A PERSONAL LIFE COACH: God offers us a life personal coach to help us make the right choices and circumvent the negativity that comes to our minds. Who is that coach and how can we gain access to Him?

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

Asking for the Holy Spirit

Holy Father, thank you for our personal coach, our divine guide. Give us access to him so that we may live our lives in harmony with your divine will. In Jesus’ Name Amen

We have access to our own personal coach! Remember in our previous lesson, we talked about our bodies being the temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in? Not only will the Holy Spirit reside in our body temple. He is there to guide us.

You can review Day 4, The Body as a Temple at SabbathSchoolDaily.com

The Holy Spirit is God’s powerful Agent who according to Romans 5:5 when we allow him to dwell in our body temple, He fills our hearts with God’s love.

5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)

And we find in John 16:7–11 that the Holy Spirit leads us into a true saving experience with God.

Moreover, John 16:13 tells us that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth.

13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13)

In Acts 1:8 we find that the Holy Spirit also helps us to do the work God has appointed for us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to be of service to others and fulfill the commission of sharing what we have learned about God and his saving grace.

8 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.” (Acts 1:8)

The Holy Spirit also counteracts the evil work of Satan. Thus, it should come as no surprise to learn that Satan makes every effort to try to distort our understanding of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit.

Satan even works through others to confuse us as to who the Holy Spirit is and to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit. 

As a matter of fact, some professed Christians deny his personality. And still, other professing Christians are interested in the spiritual contributions and power the Holy Spirit manifest.

Though these individuals profess to be Christians they are not interested in the Spirit’s power to change their lives, they are interested in the power that they can have to fulfill their own selfish motives, as in the case of Simon the sorcerer of Samaria.

Read Acts 8:4–24 about him and his attempt to obtain the power manifested by Holy Spirit.

Simon wanted the mysterious power the Holy Spirit had to offer, but was not interested in the change the Spirit could bring about in his life.

Similar to this experience, there are many today that want what God has to offer but do not want to make a change. They want to remain the same. They want to be free to live out of the boundaries God has established for them.

But the true people of God are willing to live within God’s boundaries and be guided by the Power of the Holy Spirit. These according to Romans 8:14 are the children of God.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

In other words, God’s children let the Spirit teach them, and they are guided by the Power of the Holy as they seek truth from God’s word the Bible as expressed in John 16:13 and John 17:17.

John 16:13

13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13)

John 17:17

17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:17) (Split)

Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 warns us about people who pretend to be His followers but really are not. He says, (Split)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’

23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21–23).

What does this mean?

It means that the Holy Spirit never leads anyone away from the Bible, God’s word. His word is truth.

The point is: The Holy Spirit is the one who inspired men to write the Bible. So, instead of leading people away from the Bible, the Holy Spirit always leads us to accept and live our lives in harmony with what is written in the Bible.

This is also true for us. As children of God, the Holy Spirit will never have us lead people away from the Bible, He, instead, helps us to lead others to love and appreciate Bible truth.

This power he has given us and as expressed in Matthew 28:18–20 and Acts 1:8, he has commissioned us to help others learn of Him and His love for them.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Acts 1:8

8 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.” (Acts 1:8)

While we do God’s work, God promises us that He will give us the Holy Spirit to help us.

Therefore, to short-circuit evil thoughts and ideas: We call on the power of the Holy Spirit. We surrender our lives to God every day and surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit every morning.

This requires that we be open to His leading by making conscious choices, every day, to do what we know is right and avoid what we know is wrong. That is, only by seeking, in our God-given strength, to live as we should, will the Holy Spirit dwell in our temple. To receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives we must be open to receive Him.

God has promised the Holy Spirit to us. Therefore, He will give His Spirit to be our daily guide if we ask Him. He is the one who is able to short-circuit our negative and impure thoughts and undesirable habits. All we are required to do is ask for Him and be open to allow Him to live in our body temple. We demonstrate our openness by the life we choose to live.

In this world filled with so many distractions, we must be on guard against Satan and his evil tactics. He is constantly trying to distract us from what is really important. How can we recognize Satan’s distractions and distinguish between the important and the unimportant?

 Find out on Day 5. Ready for His Appearing

Watch Past and Present Lessons at SabbathSchoolDaily.com