I've had a perfectly delightful August with the rare privilege of spending more consecutive days with my two of my granddaughters than ever before in their lives. A trip to Ohio let me enjoy them in their own environment for two weeks and then bringing them to Mississippi and my environment for the third week added the dimension of extended family to our fun.Making memories with my grandchildren is a high priority in my life and I feel unusually blessed to have had this special time with Mira and Megan this month. Sometimes long distance grandparenting inhibits truly "knowing" one another on a meaningful level. Mira with her sensitive spirit and quiet, independent ways - and Megan with her in-constant-motion effervescent entertaining ways have made this Gran realize how very much I miss by not getting to be with them more. I am more grateful than ever that even though we are separated by many miles, they are never more than a prayer away. I am so thankful I can rest assured that Jesus loves them even more than I do and watches over them continually.
HOWEVER - I have fallen badly behind in posting the lessons for our study: The Names of the Holy Spirit. To those of you who have been patiently waiting to fill in the blanks in your workbook, I humbly apologise.
In lesson 6 (pages 67-78 in your workbooks) we studied the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit and noted how He teaches us by
- removing our spiritual blindness as The Anointing (1 John 2:27)
- revealing spiritual truth as The Spirit of Revelation (Eph. 1:17)
- communicating the content of truth as The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17)
- causing believers know facts about God as The Spirit of Knowledge (Isaiah 11:2)
- taking away fear and enabling rational thought as The Spirit of a Sound Mind (2 Timothy 1:7)
All good teachers realize that there are certain laws of teaching and learning that will enhance their teaching ministry if they consistently apply them. The Holy Spirit is the most proficient teacher there is and, as such, He teaches us the truths of God according to certain principles.Let's look briefly at five simple principles the Holy Spirit employs in His teaching and allow them to help us understand how we can more effectively teach others. (Page 79 in your workbook.)
1. The principle of READINESS
We can certainly see the Holy Spirit employing the principle of readiness in the way He revealed God's will to the human writers of scripture. The Holy Spirit used 40 writers over a period of some 1,600 years to write the 66 books of the Bible.
Presumably, the Holy Spirit could have dictated the settled Word of God (see Ps. 119:89) to an efficient typist who could have transcribed it in a matter of weeks or months instead of the centuries it took. Why didn't He?
One reason the Holy Spirit took His time in teaching generations of people the scriptures relates to the principle of readiness. Before people were ready to learn about salvation provided by Christ, they first needed to learn the Old Testament law that showed them the need for salvation. The lessons the Holy Spirit taught through the prophets served to reinforce man's inability to keep the law of God. This helped make later generations ready for the message of the gospel.
After teaching the gospel of salvation provided by Christ on the cross, the Holy Spirit then taught through the apostles how to live the Christian life. In every instance, a lesson was not taught until readiness had been established.
Those of us who have been Christians for a long time have learned that the Holy Spirit always teaches us best when we are ready to learn a new truth. How many times have you read a familiar passage - one that you have read many times before - and suddenly you learn something new that applies to your life? Often, when that happens to me, I find myself asking "why didn't I see this before?" The answer is always: "because I wasn't READY to receive it/understand it/apply it until now!"
As we respond to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we need to maintain an openness to His instruction and the readiness to learn all that He wants to teach us.
Following the Holy Spirit's example in the principle of readiness, we need to be careful not to overwhelm those with whom we share Christ with more than they are ready to receive. How many unbelievers have learned to turn a deaf ear to the truth of the gospel because of "witnesses" who try to debate theology with them instead of lovingly sharing simple truths of Jesus and His love?
2. The principle of VARIETY
The Holy Spirit revealed truth to the writers of scripture in a variety of ways, including dreams, verbal conversations, historical events and rational thinking processes. On some occasions, the Spirit wrote or dictated the message directly. He did not simply rely on one proven method of teaching and use it until it became ineffective.
Have you ever noticed how many varied methods the Holy Spirit uses to teach you truth? Sometimes He teaches as we read our Bible - sometimes it's through hearing a lesson taught or a sermon preached. On other occasions, He may use certain circumstances in our lives to teach us valuable lessons. Sometimes He speaks through the formal counsel of a professional - sometimes through the informal counsel of a friend as they share what the Holy Spirit has taught them. The Holy Spirit may use Christian literature (even fiction), or media like radio and television to teach us what He wants us to know. The Holy Spirit has MANY creative ways to teach us God's truth!
The principle of variety is an important lesson for us to learn as well as we attempt to teach our children (grandchildren) or others what the Holy Spirit has taught us. We should not rely on a single method of teaching to communicate to others, but rather realize that varying our teaching methods will make the lessons more interesting and usually result in better learning for those we teach.
3. The principle of LIFE RESPONSE.
The Holy Spirit does not teach us simply to expand our knowledge! He always communicates God's truth for us to apply it to our lives. When the Holy Spirit teaches, He expects to see a life response in His students! I remember this principle as being one of the truths from Experiencing God that affected me most profoundly when I did that study many years ago. Dr. Blackaby said that when God speaks to us, it's not to give us some nice little "thought" or "word" for the day - it's so we will adjust our lives to what He has said!
Can I ask you some personal questions? Never fear - I asked them of myself before I dared to ask you. How well are you applying the lessons the Holy Spirit has taught you? What new lessons has He taught you in the last six months? What difference have those lessons made in your life? What difference could they make in your life if you were more responsive to the Holy Spirit's teaching?
When we teach others (and all of us "teach" in one way or another), our primary concern should always be to see people change their lives in response to God's truth, rather than just communicating content as an end in itself.
When I was with my little granddaughters earlier this month, every time they would express an unhappy attitude I would begin to sing the chorus based on Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day, this is the day ... that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made ... I will rejoice, I will rejoice ... and be glad in it, and be glad in it." Are you singing along with me? LOL It got to be such a game with us that as soon as I would see Meg's lips pinch into the beginning of a pout or her brow begin to frown, I would widen my eyes, singsong her name, place my tongue against my teeth as though to say the word "this" and Megan would shriek - "Oh no! Don't start singing. It's torture!" and then she would dissolve into her 7 year old giggles. Did I want her to learn that Bible verse? Yes - but not just so that she could quote the verse. I wanted her to see that "circumstances" didn't need to control her happiness ... that even though her sister changed the television channel (or whatever had upset her little world at the time), she could still be happy (glad) because God had given her a wonderful day filled with His love. I wanted her to adjust her countenance and attitude to the truth of God. It would probably scare the daylights out of you to know how many times I sang that song to those little girls. GRIN - and that brings us right to the next principle . . .
4. The principle of REVIEW
Repetition and review are key to learning and the Holy Spirit's use of review in His teaching ministry is readily apparent in the Christian life. Certain things the Holy Spirit taught us early in our Christian lives are often repeated periodically throughout our years of spiritually maturing. Most of us learn early that we need to pray regularly. But, oh my, isn't it a lesson we often forget! The same is true of personal Bible study, sharing our faith, and a host of other spiritual disciplines that we too easily forget. Praise God for the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit who is faithful to reinforce those lessons over and over in our lives!
A good teacher will periodically take time to review previous lessons. These former lessons serve as the foundation for Him to apply new truth. If the foundation of a structure is weakened, the whole structure will fall.
I sang "This is the Day" to my grandchildren so many times this summer I just about drove them bananas. Will I need to review the truth that we can be glad in the day the Lord has given us regardless of its circumstances next time I see them? Undoubtedly! The Holy Spirit often has to review that truth with me several times a day!
5. The principle of NEW FRONTIERS.
Do you remember back in the 70's when people came home from Bill Gotthard seminars wearing pins that with the letters PBPGIFWMY on them? It was designed to create questions so that the wearer could share, "Please Be Patient. God Isn't Finished With Me Yet." Well, Hallelujah! That's the truth! The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit is unending throughout our lives! He always can and will teach us something new if we are open to Him. Learning ought to constantly push out our frontiers.
Good teachers realize their students need to be constantly challenged with new truth. The first week of school when I asked my third grade grandson what he had learned at school that day, his response was "I learned that math is BORING!" Trust me, that was not the response I anticipated from this child who had won the "Outstanding Math Student" award the year before. What it boiled down to was simply that he found the necessary review to get every one back on the path to learning after a summer of play was not challenging for him. Now that new things are being introduced and more challenge added, he's rediscovered his love of learning.
Review is important but to constantly repeat the basics without moving on to something else will eventually frustrate students in their learning and possibly even lead to discipline problems. When students are challenged with new frontiers, they respond enthusiastically toward learning.
The Holy Spirit is our faithful Teacher. He is The Anointing. He is The Spirit of Counsel. He is The Spirit of Revelation. He is The Spirit of Truth. He is The Spirit of Knowledge. He is The Spirit of a Sound Mind. He is The Spirit of Understanding. He is the Spirit of Wisdom.
Our response to His teaching names should be two-fold:
- If the Holy Spirit is teaching, we ought to be eager to learn. Learning the lessons He has to teach will result in a changed life.
- Understanding that the Holy Spirit often teaches indirectly through others, we ought to be willing to be part of His teaching ministry in the lives of others.
The teaching names of the Holy Spirit are both an invitation for us to learn for ourselves, and a motivation for us to teach others.
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