Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Yesterday Christians celebrated Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, as Jesus promised. We’ll delve into the promise and filling later in the week. But, the overall goal this week is to show the Holy Spirit some well deserved love and appreciation. Today, we’ll begin with appreciating how God gave us the Holy Spirit when we needed Him.

Today’s scripture, Numbers 11:16‭-‬17 (NLT), shares…
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone.

Consider…
Yesterday was my first time hearing or reading today’s scripture. Needless to say, once again our gracious God blessed my mind 🤯. Allow me to share some observations of God’s provision of the Holy Spirit to help us carry out His plan.

The first part of receiving God’s Helper, is following His instructions for His help. Notice in our scripture, God told Moses to gather seventy recognized elders and leaders. Physical obedience to spiritual instructions is a common requirement of God in order to receive His help. For example…

• The Lord told Gideon to pick three hundred men who drank water like dogs to defeat an army of 135,000 Midianites with horns and torches (the Lord caused the enemy combatants to kill themselves). (Judges 7:1-22)
• The Lord told Joshua to march around a Jericho seven times, quietly for six days, and with a victorious shout on the seventh day. And the walls came tumbling down! (Joshua 6:1-20)
• Jesus told the graveside groupies to roll away the stone covering Lazarus’ tomb, before He resurrected him. (John 11:38-44)
• Jesus told his disciples to bring Him whatever food they could find, before He blew their mind, by feeding 5,000+ with 2 fish and five loaves of bread, and 12 baskets of leftovers to take with them. (John 6:5-13)

God’s assistance begins with our obedience, and following His instructions by faith. When He asks you to do something that seems unnatural, prepare to be amazed by His supernatural.

Next, we back up to what’s required to obey God’s instructions, listening to Him speak. Far too often, we spend so much time asking for God’s help, that we never give Him a chance to tell us what we wants us to do, and equally important, what He will do. There’s something consistent that I have found about what God will do, that is He will come to see about me. I have found, in my times of need, God shows up before He shows out. God isn’t a desk General dictating orders. Rather, He leads us personally through our battles, both internally and externally, to the victory He’s already won. So listen and follow God’s orders always, especially in your times of need.

When you need God’s help, speak less and listen more.

Lastly, once we’ve listened and obeyed, God says Help (the Holy Spirit) is on the way.

Today’s scripture fascinated me, because before Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples in Luke 24:49, He provided Him to His designated deliverer in Numbers 11. Recall, Moses was given the daunting task of delivering 1 million of God’s chosen people from bondage (Egypt) to abundance (Canaan). However, along the journey, Moses had to handle demanding day to day issues. Needless to say, Moses needed help. Yet, notice something interesting, Moses already had the Holy Spirit helping him. Look at the Lord’s words, “I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you”. That teaches us that even though God has given us His Holy Spirit, there are times when He says I need to give some of My Spirit to others to help you. You may recognize them as…

• Angels of Mercy (Doctors and Nurses)
• Peace Officers (Police)
• Guardian Angels (Family and friends)
• Angels unawares (Strangers)

Today’s encouragement is that God will at times give us the help we need, by spreading His Spirit to those we recognize have the skills and ability to help us. The exhortation, is for us to connect with the people God reveals He has placed in our lives to help us, and trust His Spirit to help them help us.

So in summary, God’s help requires our…

• Obedience and following His instructions
• Which requires us to speak less and listen more
• And that may include the need to heed His directions to make local (earthly) connections, to carry out His plan to perfection.

We all need the Holy Spirit, that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit is will only meet our needs in and through us. For proof, just look at how God used Jesus to help us when we were helpless. (Romans 5:6)

Today recognize and appreciate, God knows you need His Spirit to help you do everything He wants you to do! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Today’s song is….
I Need Your Spirit

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)