in their prison, and be given the Word of Life so that they could live forever in God's presence! What an awesome discovery about God's

Love and Compassion!

Prayer

Thank You Lord for what You are showing me today about Your Grace and Mercy. I trust You Lord, to hold me close on this journey,

that those questions in my own mind that have never been answered, will now be revealed by the Holy Spirit! Come, sweet Spirit, and let me see You more clearly. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY FOUR----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week


THE DIVISION BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)

"For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any

two-edged sword; piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and

spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

There are many scriptures that refer to the soul, in a context of it being the very essence of the man. The spirit of that man is his

"energy, integrity, and character". In the verse above, soul is in correspondence to thoughts, and spirit is in correspondence to

intents of the heart. These are inseparable; except when the Word begins doing the work of discernment and division between the good

and the evil. The Sword of the Spirit is one of the most powerful

weapons against satan that God provides for us through our study of that Word and using verses from scripture to keep satan's fiery

arrows from landing on us.

I felt that it was worthwhile to investigate these truths just a little

before we launched into a more direct study of the Holy Spirit. There are distinctions to make, and there are many mysteries about the

Holy Spirit that have kept people away from Him, which have also kept these same people from the most glorious gift of all. He is our joy, our power, our hope! If we do not allow Him full reign in our

hearts, then we are missing out on everything that makes the Christian Life Victorious!

Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to fill you? Have you allowed Him to touch you? Are you open to Him right now? Begin to allow yourself to

be open to Him today.

Prayer

Dear Holy Spirit, I know that You want me to yield to Your moving in

me. I know that I will be able to understand the Word of God better when I allow You to teach me. Help me today, to set aside all my

preconceived ideas and begin wondering about the possibilities that await me when I begin to see You. In Jesus name, Amen

DAY FIVE----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week


ANOINTING OIL

Scripture Reading: Ex. 30:22-33; Lev.8:10-12;

Num. 11:16-29(NKJV)

"Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Also take for yourself

quality spices-five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels) (two

hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane), five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make from these a Holy Anointing Oil. With

it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its

utensils and the altar of incense; the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy.

And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And you shall speak to the

children of Israel, saying; 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man's flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It

is holy and it shall be holy to you." "Also Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and all that was in it and consecrated

them. He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base to consecrate

them. And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and

anointed him, to consecrate him." "So the Lord said to Moses; Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the

elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I

will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that

is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself

alone.(vs.25) Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested

upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again."

Prayer

Lord, help me to understand the correlation of the anointing oil and the Holy

Spirit. All of the many ordinances and rituals of the Old Testament are

useful even now to study and get all of the meanings behind them that You

have for us today, to look at the secret meanings and the foreshadowing of

things to come. In Jesus name, Amen

DAY SIX----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week


THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

Scripture Reading: Num. 11:25-29(Living)

“But two of the seventy – Eldad and Medad – were still in the camp,

and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied there. Some young men ran and told Moses what was happening, and Joshua, one

of Moses ‘ personally chosen assistants, protested, “Sir, make them stop!” But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I only wish that all of the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would

put His Spirit upon them all!”

We see from this scripture, continued from yesterday, that men of God had the Spirit of God upon them. The Anointing oil must be poured on the head of the one to be consecrated, then the Spirit

rested upon them and gave them Super abilities in the form of prophecy. There were many prophets in the Old Testament record,

and this was the major work of the Holy Spirit at this time in history. His work also expanded to be the inspirational influence over Moses

in order for him to be able to write the first five books of the Old Testament. Then there were those other writers who were equally inspired by Him: Samuel and David, Solomon and all the minor and

major prophets, as well. Moses’ wish that all of the Lord’s people would be prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them

all, would some day be a New Promise of a New Covenant in the future. But for now, prophecy was the order of the day. People

needed to know what God’s plans were for them and for the future,

and since so many of them did not have the privilege of having the Spirit of God upon them, they needed these prophets of God to help

guide them.

Has the Holy Spirit given you any prophesies? Has He shown you

what you need to do in your life to make your future secure? Has He shown you who it is in your life that needs to know the Good News?

Prayer

Oh Lord, how I pray that You will help me to be more attuned to the Spirit’s voice in my heart, so that I can know what He is saying to me

about my future, and the future of us all. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY SEVEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................First Week


COVENANT PROPHETS

Scripture Reading: Ex.35:21 (NKJV)

“Those whose hearts were stirred by God’s Spirit returned with their offerings

of materials for the building of the Tabernacle.”

There are many things to be gleaned from all of the studies of the Old

Testament Prophets. The first prophet in the new world since the great flood

would be Abraham. God blessed him greatly and made the Covenant of Promise

with him and introduced as a sign of that covenant, circumcision of the male

foreskin as a blessing upon the man at the source of his paternity. This was

part of the plan to bless all of Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the

sands on the seashore! The next prophet of course, was Moses. No man in the

Bible has ever been used of God to a fuller extent than was Moses. He was

spoken to directly by God, and was sent to free the Hebrews from Egyptian

bondage. Through him were many miracles performed by God’s mighty hand,

even the dividing of the Red Sea! All of the Law was given to Moses to give to

the people of God. This was the second great Covenant – the Mosaic Covenant

of Law. Along with that was the instruction of the building of the “First Place

of Worship” – The Tabernacle! Along about here is where we see much more

evidence of the Spirit of God! We begin to see Him working into the tapestry

of the ornate décor of this marvelous place of worship that the Israelites

were being taught and trained in the ways of worship. In our introductory

Devotion all about the “Living Water” we read toward the end the Lord’s

interesting statement about “the hour that is coming--when the true

worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, for God is Spirit, and

those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth!”

Prayer

Oh Holy Spirit! I see You so much more clearly at this point. I am struggling

to see through the clouds of smoke that separated You from the people, but I

see that You are very creative and sensitive and full of productivity and

extreme motivation! You are the one who has motivated me! Oh, Precious Spirit

how I worship You, for You are God, and You are Jesus too. In His name I

pray, Amen

FOOTPRINTS TO..

A CLOSER WALK

Chapter FOUR

"HOLY SPIRIT"

APRIL Devotional

Week TWO

"THE SPIRIT AS SEEN IN THE OLD

TESTAMENT"

DAY EIGHT----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


SAMUEL BECOMES A PRIEST

Scripture Reading: 1 Sam.(summary)

Samuel lived in the Tabernacle as we learned earlier, when his

mother, Hannah, vowed to God that she would give him as an offering unto the Lord. Eli was in charge of the Tabernacle at this

time and raised the boy to manhood, teaching him all of the ordinances of the temple worship. When he became a man, he

became Israel's spiritual and political leader. He delivered God's

messages to the people. He also acted as a circuit-walking judge who settled disputes. But the Hebrews again rebelled and wanted to have

a King to rule over them. Even though it was the Lord who told Samuel that Saul was the one to be King, and he anointed him with oil, he became quite evil, and the Spirit of the Lord departed from

Saul. When the Spirit departed, God sent an evil spirit to torment Saul. This too had its' purpose, in that he sent for David to soothe

him with his music. The Lord told Samuel to anoint David to be the next King of Israel, while Saul was still King, and David was still just a shepherd boy. Ever since the anointing, the Spirit of God was upon

David. He eventually became King.

It is interesting here, that the Spirit of God would depart when people became rebellious against the Lord. And in Saul's case, an evil

spirit was upon him and it vexed him greatly. At any rate, Samuel

had a very great part to play in the lives of very famous people in the stories of the Bible. He was a man of God and obeyed God's

commands. One of the most unusual and perplexing stories about Samuel is after Samuel dies in his old age, and Saul needs some

advise so he calls him back from the dead in a séance and Samuel

prophecies Saul's demise and death. But, I suppose that it is no stranger than Balaam's donkey speaking to him! (Num.22:5)

Prayer

Lord, there are many strange things recorded in Your word, and I

think that in order for me to accept these things, I have to begin thinking outside the box a lot more than I have been. Help me as I

grow in my understanding of Your ways, and realize further that Your ways are not ways that we can understand oftentimes. In Jesus

Name, Amen

DAY NINE----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 13:13-14(NIV)

"And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded

you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has

commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."

David was called the Man after God's own Heart. I believe this is

because David knew how to worship Him. He not only was a

musician, but he wrote his own lyrics! So many lovely lines of poetry, which were evidently set to music in that day; and also in our day,

we can recall many of our choruses we sing in our worship services are Psalms. The Spirit of God rested upon him and David spoke as a

prophet as he wrote of his salvation, and lines of prose which

prophetically was outlining events in our Saviour's life and death.

We see the way in which the Spirit played a major part in bringing many people's natural talents together with His special anointing of creativity and enthusiasm, to create the special artistic abilities of

different aspects of worship. I know that the Spirit is directly connected to the promotion of worship now, and this is an awesome

discovery for me. Is it for you? All of these sacred works of art are here in the Holy Word for us, and all of the special stories of great

love, and faith, and bravery. Also, of course, there are those

disappointing, although entertaining, stories of failures. But this is life, and people fail. So it is very good instruction for us to study

upon, to see these failures and how God dealt with each person on a personal level.

Has God had to deal with you and perhaps chastise you, like we studied about in the subject of “Tough Love”? I know that He teaches

me in many ways, through others failures and through my own.

Prayer

Lord, I know that David was very awesome in all of his special abilities, but he failed miserably in other areas. But the main thing

was that he asked your forgiveness and You forgave him, just as You do with me. Thank You. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY TEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


GOD'S COVENANT WITH DAVID

Scripture Reading: 11 Samuel 7:12-17(NIV)

"When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will

set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will

establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and

he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men; but My Mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from

Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your

kingdom shall be established forever before you, your throne shall be established forever." According to all these words and according to

all this vision, so Nathan, the prophet, spoke to David."

Solomon was the seed of David's body of which God spoke and gave

this promise to David. Solomon was given the gift of Wisdom by God. While using this gift wisely, he wrote the Proverbs that we so enjoy.

They are full of insight and wisdom of counsel. Solomon also wrote Song of Solomon, (or Song of Songs) which is an allegory of the Love between the Lord and His Wife, Israel. But sadly he ended up being

quite foolish as outlined in writings in Ecclesiastes, for he worshiped other gods. Also, Solomon wrote songs of worship in the earlier

"good days". But he did accomplish what the Lord had set out to help him accomplish; that of building a House of Worship; Solomon's Temple was erected in Jerusalem and was the first permanent

Temple, replacing the Tabernacle, it stood for around 400 years until which time the Babylonians leveled it to the ground when they

invaded Israel. During this time, the Israelites became more and more evil, and the destruction of this temple was prophesied much

by the prophets.

God accomplishes His purposes no matter whether or not the vessel

He uses is completely worthy or willing. What does this say to you?

Prayer

Lord, I know that many times You used those people to accomplish

Your agenda, who were not altogether "together". But that gives me hope; that You can use me, even when I do not always go the right

way, please use me for Your Glory anyway. In Jesus and through Jesus, Amen

DAY ELEVEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


THE GLORY DEPARTS FROM THE TEMPLE

Scripture Reading: Ezekial 10:18-19; 11:22-25(NIV)

"Then the Glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the

Temple and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted their

wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them and they stood at the door of the

east gate of the Lord's house, and the Glory of the God of Israel was above them." "So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them and the Glory of the God of Israel was high above them.

And the Glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. Then the

Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up

from me. So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord

had shown me."

This is the sad prophecy of God's Glory leaving the Temple because of Israel's Adultery against God. Even though it was a Vision given to Ezekial by the Spirit of God; I believe that God's Spirit did leave the

Temple and that is why it was doomed to be destroyed. In Ezekial 21:3 the Lord is warning Israel of this, and in the famous "Dry

Bones" Vision of Chapter 37. However, in this vision, we can see a prophecy also of a later time, when all of our dead bodies who have

died in the Lord will be restored to our souls and this will be our

"Resurrection Day". The bottom line of the prophecy was; "I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live and return home to your own

land." which was fulfilled literally the first time about 30 yrs. later when Persia liberated the captive Jews to go back home and rebuild

their country.

The history of God's people is very important to our understanding of how

God works in our midst to bring us all to new heights of glory as we move

along in the path of Glory; have we seen His Glory? Have you seen how

glorious He is in His dealings with His creation? Has He been revealing to

you what He wants You to know?

Prayer

Lord, I hope that You will have mercy upon all of us, as we struggle to

understand Your ways of dealing with us; each event a lesson for us today.

Help us to apply these truths to our lives specifically and ask for insight as

we study onward. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY TWELVE----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


DANIEL - BABYLONIAN CAPTIVE

Scripture Reading: 11 Kings 24:13-14(NIV)

"And he (King of Babylon) carried out from there all the treasure of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house, and he

cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon King of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. Also he carried

into captivity all Jerusalem; all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths.

None remained except the poorest people of the land."

Daniel was a teenager when he was carried off to Babylon as their

captive. Though only a teenager, he was surely a prince at this time or a son of a nobleman, as he was one of the chosen ones to

accompany the King's entourage back to Babylon. Though he was in

a difficult situation, he never forgot his God and worshipped Him and remembered the songs he had learned while worshipping back home

in Solomons Temple. He continued in all of the ordinances of his upbringing; eating only "kosher" foods, and praying to God three

times a day. He was thrown into the Lion's Den and wasn't harmed;

his comrades were thrown into the fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and among them was one other who was "like the Son

of God!" This was what convinced the King that these men were of the Real and Living God and all should listen to them, and they had

good treatment from then on. All of this because somewhere in their earlier

years they came to believe that God was sovereign, nothing happens

without His permission; nothing happens outside of His plan! And Daniel

could not have even imagined what God had in store for him - Prime

minister of the court, interpreter of dreams, Prophet, Teacher, Ruler - a

lifelong voice of God among pagan people. And even though God was

chastising His people, they were given encouragement through people just

like Daniel who continued being used of God to carry His message onward!

Can you be counted on to carry God's message onward?

Prayer

Oh Awesome God! How exciting to read of Daniel's adventures! His

awesome gifts and talents You bestowed upon him to sustain him and all of

Your people, to continue to worship You no matter what the circumstances.

Oh Lord help me to have that kind of courage and strength of my

convictions, may Your Spirit move within me to do the things that You ask

of me! Only through Your Spirit can any of us live and have our being. In

Your name, Amen

DAY THIRTEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


ZERUBBABEL'S TEMPLE

Scripture Reading: Ezra 3:8-11; 7:1-10(NIV)

"Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua

the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren; the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to

Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the

sons of Judah; arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God; the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the

Levites. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord,

according to the ordinance of David King of Israel, and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: "for He is good,

for His mercy endures forever toward Israel!" Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the

foundation of the house of the Lord was laid." "Now after these

things in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra --came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the

Lord God of Israel had given.---For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord and to do it and to teach statutes and

ordinances in Israel."

Zerubbabel was born during Israel's fifty-year exile in Babylon. After

Persia conquered Babylon in 538 B.C., the people were freed to go back to Judah. Zerubbabel was appointed governor of Judah and he

gave the people more than a year to settle in before they started

rebuilding the temple. This was to be a rather modest worship center compared to Solomon's Temple, but it stood longer than that one,

and also, the one to come - Herod's Temple, which was the Temple in which Jesus was dedicated and where He visited routinely during His

ministry.

Do you see a common theme running clear through the Old Testament

record? Do you see the Spirit working behind the scenes to achieve this

goal? Prayer

Oh Heavenly Father! How I praise and worship You as You give us so much

more knowledge as we dig deeper into Your Glorious Word. Oh how You

love our worship! We see Your Glory now and we praise You, for You are

good and Your Mercy endures forever! In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY FOURTEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Second Week


PROPHECIES OF HOPE

Scripture Reading: Zech. 9:9; Ezekial 11:17-20 ; Jer. 31:31-33(NIV)

"Rejoice greatly! O daughter of Zion! Shout! O daughter of

Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you! He is just and having

Salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey." "Thus says the Lord God, 'I will gather you from the peoples,

assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they will go there and they will take away all of the detestable things and all its abominations from

there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new Spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give

them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people and I will be their God." "Behold, the days shall come, saith the Lord, that I will

make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. (Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers

in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which they broke) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will

put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."

God has been preparing all of His people for this "New Way" This

"Better Covenant" really from the very beginning. It just had to be

introduced slowly, through people's own experiences and gradual learning through trial and error, through toil, sweat, blood and tears.

It was such a great promise, that it took generations upon generations to finally "Evolve" to the place where people's hearts

were ready, and people's souls yearned enough..until the time when

the cry would be heard "Come all you who are thirsty! Come and I will give you Living Water!"

Prayer

Oh Lord, I am practically holding my breath, knowing what is next..yearning to hear the "Old, Old Story..of Jesus and His Love"! Oh

Come Sweet Spirit, I pray. In Jesus Name, Amen

FOOTPRINTS TO..

A CLOSER WALK

Chapter FOUR

"HOLY SPIRIT"

APRIL Devotional

Week THREE

"THE SPIRIT AS SEEN IN THE NEW

TESTAMENT"

DAY FIFTEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Third Week


GABRIEL BRINGS GOOD TIDINGS

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-3; Luke 1:5-25 (Summarized from the Living Version)

"Here begins the wonderful story of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. In

the book written by the prophet Isaiah, God announced that He would send

His Son to earth, and that a special Messenger would arrive first to prepare

the world for His coming. This Messenger will live out in the barren

wilderness" Isaiah said, "and will proclaim that everyone must straighten

out his life to be ready for the Lord's arrival!" "My story begins with a

Jewish priest, Zacharias, who lived when Herod was King of Judea.

Zacharias was a member of the Abijah division of the Temple service corps.

(His wife Elizabeth was, like himself, a member of the priest tribe of the

Jews, a descendant of Aaron). Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly folk,

careful to obey all of God's laws in spirit as well as in letter. But they had no

children, for Elizabeth was barren; and now they were both very old. One

day as Zacharias was in the sanctuary, going about his work in the Temple,

burning incense before the Lord and the people were praying outside;

suddenly an angel appeared and Zacharias was terrified! The angel said,

"Don't be afraid! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer,

and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. You

will both have great joy and gladness at this birth, and many will rejoice

with you. For he will be one of the Lord's great men. He must never touch

wine or hard liquor and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from

before his birth. And he will persuade many Jews to turn to the Lord his

God. He will be a man of rugged spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of

old, and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for

His arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children's and

will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith." Zacharias said to the

angel, "But this is impossible! My wife and I are too old to have a child."

Then the angel said, "I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God and

it was He who sent me with this message! Now, because you did not

believe, you are to be stricken silent, you will be unable to speak until the

child is born" Later, Elizabeth was found to be pregnant, and she praised

God, "How kind the Lord is, to take away my disgrace of having no

children!" The activity of the Spirit is evident to us all and as Gabriel the

Angel is sent to speak to Zacharias about the messenger being born through

him, he cannot believe it. So he is chastised by being struck dumb. He could

not speak. But Elizabeth did conceive and John was to be his name and very

notably "He was filled with the Holy Spirit!" even in the womb!

Would you have believed Gabriel's message? Prayer:

Dear Lord, I love to study Your Word because it is so evident that You had a plan from the beginning and I can see so clearly how the Spirit was and is working in

people's lives to bring them closer to You and to help each of us to do the things that please You. I Praise and thank You, in Jesus name, Amen

DAY SIXTEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Third Week


THE "VISITATION"

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38

"The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a

village in Galilee, to a virgin; Mary, engaged to be married to a man

named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with You!"

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. "Don't be frightened, Mary", the angel told her. "For God has decided to wonderfully bless you! Very soon now, you will become

pregnant and have a baby boy and you are to name him 'Jesus'. He shall be Very Great and shall be called the Son of God! And the Lord

shall give Him the throne of His ancestor, David. And He shall reign over Israel forever, His Kingdom shall never end!" Mary asked the

angel, "But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin." The angel replied,

"The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of God shall overshadow you; so the baby born to you will be utterly holy - the

Son of God. Furthermore, six months ago your Aunt Elizabeth became pregnant in her old age! For every promise from God shall surely come true." Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am

willing to do whatever He wants. May everything you said come true." And then the angel disappeared.

700 years earlier, Isaiah was anointed to prophesy of what the Spirit gave him to say: 9:2: "The people who walk in darkness shall see a

great Light - a Light that will shine on all those who live in the land of the shadow of death!" vs. 6: "For unto us a Child is born; unto us a

Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. These will be His royal titles: Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The

Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace!" In fulfillment of this

prophecy, God chose His vessel, Mary, to be the mother of this King. She was obedient, she was willing to serve, no matter what the cost,

she did not even understand that now, but she was 'available' and because of this, she was found 'worthy'.

Are you available to God, willing to serve Him, no matter what it is that He asks of you?

Prayer

Lord, I ask that you forgive me where I fail you in this area. Show me

what I must do to be 'available to You'. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY SEVENTEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Third Week


JOSEPH'S DILEMMA

Scripture Reading: Matt. 1:18-25; Micah 5:2 ( Living Version)

"These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ; His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a

virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her fiancé, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the

engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn't want to publicly disgrace her. As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. "Joseph, son of David", the

angel said, "don't hesitate to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a

Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (meaning Savior) for He will save His people from their sins. This will fulfill God's message through His prophets - (Is. 7:14) "Listen! The virgin shall conceive a child! She

shall give birth to a Son, and He shall be called "Emmanuel" (meaning "God with us")." "When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel

commanded, and brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her Son was born; and Joseph named him

"Jesus."

"O little town of Bethlehem, you are not just an unimportant Judean village, for a Governor shall rise from you to rule my people Israel."

What a dilemma that Joseph was facing! What would people think? Mary could have been stoned to death for committing adultery! But how could he marry her under these conditions? But Gabriel helped Joseph

to understand and to know that what was happening was a very special

event that was in God's plan. Even though, by outward appearances, this

was a disgraceful situation, inside information served to convince Joseph

that it was a "Miraculous Situation!" In contrast, it is interesting to note,

that when Elizabeth found herself to be in that situation (pregnant) it was

believed to be something that would take away her disgrace in the

community.

How much are your decisions influenced by what other people think? Has

God ever told you to do something that you dismissed because it didn't

seem to make sense?

Prayer

Father, Help me to know Your voice, and give me the wisdom to trust You when I know that it is You talking to me, to obey, without trying

to analyze it to death. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY EIGHTEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Third Week


THE LADIES PROPHECY

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:39-56 ( Living Version)

"A few days later Mary hurried to the highlands of Judea to the town

where Zacharias lived, to visit Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's

greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, "You are

favored by God above all other women, and your child is destined for God's mightiest praise. What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! When you came in and greeted me, the instant

I heard your voice, my baby moved in me for joy! You believed that God would do what He said; that is why he has given you this

wonderful blessing." "Mary responded, "Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Saviour! For He took notice of His lowly servant girl, and now

generation after generation forever shall call me blest of God. For He, the mighty Holy One, has done great things to me. His mercy goes on

from generation to generation, to all who reverence Him. How powerful is His mighty arm! How He scatters the proud and haughty ones! He has torn princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

He has satisfied the hungry hearts and sent the rich away with empty

hands. And how He has helped His servant Israel! He has not forgotten His

promise to be merciful. For He promised our fathers - Abraham and his

children - to be merciful to them forever!"

In these verses, we see again, the activity of the Holy Spirit! He has moved

mightily, by some supernatural means, to impregnate Mary, and then, not

only did Elizabeth become filled with the Holy Spirit, but also her baby; at

the moment that Mary came on the scene! Because Mary also prophesied, I

believe that she too was filled with the Holy Spirit.(in more ways than one!)

Do you see in this, how important prophecy is? Notice how each prophecy

must have a fulfillment, some time there will be a fulfillment of every

prophecy; many already have happened, but some yet to happen.

Prayer

Lord, how I pray that you will give Your people today, discernment, that we

may understand Your prophesies, and be given the filling of the Spirit that

we may be able to interpret these prophesies correctly, so that further prophecy will be given until the very end. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY NINETEEN----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Third Week


ZACHARIAS SPEAKS

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:57-80 ( Living Version) "By now Elizabeth's waiting was over, for the time had come for

the baby to be born - and it was a boy. The word spread quickly to

her neighbors and relatives of how kind the Lord had been to her, and

everyone rejoiced. When the baby was eight days old, all the relatives and

friends came for the circumcision ceremony. They all assumed the baby's

name would be Zacharias, after his father. But Elizabeth said, "No! He must

be named John!" "What?" They exclaimed, "There is no one in all your

family by that name." So they asked the baby's father, talking to him by

gestures. He motioned for a piece of paper and to everyone's surprise

wrote, "His name is John!" Instantly Zacharias could speak again, and he

began praising God. Wonder fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the

news of what had happened spread through the Judean hills. And everyone

who heard about it thought long thoughts and asked, "I wonder what this

child will turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord is surely upon him in some

special way." Then his father, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and

gave this prophecy: "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has come to

visit His people and has redeemed them. He is sending us a Mighty Savior

from the royal line of His servant David, just as He promised through His

holy prophets long ago - someone to save us from our enemies, from all

who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors, yes, to Abraham

himself, by remembering his sacred promise to him, and by granting us the

privilege of serving God fearlessly, freed from our enemies, and by making

us holy and acceptable, ready to stand in His presence forever. And you, my

little son, shall be called the prophet of the glorious God, for you will

prepare the way for the Messiah. You will tell His people how to find

salvation through forgiveness of their sins. All this will be because the

mercy of our God is very tender, and heaven's dawn is about to break upon

us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and death's shadow, and to

guide us to the path of peace."

Now, it is accomplished! The prophecy of the one crying in the wilderness is

begun! I believe that surely by now, Zacharias believed all the angel told

him that night, when he first heard the news....now that he was filled with

the Spirit and had prophesied from his own lips the very things that Gabriel

had told him earlier. I am sure that he and his wife had compared notes,

and she had shared with him what she and Mary had prophesied earlier, as

well. What an exciting time to be living in! But, there was so much more to

come!

Prayer

Oh Heavenly Lord! My heart is so full of praise and thanksgiving. For everything that You have promised us will all come true! We see it in

Your Word, giving us more hope and faith, and Joy! I've got to tell

somebody! Amen

DAY TWENTY----------CHAPTER FOUR

Fourth Month.................Third Week (Devotional)------------------(Bible Study)

THE ANGELS WORSHIP

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1:20 ( Living Version)

"Caesar Augustus decreed that a census should be taken and everyone was required to return to their ancestral home for this

registration. Joseph was a member of the Royal Line so he had to go

to Bethlehem in Judea, King David's ancient home - journeying there from the Galilean village of Nazareth. He took his fiancé, Mary, with him, and she was great with child, and while they were there, it was time

for her to deliver their child - and it was a boy! She wrapped him in a

blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in

the inn. That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village,

guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel appeared among them,

and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord. They were badly

frightened, but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said, "I

bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! The

Savior - Yes! the Messiah, the Lord - has been born tonight in Bethlehem!

How will you recognize Him? You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket,

lying in a manger!" Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others -

the armies of heaven - praising God: "Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and peace on earth for all those pleasing Him!" When this great army of

angels had returned again to heaven, the shepherds said to each other,

"Come on! Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this wonderful thing that has

happened, which the Lord has told us about." They ran to the village and

found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the

manger. The shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the

angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds' story

expressed astonishment, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her

heart and often thought about them. Then the shepherds went back again to

the flocks, praising God for the visit of the angels, and because they had

seen the child, just as the angel had told them."

This is such a familiar story that we sometimes may actually take it for granted or lose a lot of the wonder and glory of this most miraculous and celebratory event in

History! This was the most "joyful news ever announced! The Angels were worshipping and praising God for this tremendous Miracle taking place! This was a

show of a lifetime to these favored shepherds who were allowed to view this

Performance of Worship. These shepherds definitely believed the angels' report! They ran to see Him! Then they told everyone the wonderful News! This is Worship!

Worship is Action! How can you share the Good News with people in darkness? There are so many tools available, let the Holy Spirit guide you.

Prayer

Father I adore You. Thank You for Your Son and in His name I worship. Amen

DAY TWENTY-ONE----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Third Week


THE REST OF THE STORY

Scripture Reading: Matt. 2 Summarized ( Living Version)

"At the time that Jesus was born, King Herod reigned. Some

astrologers had arrived in Jerusalem inquiring about the new "King

of the Jews" for they had seen His Star in the East and have come to Worship Him". King Herod was very disturbed by this, (for he was

called "King of the Jews") His advisors reminded him of the prophecy of the prophet Micah about a ruler coming out of

Bethlehem. He tried to trick the 'wise men' by telling them that when

they found the child, to tell him where the child was so that he could also worship him. (He actually wanted to kill him.) The wise men

started their journey toward Bethlehem and the Star appeared once more to guide them to the child. They rejoiced greatly! Entering the

house where the baby and Mary his mother were, they threw

themselves down before him, Worshiping. They presented him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. They did not report back to

Herod, for an angel warned them to go another way."

There is a Christmas Card that says, "Wise Men Still Seek Him!" And that is

true but I would like to add: "Wise Men Still Worship Him!" These men

traveled a great distance to see the Messiah! We should learn not to whine

about where He sends us! These men had guidance from a Special Star, and

followed. We should follow the Holy Spirit's guidance - He knows the Way!

These men were not afraid to ask for directions when it came time to get

the specifics - besides, if they hadn't - no one would have known about

them and probably we would not have gotten the record of this most

marvelous event. We need to remember that along the journey, we are to

involve others so that more light can be given. These men brought gifts to

the Child: each one was very meaningful. This was an act of Worship! We

must bring the Lord a meaningful offering to show our Love and Devotion to Him.

There are many other analogies we could make from their perseverance and faith. They heeded the advice of the angel and didn't help Herod find Jesus and kill him. The Spirit guided them all the way from the Far East by a mysterious Star. Do you

think that this Star was actually the Spirit of God?

Prayer

Oh Father, the possibilities are endless when we begin to open the eyes of our understanding and start to see all of the marvelous

miracles in just an ordinary day! Thank You and Praise You! Amen

FOOTPRINTS TO..

A CLOSER WALK

Chapter FOUR

"HOLY SPIRIT"

APRIL Devotional

Week FOUR

"THE PURPOSE"

DAY TWENTY-TWO----------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fourth Week


SIMEON & ANNA WORSHIP JESUS

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:22-39 (Living Version) "When the time came for Mary's purification offering at the Temple, as

required by the laws of Moses after the birth of a child, his parents took

him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, for in these laws God had said,

"If a woman's first child is a boy, he shall be dedicated to the Lord." "At this

time Jesus' parents also offered their sacrifice for purification - either a pair

of turtledoves or two young pigeons was the legal requirement. That day a

man named Simeon, a Jerusalem resident, was in the Temple also. He was a

good man, and very devout, and filled with the Holy Spirit! He was

constantly expecting the Messiah to come soon. For the Holy Spirit had

revealed to Him that he would not die until he had seen God's Anointed King

- and had compelled him to go to the Temple that day. So when Mary and

Joseph arrived to present the baby Jesus to the Lord in obedience to the

law, Simeon was there and took the child in his arms, praising God! "Lord"

he said, "now I can die content! For I have seen Him as You promised me I

would. I have seen the Savior You have given to the world. He is the Light

that will shine upon the nations, and He will be the Glory of Your people,

Israel!" "Joseph and Mary just stood there, marveling at what was being

said about Jesus. Simeon blessed them and then said to Mary, "A sword

shall pierce your soul, for this Child shall be rejected by many in Israel, and

this to their undoing. But He will be the greatest joy of many others. And

the deepest thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed." "Anna, a

prophetess, was also there in the Temple that day. She was the daughter of

Phanuel, of the Jewish tribe of Asher, and was very old, for she had been a

widow for eighty-four years following seven years of marriage. She never

left the Temple but stayed there night and day, worshiping God by praying

and often fasting. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and

Joseph, and she also began thanking God and telling everyone in Jerusalem

who had been awaiting the coming of the Savior that the Messiah had finally

arrived!"

The Holy Spirit has again been very active, making sure that everyone who needed to see Jesus could see Him, and everyone that needed to know about Him, could know! There were no TV's or Radios so it all had to be done by Word of Mouth, either that of people and in some instances angels. Simeon and Anna Worshipped Him! They were excited, and very happy! Mary and Joseph were there to worship God and

dedicate their little son to God's service. This was also their offering along with the

turtledoves. What a wonderful time in their lives, to have these two godly people bless and prophecy over their son and reassure them of God's plan and purpose for Him.

Prayer

Oh Lord that we would worship You more! For when we give You all of ourselves in worship, You give us complete Joy and Peace! In His

name, Amen

DAY TWENTY-THREE----------CHAPTER FOUR PART ONE

Fourth Month.................Fourth Week (Devotional)------------------(Bible Study)

THE BOTTOM LINE - JOHN'S PURPOSE

Scripture Reading: Luke 3:3-17; John 3:27-28;1:6-9( Living Version)

"Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River,

preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned to

God and away from their sins, in order to be forgiven. In the words of Isaiah

the prophet, John was "a voice shouting from the barren wilderness,

'Prepare a road for the Lord to travel on! Widen the pathway before Him!

Level the mountains! Fill up the valleys! And then all mankind shall see the

Savior sent from God." skip to vs. 16: John answered the question of 'is he

the Messiah?' by saying, "I baptize only with water; but someone is coming

soon who has far higher authority than mine; in fact, I am not even worthy

of being His slave. He will baptize you with fire -- with the Holy Spirit. He

will separate the chaff from the grain, and burn up the chaff with eternal

fire and store away the grain." "John replied, "God in heaven appoints each

man's work. My work is to prepare the way for that man so that everyone

will go to Him. You yourselves know how plainly I told you that I am not the

Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for Him-that is all." "God sent John

the Baptist as a witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the true Light. John

himself was not the Light, he was only a witness to identify it. Later on, the

one who is the true Light arrived to shine on everyone coming into the

world." "Matt.3:13-17: "Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to

be baptized there by John. John didn't want to do it. "This isn't proper," he

said, "I am the one who needs to be baptized by You!" But Jesus said,

"Please do it, for I must do all that is right." So then John Baptized Him.

After His baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens

were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form

of a dove. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am

wonderfully pleased with Him."

John 1:29-34 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,

"Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin! He is the

one I was talking about when I said, 'Soon a man far greater than I am is

coming, who existed long before me!' I didn't know He was the one, but I

am here baptizing with water in order to point Him out to the nation of

Israel. Then John told about seeing the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove

descending from heaven and resting on Jesus. "I didn't know He was the

one," John said again, "but at the time God sent me to baptize He told me,

'When you see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone-He is

the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. I saw it happen to this man, and I therefore testify that He is the Son of God

Praise the name of Jesus! This was a time of preparation for His coming,and I am living in the time of preparation for His coming again! The cry of the one in the

wilderness is to "Repent!" The cry of the Spirit and the Bride is to "Come, Let each one who hears them say the same, Come, let the thirsty one come - anyone who

wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge."

DAY TWENTY-THREE---------CHAPTER FOUR PART TWO


THE BOTTOM LINE - JESUS' PURPOSE

Scripture Reading: John 3:3-16; Luke 22:20; Luke 4:43; Heb.9:27-28

"But He replied, "I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in

other places too, for that is why I was sent." "Jesus replied, "With all the

earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can

never get into the kingdom of God." Born again! exclaimed Nicodemus.

What do You mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb

and be born again?" Jesus replied, "What I am telling you so earnestly is

this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the

Kingdom of God. Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit

gives new life from heaven; so don't be surprised at my statement that you

must be born again. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it

comes from or where it will go next, so it is with the Spirit. We do not know

on whom He will next bestow this life from heaven. For only I, the Messiah

have come to earth and will return to Heaven again. As Moses in the

wilderness lifted up the bronze image of a serpent on a pole; even so I must

be lifted up upon a pole, so that anyone who believes in Me will have eternal

life. For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that

anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." "After

supper He gave them another glass of wine, saying, "This wine is the token

of God's new agreement to save you--an agreement sealed with the blood I

shall pour out to purchase back your souls.""And just as it is destined that

men die only once, and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only

once as an offering for the sins of many people; and He will come again, but

not to deal again with our sins. This time He will come bringing salvation to

all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for Him."

If there was not even enough room on this earth for all of the writings of all

that Jesus did and said while on this earth, then you can see my dilemma in

being able to cover it all in one page. I hope that as we continue our

devotional/study we will be able to cover much more of the purposes,

teachings and awesome miracles of Jesus' time here on earth. The most

wonderful time period in history!

Prayer

Oh Holy Lord! There were so many teachings that You gave us in Your

ministry here on earth; so many things to learn. Help me as I search the

scriptures for everything that You have told us to do and to understand

more about You, and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In Jesus Name,

Amen

DAY TWENTY-FOUR---------CHAPTER FOUR


PREPARING THE STAGE FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT'S GRAND ENTRANCE

Scripture Reading: John 14:14-17;15:26; 16:7(NKJV)

"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me keep My

Commandments! And I will pray the Father and He will give you another

Helper, and He will abide with you FOREVER! The Spirit of Truth, whom the

world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor Knows Him! But you

know Him...for He dwells with you...and will be IN you!" "But when the

Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth,

who proceeds from the Father...He will testify of Me." " 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."

Jesus has been preparing His disciples for His departure from this world;

and He is calling the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth and the Helper. There are

two things to take note of here...The Spirit of Truth will stay with us forever!

He will not depart from us when we commit a sin..this is different from the

way He dealt with men in the past. Also, in Hebrews 9:8-17 we learn that

the blood of animals only covered over the sins of the people, taking them

out of sight for hundreds of years until Jesus Christ came to die on the

cross. Then He gave His own blood; which forever took those sins away! The

other thing to take note of is: "The Helper won't come unless I depart." Why

do you think that the Holy Spirit could not come until Jesus went back to

Heaven? He had been around all of this time, but there was something New

about this arrangement...Remember back to the scripture in Jeremiah of the

promise of a New Heart and a New Spirit to be a part of the New Covenant?

It reminds me of the way that commercial advertisements say it: "New and

Improved!" I know that is not really true of the Spirit, for how could He be

improved upon? He Is The Spirit of God! In Hebrews this is explained

beautifully. Jesus had to prove His death, by going into the Holy of Holies in

Heaven and offering His own precious Blood upon the Mercy Seat to make

atonement for all of mankind, (and this was an acceptable sacrifice to God)

before the Holy Spirit could make His appearance on earth. When we

become New and Improved, the Holy Spirit can dwell in our cleansed and

purified hearts forever.

Prayer

Father, Praise You for all of the marvelous teachings in Your Word

that explain so beautifully, Your plan for our salvation, and how You have worked out every detail for helping us through life by giving us

the gift of the Holy Spirit! In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY TWENTY-FIVE---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fourth Week


HIS MISSION STATEMENT

John 16:8-15

Jesus tells His disciples that there are six things that the Holy Spirit was to do:

1. The Holy Spirit will convict people of their sin - the sin of unbelief in Jesus.

2. The Holy Spirit will teach that there is righteousness available because Jesus

has gone to be with the Father.

3. The Holy Spirit will teach that there is deliverance from judgment because

the prince of this world (satan) has already been judged.

4. He will guide us into all truth, for He is Truth. He will not be presenting His own

ideas , but will be passing on to you what He has heard.

5. He will tell us about the future.

6. He will praise Jesus Christ and bring Him great honor by showing us Christ's

Glory, which is all of the Father's glory and it is His (Jesus)!

Romans 8:6-11 tells us even more: "Following after the Holy Spirit leads to

Life and Peace. But following after the old nature leads to death; because

the old sinful nature within us is against God... But you are not like that. You

are controlled by your New Nature: If you have the Spirit of God living in

you.(And remember that if anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ living in

him, he is not a Christian at all!) Eph. 4:30: And do not grieve the Holy

Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the Day of Redemption!" Also,

remember that He is the one who grows the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-

23) Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control.(Rom. 8:26 tells us another one of His Missions:

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what

we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession

for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.")

The Holy Spirit was being introduced to the disciples in a way that they had

never understood before. After Jesus' Resurrection, as He first appeared to

His disciples, He did a very "mysterious" thing: He Breathed On Them and

said 'Receive the Holy Spirit'! On Day Two of this study, we learned that

man was given the breath of the Spirit of Life, now he was to be given the

breath of the Spirit of Christ. (Rom.8:10-11)"And if Christ is in you, the

body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He

who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies

through His Spirit who dwells in you."

Prayer

Holy Father, How I praise You today, for Your glorious gift has been given to

each one of us who has put our faith and trust in Jesus to save us. We have

received the Awesome Holy Spirit who is doing all of the above things in our lives! Thank You so much for the Holy Spirit! Amen

DAY TWENTY-SIX---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fourth Week


THE RUSHING MIGHTY WIND Acts 1:4-11; 2:1-18 (NIV)

"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to

depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He

said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you

shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now," Therefore,

when they had come together; they asked Him, saying, "Lord will You at this

time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, It is not for you

to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but

you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you

shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to

the end of the earth. Now when He had spoken these things,, while they

watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And

while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two

men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do

you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from

you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into

heaven."

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in

one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing

mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then

there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of

them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with

other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. skip to verse 17: (this

prophecy of Joel has been fulfilled!): "And it shall come to pass in the last

days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and

your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your

old men shall dream dreams, and on My menservants and my maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy!"

Now, the Promise of the Father was fulfilled! The Baptism of the Holy Spirit had been

accomplished! Prophecy after prophecy was being fulfilled and explained to the crowd of people that day. Peter was full of the Spirit and was proclaiming many

wonderful truths concerning the Lord and the people were moved and asked what should they do? Peter proclaimed: vs.38: "Repent! and let every one of you be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all

who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Have you been called? Have you been chosen? Yes, you have. Don't ever doubt it. He

has given you the gift of choice. If you have chosen to serve Jesus, you have been given the Helper. He helps you serve others.

Prayer

Oh Holy Spirit! I ask for Your Help today! Help me oh My Helper! I need to have the strength, power, faith, love, longsuffering, and self-

control that it takes to serve others. In Jesus Name, Amen

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fourth Week


THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH - THE KINGDOM HAS COME

Scripture Reading: Matt. 6:8-10; Acts 2:41-47; 4:23-35; 9:31; 11:19-

24(NIV)

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come, Your

will be done on earth as it is in heaven!" "Then those who gladly received

his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were

added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and

fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon

every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold

their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had

need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread

from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of

heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added

to the church daily those who were being saved." "And being let go, they

went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and

elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to

God with one accord and said, "Lord, You are God! Who made the heavens

and the earth and the sea! And all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your

servant David have said: "Why did the nations rage? And the people plot

vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were

gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ!" "For truly

against Your Holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and

Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered

together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to

be done. Now Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that

with all boldness they may speak Your Word, by stretching out Your hand to

heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your

Holy Servant Jesus." And when they prayed, the place where they were

assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy

Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." "Then the churches

throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, and were edified. And

walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they

were multiplied." "Now those who were scattered after the persecution

that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,

preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. Then news of these things

came to the ears of the Church in Jerusalem and they sent out Barnabas to

go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was

glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should

continue with the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit

and faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord....and the

disciples were first called "Christian" in Antioch."

Prayer

Oh Lord How Marvelous are Your Works of the Holy Spirit! He

brought to Life - the Church of Jesus Christ! In Jesus I praise You, Amen

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fourth Week


PROPHECY BECOMES PREACHING Scripture Reading: Acts 2:40-41; 3:17-26; 4:4; 5:19-25; 6:2-4(Living)

"Then Peter preached a long sermon, telling about Jesus and strongly

urging all his listeners to save themselves from the evils of their nation. And

those who believed Peter were baptized - about 3,000 in all!" "Dear

brothers, I realize that what you did to Jesus was done in ignorance, and

the same can be said of your leaders. But God was fulfilling the prophecies

that the Messiah must suffer all these things. Now change your mind and

attitude to God and turn to Him so He can cleanse away your sins and send

you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord and send

Jesus your Messiah back to you again. For He must remain in heaven until

the final recovery of all things from sin, as prophesied from ancient times.

Moses, for instance, said long ago, "The Lord God will raise up a Prophet

among you, who will resemble me! Listen carefully to everything He tells

you. Anyone who will not listen to Him shall be utterly destroyed." Samuel

and every prophet since have all spoken about what is going on today. You

are the children of those prophets; and you are included in God's promise to

your ancestors to bless the entire world

through the Jewish race-that is the promise God gave to Abraham. And as

soon as God had brought His servant to life again, He sent Him first of all to

you men of Israel, to bless you by turning you back from your sins." (they

were imprisoned for this message) "But many of the people who heard their

message believed it, so that the number of believers now reached a new

high of about 5,000 men!" "But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened

the gates of the jail and brought them out. Then he told them, "Go over to

the Temple and preach about this Life!" They arrived at the Temple about

daybreak, and immediately began preaching! Later that morning the High

Priest and his courtiers arrived at the Temple, and, convening the Jewish

Council and the entire Senate, they sent for the apostles to be brought for

trial. But when the police arrived at the jail, the men weren't there, so they

returned to the Council and reported, "The jail doors were locked, and the

guards were standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was

there!" When the police captain and the chief priests heard this, they were

frantic, wondering what would happen next and where all this would end! Then someone arrived with the news that the men they had jailed were out

in the Temple, preaching to the people!" "So the Twelve called a meeting of

all the believers. "We should spend our time preaching, not administering a

feeding program," they said. "Now look around among yourselves, dear

brothers, and select seven men, wise and full of the Holy Spirit, who are

well thought of by everyone and we will put them in charge of this business.

Then we can spend our time in prayer, preaching, and teaching."

The first martyr of the Church was Stephen, who preached an awesome

sermon in Acts 7 and as the angry mob stoned him to death he saw Jesus in

Heaven standing at the right hand of God!

Prayer

Oh, Lord in Heaven, that I may have that kind of boldness! Amen

FOOTPRINTS TO..

A CLOSER WALK

Chapter FOUR

"HOLY SPIRIT"

APRIL Devotional

Week FIVE

"SUMMARY AND SURPRISE"

DAY TWENTY-NINE---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fifth Week


SUMMARIZING WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED

Let's gather up all of the interesting facts that we have learned from this study:

All Life has the breath of the Spirit of Life and Man has an extra added

ingredient, the Image of God. The Spirit of Prophecy was given to man to

show God's Supremacy and Omniscience. Men were anointed with a special

anointing oil and then the Spirit of God "rested" upon them; when this

happened then the men would prophecy. The Spirit always moved upon men

to find ways and places to worship God; He inspired their worship, and

inspired them to write the Word of God and inspired them to build Temples

of Worship. Worship of God was/is so important and vital in the Plan of God

that the Spirit worked even among those who were not exactly "willing

vessels" to bring about His Will. We see this as one of the Key Purposes of

the interactions of the Holy Spirit with man! Each time a Temple was

destroyed, it was out of God's judgment upon the people for turning away

from Him and worshiping other gods. This is what the prophecy was

revealing when Ezekial was describing the Vision of the Lord's Glory

departing from the temple and the earth. There was a time of darkness

where there was silence upon the face of the earth. When the time came for

the prophecies to be fulfilled concerning the Messiah, there were visitations

from angels, and messages of great importance being given from on high to

those who had remained faithful and hopeful in their belief in God and the

coming Messiah. The Holy Spirit had been in the "shadows" overseeing the

steady progression of God's Plan for Mankind; until the time was right for

His participation in the Immaculate Conception of the "Holy Child" - "God

Incarnate" had now come into the world in a miraculous way! Then, the

next step, The Lamb of God was sacrificed for mankind's sins, and the third

step; the enduement of the Holy Spirit within believer's hearts at Pentecost!

It Was Finished! God's Plan was now implemented in all of these events,

and Jesus sat down at the Right Hand of God's Throne, ready to make His

enemies His footstool! The Birth of the Church was the New Beginning of the

New Covenant, accomplished by Jesus through the Holy Spirit! Praise and

Worship The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!

Scripture Prayer from the Book of John

We praise and thank you, Oh Lord, that You have told us in Your Word that whatever

we ask, using Your name will be granted to us, so that it will bring glory to the Father. You have promised us that if we will love You and obey You, You will give us the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth. Your Word is truth, and our desire is to worship in spirit and in truth - from our hearts and souls. Oh let us worship You in one accord, one unit, one body, in the unity of the Spirit and help us to know the

perfect will of God which is- that not one of all those that are Yours would be lost;

but that all should be raised to eternal life at the last day and we cling to Your great promise in Your Word, that You are our Shepherd and we are Your sheep, and that we will always hear Your voice, and no one can pluck us out of Your hand. In

Your precious name, Amen

DAY THIRTY---------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fifth Week


PART ONE-IN CONCLUSION A LITTLE HISTORY OF HEROD'S TEMPLE

There was silence in the scriptures, between what we call the Old Testament and the

New Testament, for some 400 years. Why should there be such an historical interlude? One can only speculate, but perhaps it is to dramatize the most important

event in the history of mankind. The Israelites were by now being called "Jews" .

About a century before Herod's birth in 70 B.C. the Jews won a war of independence from Greek rulers who were trying to impose their religion on others, forcing the

Edomites to convert--Herod's aristocratic forefathers among them. Herod's grandfather and father were both military commanders under the liberated Jews.

But in a cunning move, Herod's father - Antipater - switched loyalties after Roman legions invaded Judea, which is now the general region of Israel. He started fighting

alongside the Romans because he believed them to be unstoppable. As a reward,

Rome appointed him military governor of Judea. Antipater named his twenty five year old son, Herod, governor of Galilee, and when Antipater died in 43 B.C.

descendants of the former Jewish rulers and freedom fighters staged a comeback and the Roman Senate retaliated by naming Herod "King of the Jews" and sending an army to wipe out the rebels. Once in control of Jerusalem, Herod moved quickly

to silence dissension by bribing or else killing those who did not go along. He

appointed an old friend as the Jewish High Priest, although Jewish law called for this to be a lifetime office passed down from family to family. Herod had a long history of evil dealings, even murdering his own wife and son. Yet he was the one who rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple; many scholars say Herod's ambitious building program was all about himself, and that the temple was more practical than religious--a way to

seduce the Jews. But Jews throughout the country celebrated the end of Herod's violent rule. And Oh! how there needed to be a New Temple! One that was

not built by an evil, violent man who did not have a heart for God. And now came the Light into the world, and as Jesus walked through the Temple courtyard, he saw the merchants and merchandise and became angry! He said, "This shall be a House of

Prayer, not a den of thieves!" It was the righteous indignation of One who knew how desolate this temple had become! Just like those whose hearts were just as desolate. They did not know how to worship!They had no heart for worship.

Scripture Prayer from the Book of Romans

Thank You Lord, for the gift of the sweet Holy Spirit, which is our guarantee

that there is no condemnation to we who are in Christ. We now walk not

after the flesh but after the Spirit, because we have not received the spirit

of bondage and fear, but we have received the Spirit of Adoption. We are

now free to call out, "Abba - Father!" All praise and thanksgiving for

adopting us into Your family, for You have grafted us as branches into Your

Divine Tree. Keep us ever mindful of our Jewish brothers, who were cut off

from the Vine because of unbelief. Praise You for Your wisdom in this so

that we could be given the chance for salvation and when the fullness of the

Gentiles has been fulfilled then all Israel will be saved! We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the time to come when Israel will

come to realize that Jesus is their Messiah! Amen

DAY THIRTY--------CHAPTER FOUR Fourth Month.................Fifth Week


PART TWO – IN CONCLUSION A NEW TEMPLE - NOT MADE WITH HANDS

Scripture Reading: Acts 7:46-50; 1 Cor. 3:16; 11 Cor. 6:16

"(Living) God blessed David greatly, and David asked for the privilege of

building a permanent Temple for God, but it was Solomon who actually built

it. However, God doesn't live in temples made by human hands. "The

heavens are My Throne," says the Lord through His prophets, "and Earth is

My footstool. What kind of home could you build?" asks the Lord, "Would I

stay in it? Didn't I make both Heaven and Earth?" "Do you not know that

you are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If

anyone defiles the Temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of

God is Holy, which Temple you are!" "And what agreement has the Temple

of God with idols? For you are the Temple of the Living God. As God has

said: (Ez.37:26-27) "I will dwell in them, and walk among them, I will be

their God and they shall be My people."

Now, the Holy Spirit has come! The Church has been born! The Kingdom has

been established! The New Temple has been built! Halleluiah!~ We are

God's Temple! ~

We are the body of Christ and He is the Head! The Temple not made with

hands is our hearts! Let us Worship Him in Spirit and Truth! In Jesus' words

to the Samaritan Woman at the well, He talks about how in a short while,

worshippers will worship in a different place and in a different way! The

Living Water is now poured out upon all who were thirsty and dry! It was

the time of the Latter Rain! The Holy Spirit was raining down upon all of

those who put their trust in Jesus as their Messiah, their Savior! As the

Anointing Oil was poured upon the head of those being consecrated, in the

Old Testament, now all of those who were being consecrated, or sanctified,

were anointed with the Living Water of the Holy Spirit! And this time, He

wasn't just resting upon them and there was only oil upon the head, but we

are to be "Immersed" with Him! There seemed to be a transfer, from the oil

to the water. Col.2:11-12 "When you came to Christ He set you free from

your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision, but by a spiritual

operation, the Baptism of your Souls! For in baptism you see how your old

evil nature died with Him and was buried with Him; and then you came up

out of death with Him into a new life; because you trusted the Word of the

mighty God who raised Christ from the dead."

Let Us Worship Him

The Lord is in His Holy Temple! Let all the earth keep silence..keep

silence..before Him. ....We Exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, Oh Lord! We worship You, we worship You...the reason we live, is to

worship You! A.ah.men...A.a.a.ah.men..A.ah.men.

i will give you living water! - western plains district · "i will give you living...

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