Problem Solving 101 || Now What? || Part 2

How many of you have experienced the transformative power of accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? How many of you have committed to living a life of repentance, knowing that it leads to a new, purposeful life? How many of you believe that the only path to heaven is through Jesus? If you have, it’s a testament to the hope and inspiration that Jesus brings. If you haven’t, no worries. The Bible says you need to say that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and turn away from your sinful lifestyle into the one God has created for you. If you’re interested in doing so, this series will help you.

Once you make the decision, you may feel like nothing has changed. Your next question may be “What’s next?” or “What now?” That’s what I intend to answer in this series. Over the following 4 parts of this series, we’ll look at the new things you will do with the Holy Spirit inside your heart. Be aware that there will be a 5-part miniseries inside Part 3 because there’s SO much to cover. I hope you enjoy this series. I’m simply calling it “Now What?”

Part 2 of this series will be about how we will find help in your daily problems and prayer life.

Romans 8:26-27

26           And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

27           And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

As a believer, new or seasoned, you are not alone in your journey. The Holy Spirit is there to guide and comfort you, to help you solve your problems through the work of God. Even when you don’t know how to vocalize your problems, the Holy Spirit prays with and for you, and God will respond to that prayer. In the group of admins that I’m in, I heard someone say, “Sometimes I just pray the alphabet and ask God to put the letters together to tell him what I’m dealing with.” It’s a beautiful testament to the simplicity and power of prayer. There’s no formula for a prayer. There are no requirements for a prayer to be a prayer. It’s a conversation between you and God that allows you to share the joys that are going on and your requests for him to intercede. Some days, there will be more joy, and some days, there will be hurt. Yet, we don’t even HAVE to talk. We don’t have to force a conversation, but we can sit in the stillness and allow the Spirit to talk on our behalf. We can sit in silence or put on some worship music and allow the Spirit to talk through the songs and our words to be said through the song’s lyrics.

With God helping us pray, we don’t need to be afraid to come before him. God’s love for us is unconditional and forgiving. He’s not going to smite us, release us from the family, kill us on the spot, or do something else that’s drastic. He will love us as we are, forgiving our mistakes and guiding us on paths that allow us to grow and become who He created us. God forgives and forgets, but Satan forces us to remember and replay the mistakes continuously until the anxiety, fear, and depression. It’s not a case of replaying them so that we can learn from the situation, but to make us feel guilty and ashamed of ourselves and that what we did forced us to lose our relationship with God. When we go before God, ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you “in harmony with God’s own will.” What does this mean? Ask the Holy Spirit to share the joys and requests in our hearts with God so that our responses or works align with God’s plan for us. Then, when we do this, we must trust that God will always do what is best for us. He’ll open doors that he knows we need opened and close doors that need to be closed. He’ll end relationships that hinder us and create relationships that will grow us. God’s plan is good, not created for harm (even though God’s way might cause us to feel hurt at the moment), but for us to prosper for the betterment of his kingdom and the goodness of God.

In John 14:16, we hear Jesus introduce the Holy Spirit to the disciples and the audience of John’s gospel. There’s a caveat, though, that we must obey the commandments if we love him. If we love Jesus, obey the commandments, and in response, Jesus will do this in our focus verse.

John 14:16

16           And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.

Suppose we love Jesus and follow the commandments set before us. In that case, Jesus will ask God to provide us with another Advocate who will always be with us. If you’re a believer, you know you have the Holy Spirit in your heart. New believers, this verse is for you. You are committing to love Jesus by following the commands he sets before us (love God with all of who we are and love our neighbor as ourselves). If you believe you will do that, Jesus will ask God to send you someone who will never leave you. Someone who advocates for you, who speaks on your behalf when you might be able to do so. This advocate will also be a comforter, encourager, or counselor (based on the different translations). To have someone who is our personal comforter, encourager, and counselor who also advocates for us with God is something that no other thing in this world can replace or replicate. The Holy Spirit is the very power of God that resides in us and works for and with us. With that, who can stop us?

1 Corinthians 4 talks about Paul’s relationship with the church in Corinth. Paul begins this conversation by asking the church to view him as a simple servant of Christ who’s been put in charge of sharing the gospel. He mentions how those in charge must be faithful to who he’s serving. Paul takes little stock in how he’s perceived by the church or any authoritative figures. He doesn’t even let what he thinks about himself make an impact. What matters to him is how he represents God and how God looks at him.

1 Corinthians 4:5

5             So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time – before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give each one whatever praise is due.

We may be tempted to judge other Christians, evaluating whether they’re good followers of Jesus. Only God knows the true intention of a person’s heart, and he is the only one with the right to judge. This is something that we tend to forget often. We’re not called to judge each other. We are called to love God and love others. We must respect everyone. We might not like what they do or represent, but we can treat each other respectfully. At the end of the day, we are human beings. We’d want to be treated as humans. We can confront those who are sinning, but we should not judge them. We are not to do that with hostility but with love and compassion. We can start the conversation like, “Hey, I’ve noticed some things in your behavior that concern me. Can we talk about that?” or “Are you doing alright? I’ve noticed that last few things you posted on social media and I’m concerned?” The conversation can continue from there. Those statements have no judgment but concern, love, and compassion. When we judge others, we (intentionally or not) consider ourselves better than that person – and that’s arrogance, and that’s not healthy. We are not better than each other. We are put on this Earth to serve our holy God, care for our environments and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and do what God calls us to bring the Kingdom of Heaven down to Earth.

Until next time, stay blessed!