Take Heart, Be of Good Cheer

  Take Heart, Be of Good Cheer

Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer Ministry. I am your host Dayla Smith. I am hoping all is well with everyone. Especially in this day and time. If you watch T.V. these days, or pay attention to what’s going on in the world on the internet, you will find it very easy to get wrapped up in it. There is so much chaos. It seems like everywhere you turn, there is a cause to fear. But, Jesus says to take comfort. There is hope. How can I say this? Because His word says it, which is the subject today. Take heart and be of good cheer.

            Let’s look at  John chapter 16 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto  you at the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. 31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

                  You see Jesus started letting the disciples know of things to come. What happens? They become fearful and discouraged. What does the Lord do next? He says in verses 6- 11, 6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 

               He tells them how they can be encouraged. After His death He will send the comforter, or paraclete, or the Holy Spirit. These are the names that refer to the Holy Spirit. What does this mean for a believer? When you become broken before Him, repent of your sins, ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart. That is salvation from the curse of sin. Remember He told Nicodemus in John 3:3-8 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

            So, when you are born again, it is by the spirit of God. But, that is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Before you receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, you have an old man. He is the Adamic nature of sin. After you receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, you have to die to the old nature and live according to Christ’ nature. This is the new man. We are called to grow in the fulness of the measure and stature of Christ. This is found in Ephesians 4:13.  

           Matthew 3:11-17 says, 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. You see John the Baptist was calling for repentance. After the people repented of their sin, he began to baptize them in water. He didn’t sprinkle water on their forehead and call it done. He dunked them under. You see, the Lord loves demonstrations. Why? Because they make a powerful statement. To you as a person, to the Lord, to those who witness it, and to all the demons in hell who are also there to witness it. You are telling yourself, I am going under as a picture of dying to the old life of sin and I am rising up as my commitment to a new life in Christ. That is why by the Holy Spirit you can say that that old person is dead when the enemy comes to remind you of who you once were.  To the Lord, allowing Him to come in and bless your commitment to Him. To those arounbd you who witness it, that their joy may be full and that they may be encouraged by your decision. To the enemy, letting them know the jig is up. You no longer belong to him as a slave of sin, but you are now a bonservant to the Lord Jesus Christ.   So, like with Nicodemus, you must be born again of water and Spirit.      

                 So, John says he baptizes with water unto repentance. But, there is another who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with Fire. John once again  recognized who Jesus was. Once again? What do you mean once again. Remember when Mary went to visit Elizabeth and John lept in her womb. Which caused her to prophecyto Mary concerning the gift she was carrying in her womb. Even in the womb he recognized who Jesus was and again at the river where he was baptizing sinners unto repentance. Jesus was the one John was talking about. Jesus was going to baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire. So,if Jesus the man needed to be baptized in water. How much more should we need to follow His example and be water baptized.

         I thought we were supposed to talk about encouragement and not to be afraid. We are. You see, at the time Jesus had not died yet. He told the disciples in verse 7 and 8 about His crucifiction and resurrection. And, why this would have to happen. What would take place after that. Doesn’t this chapter sound awfully familiar to today? Yes, times have changed. But, the enemy has only put on a new dress to the same old game. How are we going to make it in the last of the last days? I can not stress the importance of this gift.  The gift is free. You have a choice to take it, or not. This gift is the power to walk this walk. How? Because, with Him you can pray more effectively by the power of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of speaking in other tongues is a prayer language only the Holy Spirit and the Father understand. Satan and His cohorts don’t want you to have it because it is a language that they don’t nor can’t understand. Now, I have a testimony about that power. I was led by the Holy Spirit. If you aren’t led, or are in doubt, don’t do this. I was brought up with a relationship with the Lord. But, I went my own way for a while without the Lord. That didn’t end very well for me. Thank you Jesus for my visitation with you. I repented of my sins. Made Him my Lord and Savior. Was making serious changes in my life. That first week, I got saved. I get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. One night I felt led to go to my brother in the Lord’s new old home and cleanse it for Him. It was the Lord’s way of revealing the gift He placed in me. I am a babe in Christ with a full set of teeth. I had total faith in the Lord and His protective hand. He was the one leading me. Not the other way around. So, I go in His Name and start praying in the Spirit. Every now and again I would pray in English as the Lord would lead. Well, a more mature Christian came to his home later and had a funny look on his face. When he asked him what the look was about, he replied, “ Someone came in and cleansed this house. What I can't understand is that in this room was a really bad wooly bugger. (My english) But, whoever this young one was that did this, it has been cast out. It is no longer here!” That is the power of the Holy Spirit and His language. 

          My sister Brenda has a testimony concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit and how it has affected her life.

          Now, back to the subject at hand. The Holy Spirit’s main job is to convict us of our sin. Why? Not to beat us over the head saying that we will never make it. But, to build us up in our most Holy faith. You see the LORD wants us to make heaven our home much more than we do. The only way we can make sure heaven is our home, is to stay in a repentant lifestyle. We have to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. His beautiful word talks all about true humility. We won’t be walking into the kingdom. Because it’s not all about us. It’s all about the darling of heaven that willingly gave up His precious blood and life and became the perfect unblemished sacrifice for we who never deserved it. I know I never did and will never deserve it. How can I say this? Because of 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us. I love the apostle Paul’s attitude toward his walk with the Lord. He reminds me of the scripture Luke 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. So, just because we have received salvation, doesn’t give us the right to live a life of any sin. Therefore, we will have to have a repentant lifestyle. We will always be sinners in desperate need of a Savior. That is what makes this walk so special. That through our response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit that we keep our salvation and continue to grow in the measure and stature of Jesus Christ. 

        He is also the witness to truth. When something isn’t right, He will give you this funny feeling inside that says something is off. Other times He will tell you the truth when there is a lie. The way I see it, when you want to make a destination and you look it up on your GPS, the GPS asks you if you want the shortest distance to where you are going. The same thing with the Holy Spirit. He helps you make clearer choices. He helps your walk to be easier. He does not remove the walk. Our walk with Christ is paved in His precious blood. It is called the crucified way for a reason. He helps you see clearly to make right choices. If you are having a hard time reading your bible, get baptized in the Holy Ghost. Pray in the Holy Ghost. People make it hard. But it really it isn’t. If you ask the Lord to receive this gift, why would He keep it from you? Why would He make you wait. If you pray and ask the Lord for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit He gives it to you plain and simple. If you don’t start speaking in tongues right away, don’t complain or get discouraged. Just thank Him for the evidence of speaking in tongues. Remember, He loves demonstrations. Speaking in another language is a wonderful demonstration of the Spirit of God in your life.  How do I know this? Jesus said it in verses 27-28 How is this supposed to encourage us? Because He has overcome the world. And that overcoming Spirit dwells within us. We overcome him with the Blood of the Lamb and word of our testimony. He says to take heart and be of Good Cheer. He overcame the world.

           If you have not received Christ as your savior, Let me invite you to pray with me.Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Let’s take a moment to truly acknowledge our sin and ask for His forgiveness. Remember you must come truly broken before Him. Truly swick and tired of living the life of sin.Then thank Him for His forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

              Now, if you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I want to invite you to pray with me right now.  Lord Jesus, thank you so much for offering this wonderful gift to me. First, of salvation. Now, the precious Holy Spirit. I Accept your gift of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I praise your Holy Name and want to know you more. The Holy Spirit promises to help me know you more. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name amen. 

        Now, begin to praise and thank Him for it. Open your mouth by faith. Let the words roll out. You will feel a bubble in your stomach. Don’t be afraid. That is the rivers of water that Jesus talks about. Let it come out. You may just have one syllable to start. That’s o.k. As you pray that one syllable, He will cause that language to grow. Just remember to praise and thank the Lord for it. For those who don’t speak in tongues right away, quit focusing on the gift. Focus on the giver of the gift. When you do that long enough, you will begin to speak in tongues. Remember He loves you and wants you to make heaven your home more than you do. He loves you and so do I. 

                   Thank you for joining me today. I hope you will join me again next week at My Little House of Prayer. May the Lord richly bless you this week until we meet again.