“But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in
Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not
yet glorified.” (John 7:39)

The Holy
Spirit is the Spirit of life that flows from the Father and the Son into and
through the believer; guiding, teaching, directing, leading and helping in
every way so that we need not lean on our own understanding, but on the very
Word of the Lord who speaks moment by moment that we may know Him by faith.

Holy Spirit, guide me today in Your ways that I would not
lean on my own ways. Flow through me that I would learn from You and go the
direction You lead. Help me see that You have already laid out a course and all
I need do is walk that course in order to fulfill what is needed for this day.

Thank You,
Lord, for coming and leading all who believe in the way of truth. Grant this
day that Your bride, the church, would bring You glory as You have sent us the
Holy Spirit because of Your glory. Guide us to work in unison for the sake of
the Gospel, that Your will be done throughout our earthly lives. Amen.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his
innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38)

Without
water, there is no life. Wherever water is, there life grows. Jesus offers us
an abundance of life here and now and forever. Acting on what Jesus has given
us, the offered life comes as we live into this promise. He has promised life
to the innermost part of our being if we will receive Him.

Lord, help those places in my life where I am not believing
that I may grow with Your living water. Remove those things that would dam the
water, in order that I might live fully in Your purpose and power. Help me
today to work on those things You have given me to do that I may become more
faithful to You.

Thank You
,Jesus, for providing the living water and the opportunity for it to flow from
me to others. Grant today that I would flow with Your living water, splashing
on others Your Word. Guide my mouth, mind and heart that I would think on those
things which are pleasing to the Father. May I be a witness to Your truth this
day in all I say and do. Amen.

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink.” (John 7:37)

We are
mostly water. All of what we need, Jesus offers to provide. He will fill us up
so that we are not parched. Many, however, will go elsewhere trying to be
filled. Jesus stands in the middle of the crowd and offers us what we need. Will
you take Jesus up on His offer and have your soul refreshed?

Lord, I do not think I need anything, so I do not come to
You. Yet, here You are, calling out and offering to quench our thirst. Jesus, I
am a sheep who is led around. I do not know what I need, often not until it is
almost too late. Help me listen to You so that I may be guided in all things,
today and every day.

Thank You
Jesus for putting Yourself at risk for all who would come to faith through You
to the Father. Help me today to live into this faith You have given me by
acting upon the things You have given me to do. May others have their souls
filled because I have helped to bring You to them. Amen.

“What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and
will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?” (John 7:36)

As Paul told
us in Ephesians, the Lord must lead the captives home. No one can seek the Lord
while He cannot be found, but He comes to those who hear His voice and leads
them home. We come to the Lord because He first came to us. The lost will
wander, but the found will follow. Only those found will follow the Good
Shepherd.

Lord, let me not get caught up in the mindless speculation
of this age, spoken by those who do not know You. Instead, lead me today to
perceive the unseen and live firmly in the truth You have already revealed. Grant
that I would not be a seeker, but instead be a follower. Help me where I
stumble in order that I may live by faith.

Help me
today, Lord Jesus, to show others Your presence by living in Your presence and
by Your example today. As You lead me, so use me to lead others to You that
they may have the opportunity to no longer be seekers, but followers of You who
leads us away from the realm of rebellion toward the heavenly realm of eternal
peace. Amen.

“The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man
intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the
Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?” (John 7:35)

We often
think in temporal current time terms. God is Spirit and Truth and those who
worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth. Jesus descended from the heavenly
realm to dwell with us for a time. Where He is taking us is to the heavenly
realm. We need to listen to what the Lord says and by faith believe in that
which is not seen.

Lord, trusting You is simple. Yet it is also profound and that is what puzzles me. I am unable to comprehend the ultimate reality. Rather than living befuddled, help me trust that You are leading me where I need to go. Help me trust You step by step that I may become what You have always intended.

Thank You
Lord Jesus for speaking in terms that I can understand to learn about things I
do not know. Grant today that with gentleness I would speak to others as You
have spoken to me. Help me not just impress upon them Your Truth, but instead
be a witness of it by being gentle and kind that others may know You are in me.
Amen.

“But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so
that we will not be condemned along with the world.  So then, my brethren, when you come together
to eat, wait for one another.  If anyone
is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for
judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come (1 Corinthians 11:32-34).

The virtue
that describes what Paul is saying is temperance.  Live in the knowledge that Christ is with you
and in you.  Live seeking to please the
Lord always.  Live with God’s love for
your neighbor.  Live knowing that in
eternity we will all get along because we will have concern for the other as
well as our self.  Live into the calling
to which you have been called knowing the Lord is leading you.

Lord, these are not altruistic words, but the words of truth.  Guide me in the way I should go knowing that You are leading me.  Help me to overcome my sinful selfishness that I would now and always abide in You as You abide in me.  Teach me how to overcome those times where I want to do what I want to do, that I may do instead what is right and fitting.  Teach me Lord!

Lord Jesus, You are the Savior, and You are also the teacher.  Guide me Lord in the way You know I need to go.  You have judged me already and know all that I need.  Lead me in the way I should go that I may always walk according to Your direction.  Help me in those selfish moments to put myself aside that I may live in witness that You are in me and I am in You.  Teach me how to be faithful.   Amen

“For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:29-31).

Think in terms of eternal health. The Lord is guiding those who come to Him in the way they need to be guided and feeds them heavenly food.  Those who think this mere formality mock what the Lord is doing and bring into themselves condemnation. It is not a matter of works, but of attitude. Are you learning to love the Lord as He loves You?  Do you submit to love or are you in love with yourself only?

Lord, this is important. It is not a matter of me figuring everything out, but of learning how to love as You love. Guide me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I may receive all that You give in grace and grow in Your likeness. Where I am trivializing what is important, convict me. Where I do not honor You, show me how to honor, love and worship You always above all things.

Lord Jesus, You gave Your body as the sacrifice for all my sins. Lead me to see that You feed me with heavenly food in order to build up my mind, body, and soul through You to become what I shall be. Help me to understand that in You alone is life and light. Teach me faithfulness always that I may live into the life to which You have prepared the way, honoring You now and forever. Amen.

“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the
Lord.  But a man must examine himself,
and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians
11:27-28).

What we are called to do in the Lord is neither rote, nor mechanical; it is a living relationship.  Do not treat the grace of the Lord as something that is yours because you deserve it, but live in the grace you’ve been given.  It is a loving relationship and pride and selfishness are not a part of this relationship.  Live then into what the Lord is giving and abide in His presence always.

Lord, my moods swing all over the place.  Help me to live each day knowing that I am in
Your presence.  Guide me in spite of my
moods to live knowing that I am in You and You are in me.  Lead me to live in the eternal relationship
You have established through grace that I may now and always be faithful when I
partake of Your grace.  Help me to be
honest and forthright always.

Lord Jesus,
it is Your shed blood that has paid the price for my remission of sin.  May I never treat this with disdain or in any
way disrespect Your invitation to join with the saints of all times and places.  Lead me to always be respectful and a willing
participant in this gift which You give.  
Though my heart may not always be in the right place, create in me a new
and clean heart that respectfully receives what You alone can give.  Amen.

“In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as
you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He
comes” (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).

The new
covenant in my blood….  Not like the
old where we strived, but in the new recognizing that all we strive to do will
not overcome the problem of sin.  Only in
Christ and through what He has done are we able to move forward.  Proclaim the Good News until He comes again,
that freedom from the recompense of sin is a gift for those who accept Christ
as Lord.

I do not fully understand, yet in a small way I do.  All the striving in the world merely repeats
the same process.  You have come to show
that apart from You it is impossible, but that with You all things are
possible.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of
truth that I may now and always abide in the truth You have revealed and
partake of the grace made possible through Your shed blood.

Lord Jesus,
You have done what needed to be done. 
You have come that all who turn to You may have life.  Guide me in the new life You give that I may
now and always live into the hope You give. 
Lead me in faithfulness that I may see more clearly each day the things
You have done and the things You are doing. 
Through You alone, help me see that You keep on giving that all who
believe may share the Good News of what You have done.  Amen.

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to
you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;  and when He had given thanks, He broke it and
said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)

This is My
body….  We can become bogged down in
the argument of whether we are to remember, to believe it is some literalism,
or just do it in remembrance.  Regardless
the way in which Your mind works, if it helps, do whatever you do because the
Lord has commanded it.   Be gracious in
and to all, for it is by grace that you have been saved, knowing that it is
what the Lord is doing that is important.

As I partake of the gift You have given Lord, help me to
have a heart that is thankful.  Guide me
according to Your purpose that I may now and always live knowing that I am in
Your presence.  Feed me as You alone can
feed me and keep me from insisting that the way I think is the only plausible
way.  Your thoughts are above my thoughts
and Your ways are above my ways.  Lead me
knowing this truth.

Lord Jesus,
before You went to the cross, You gave gifts to the faithful.  Unite me with the saints of all times and
places that I may humbly abide in Your presence according to Your Word.  Feed me the bread of heaven and enliven my
spirit with the knowledge of Your presence that I may now and always rejoice in
Your atonement and resurrection.  Lead me
as You know I need to be led that I may live into the life to which You have
called me.  Amen.