2 Timothy 4:1-5
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
In last week's devotional, I asked a question toward the end: Jesus is coming back, are you ready to face your Creator? This is not a question for just those who do not know Christ, it's also for me and anyone who professes to know Christ as their Lord and Savior (Matthew 12:43-45, 2 Peter 2:19-22). We should be alarmed by the fact that only a few will find the road to God, according to Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14). If you identify yourself as a Christian, have you thought about the possibility that our pride and confidence in our intellectual knowledge of God is our downfall that can cause us to miss the narrow road toward God's kingdom? Proverbs 28:26 says, "Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe." How does one walk in wisdom? We are bombarded with different energies all around us, spewing information into our minds from the moment we open our eyes until we close them at nighttime. That is why I have decided to believe and listen to the only man who lived on this earth and who also lives in heaven and understands the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Jesus Christ (Proverbs 9:10, John 3:13). Jesus said only in him can we find peace in this world. He went further to remind us that trouble is part of our existence in this world, and he tells us "But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Not only did he overcome the world He is coming back to complete his promise (Revelation 19:11-16).
Jesus lived on earth in human form while waiting for the Holy Spirit to enter him on the day of his baptism, which gave him the wisdom he needed to rely on through all of Satan's schemes. The Scriptures in Matthew chapter 4 recorded Satan's interaction with Jesus after he had fasted for forty days. However, Jesus likely had many more interactions with Satan that are not recorded. Satan is like a lion who never sleeps, looking for opportunities to devour humankind. Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is the stamp of our Christian faith. "Jesus replied, 'Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.' Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” God allowed the gift of eternity to enter Mary's womb, who conceived Jesus, and he was born with the spirit of life and flesh which every human being has been gifted by God. Although Jesus was formed through the power of the Holy Spirit, he did not yet receive the Holy Spirit to be his counselor through all wisdom and power until the day of his baptism. Jesus' desire was to spend time with God as he prepared to receive the Holy Spirit to begin God's mission in his earthly life.
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to do anything different from what he himself had to experience while he lived in the flesh. Jesus made sure that he let us know He and the Holy Spirit are two different entities and the Holy Spirit is more significant than he who was in human flesh: "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32). To walk in wisdom, let us get the answer from Jesus' own mouth: "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). If Jesus is the way, is just believing in his existence enough for me to get to God? Scriptures tell us that even the demons believe there is one God, and we know that Satan and the demons will be thrown into the lake of fire at the end (James 2:19, Revelation 20:10). Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him." To say with your mouth, you believe in Jesus and not have the Holy Spirit is like believing in your mind you can swim, and you jump in the ocean, only to find out you are not a swimmer, and you start drowning. Walking in wisdom is to no longer live but to have Christ live in you. The Holy Spirit is available to those who surrender to the will of God's Spirit to guide us as we fight against Satan’s scheme to gratify our flesh (Galatians 5:16). To live a life on this earth without the Holy Spirit we will be defeated by the enemy.
For the year 2025, God has prompted me to focus on Jesus' mission when he was on earth and his second coming. The religious world spends an enormous amount of time focusing on Jesus' grace, peace, and restoring humankind back to God, and rightly so. But little time is spent on the role of the Holy Spirit as we prepare for Jesus' return as the Judge and the destroyer of God's enemy. As a result, sins are normalized, and Judgment Day is not often preached about. I am inviting you to look at your life and honestly ask yourself if you are walking in the wisdom of God's Holy Spirit in preparation for the arrival of the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, who is the "Beginning and the End" (Revelation 22:12-13). We do not know the day, and not even Jesus knows the day. But he warned us to be ready because he himself must be ready when he is called upon by his Father (Mattew 24:36-44).
