The Holy Ghost has a way of simplifying our relationship with God the Father and Jesus. He is the One who teaches us to say, “Abba, Father.”
This phrase refers to an oriental custom of Bible days, regarding the adoption of a child. Until the adopting papers were signed and sealed by the adopting father, the child saw this man only as a father. He had no right to call him Abba, meaning “my.”
Yet, as soon as the papers were signed, registered and sealed, the child’s tutor presented him to the adopting father—and for the first time the child could say, “Abba, Father!” As the father embraced him, the young one cried, “My father! He’s not just a father anymore. He’s mine!”
This is the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. He tutors you of Christ. He presents you to the Father. And he keeps reminding you, “I have sealed the papers. You are no longer an orphan—you are legally a son of God! You now have a very loving, wealthy, powerful Father. Embrace him—call him ‘my Father.’ I have come to show you how much you’re loved by him! He loved and wanted you!”
Our cry should be one of exceeding joy and thanksgiving. The Spirit in us literally cries out, “You are an heir, an inheritor of all that Jesus won.” And what an inheritance you have, because your FATHER is the wealthiest in the whole universe! Don’t shy away from him, he’s not mad at you. Stop acting like an orphan who’s poverty-stricken, lacking joy and spiritual victory. You are not forsaken—so enjoy him!
Not only are we not forsaken but the Holy Spirit is there with us during moments of confusion and suffering.
The Holy Spirit’s mission is to comfort Christ’s bride in the absence of the Bridegroom. “He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” (v. 26).
Comforter means “one who soothes in a time of pain or grief”—one who eases pain and sorrow, brings relief, consoles and encourages. But I like this definition from the Greek: “One who lays you down on a warm bed of safety.” During the cold, dark night of your soul, he lays you down on the soft bed of his comfort, soothing you with his tender hand.
By calling the Holy Spirit the Comforter, Jesus made an infallible prediction. He was predicting his people would be suffering discomfort, and would be in need of comfort—that there would be a lot of pain and suffering among his people in the last days.
The Holy Spirit brings comfort by reminding you that he lives in you with all the power of God inherent in his being. And that’s why you can say, “Greater is he that is in me than all the world powers combined—greater than all demon powers!” God sent the Spirit to use all his power to keep you out of the clutches of Satan—to lift your spirit, drive away all depression and flood your soul with the love of your Lord.
“We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience…. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (5.3" class="scriptRef">Romans 5:3, 5).
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.