Abiding In the Spirit Who Abides in Us

Today, the pastor's daughter Joanna shared her testimony, and her desire to be baptized! This coincided well with "our regularly scheduled programming" of the Gospel of John, and the account of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. The sign God gave John of the coming Messiah was that the Holy Spirit would not only descend upon Him, but REMAIN upon Him. The old word here is "abide," which means "to make a home with." The amazing part is that John said that the coming Messiah would baptize OTHERS with this same Holy Spirit - meaning that WE can also have the Holy Spirit making its home in us! This Spirit is faithful to remain in us, but how much we enjoy the fruit and gifts of the Spirit will depend on how fully and continuously WE abide in HIM, as John 15 teaches. Yay Jesus, for calling Joanna as Your daughter!