Obey and Ask: How to Be filled with the Spirit

If you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead, you are a child of God.  And as a child of God, only two things are necessary for you to be permeated by God's Spirit and power.

OBEY GOD.
According to the Apostle Peter, "God gives the Spirit to those who obey Him."  And according to the Apostle Paul, we are actually commanded to "be filled with the Spirit" instead of "being drunk with wine."  So the first thing to do is simply, completely, and unconditionally yield to the Spirit, giving Him complete and absolute control over you.  That's what it means to "be filled with the Spirit."  That is the command to obey.  Once you've obeyed, you only need to do one more thing.

ASK GOD.
The Lord Jesus said, "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."  So, if you are a child of God, and you've yielded to the Spirit, all you have to do is ask God to fill you with the Spirit, and He will do it.  Right now.

Obey God. (Yield to the Spirit.)
Ask God. (To fill you with the Spirit.)

That's all that's required to be filled with God's Spirit, if you are a child of God through faith in Jesus.

How to be exactly like Jesus

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.  The Apostle Paul

If you follow Jesus, you are born of the Spirit of God, just as Jesus Himself was born of the Spirit of God. You are a son or daughter of God, just as Jesus is The Son of God.  God is your Father, and the Lord Jesus is your Brother.  Imitate Jesus.  Be led by the Spirit of Jesus.

John the Baptizer knew Jesus as The One upon whom the Spirit came and remained, as The One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  John knew Jesus by the Spirit.  You too should be known by the Spirit. 

This is how to be exactly like Jesus.

As Paul the Apostle said, the Spirit testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God.
You are reborn, Spirit indwelt, so be Spirit led. 

This is how to be Spirit led:
The first step is to maintain a clear conscience, a constant state of God's perfect incomprehensible peace.  Pray before you act, and seek God's peace which transcends understanding.  It will be like a red light or green light in your heart.  You will sense God's peace when you are going in the right direction, and a lack of God's peace when you are not going in the right direction.  As you grow in the consciousness of God's peace, you will grow in your ability to receive guidance from him.  This leads to the second step.

Follow the Spirit's promptings in your intuition.  In the first step of being led by the Spirit, you would receive only "yes or no" kind of guidance that you would initiate in prayer for God's will.  Now the Spirit Himself initiates revelation and direction.  You sense an inexplicable certainty that you should go in specific direction or say a specific thing.  You don't know why with your logical mind, but you are absolutely certain and clear that the Spirit is steering you internally, though not forcefully. You still have freewill.  As you grow in listening to your intuition, guided by God's Spirit, for the witness of the Lord Jesus, you will receive more and more revelation, direct communion with God Himself.

God will start to speak to you in more depth and detail.  You will know the voice of the Spirit, conversing with you daily, through out the day intimately.  He will enhance your understanding of scripture as you study and show you how to apply scriptures wisely.  You will also discern Satan and demons seeking to destroy your connection to Christ.  The Spirit will empower you to resist them.  Continue to follow Him.  Be led by the Spirit.

This is how to be exactly like Jesus.

If you agree, please pray with me:

"God, in the name of Jesus, fill me and lead me by Your Spirit so I may be exactly like Jesus in whatever situation I'm in. In Jesus' name Amen."

Share with me in the comments box your experiences of following the Spirit.

How to know you are following God's Spirit

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

 

The preacher hit me in the stomach. "Yield to the Spirit of JESUS!" she yelled.  "Yield.  YIELD."  I tried to keep from falling, but couldn't regain my balance.  I lay on the ground, supposedly "slain in the Spirit."  I threw up.  "It's the devil coming out of you!  Let him out!  Let him out!!"  I got up and ran to the bathroom to clean the vomit from my bright red face. 

 

"God, why are you letting this happen?"
"Ben, why are you letting this happen?" the Spirit responded.

 

The truth hit me harder than the preacher's punch in the stomach.

***

 

How free are you?

How free are people when they are with you?

• If you and they are free--truly free--then the Spirit is leading you.
• If you or they are passive in mind or will, then you are following the devil, directly or indirectly.

 

Choose liberty.  Refuse slavery.

 

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  Galatians 5:1

The Spiritual Mind: A Revelation from God (to me, for you)

Carmen imagines Cameron.  In her imagination, Cameron is in love with her.  She sees him looking deeply into her eyes with longing and passion.  Carmen gazes longingly at Cameron in return.  Her heart pounds with the anticipation of his kiss.


At the same time, Cameron is imagining Carmen.  His love for her overwhelms him.  Somehow he senses a meeting of their minds, intensifying his imaginings.

***

Carmen and Cameron use their imaginations and make a connection, a soulical connection enhanced by their spirits reaching out and touching each other.  If Carmen thought of Cameron without him thinking of her, she may feel intensely for him, but not as intensely as when he is thinking about her at the same moment she's thinking of him.  It's like they are on the phone, separated by miles because of a business trip.  They experience a collaborative phone fantasy to replace their lack of physical intimacy.  This can happen by their imagination if they have a soul connection.  From the soul to the body, Cameron and Carmen experience intimacy through mental fantasy.







***
Jessica imagines Jesus.  She feels Him sitting with her as she prays, pouring out her heart.  She feels an Invisible Intangible Inaudible Listener.  As she thinks about Him, she feels Him thinking about her at the same moment.  Her soul unites her spirit to His Soul and His Spirit.

***

 

It is written,
"Those who live in accordance with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.  Those who live in accordance with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." 

 

The difference between Cameron and Carmen, and Jesus and Jessica, is the difference between soul connecting to body, and soul connecting to spirit.  Carmen and Cameron used their minds to connect to each others bodies; Jessica used her mind to connect to Jesus' Spirit.  Both connections are very real, but result in inherently different experiences, as Jesus said,

 

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit." 

 

• If you use your imagination to make a physical connection, you will experience physical arousal, and a need for physical fulfillment.

• If you use your imagination to make a spiritual connection, you will experience spiritual arousal and a need for spiritual fulfillment.

It's up to you how you use and focus your mind. 




The images above are from:
findingyourpurpose.co
focusmagazine.org



Something you HAVE to know and DO (Part 2)

Imagine you got a bonus check from your job for $2000 dollars.  The check is in your bag or purse or pocket.  It's on your person.  Think of how different your consciousness is.  Instead of 20 dollars on your person, you have 2000.  Your awareness and thoughts and actions are very much different.  You have more respect for 2000 dollars than 20 dollars.  Now imagine, for some reason, you forgot you had that 2000 dollars in your pocket or purse or bag, and somehow I knew it.  Say I'm your boss, the one who gave you the bonus.  One day I ask you, "So, how'd you enjoy your 2000 dollars?" 

BAM!

You remember! 

You've got 2000 dollars that you totally forgot about.  That knowledge alone changes your life at that moment.

It's the same with simply knowing what you now have in your possession:  The Spirit of God!

Do you really know and believe this?  If you do, then there is something you must do. 

The first thing you needed was a revelation.
The next thing you need is consecration.

Now that you know that the Spirit of the Lord God is in you, keywords, the Lord, meaning The Supreme Ruler Creator, it naturally follows that you would submit your entire life to Him at this very moment and from now on.  Let's review the revelation Paul gave the Corinthians, with the consecration he urged them to act out as a result:

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

Because the Spirit of the Lord is in you, having "purchased you" by the blood of Jesus, you are no longer your own.  Your life is not yours; your life now belongs to your Creator and Savior, to His Spirit in you.  You are not just aware of His Presence, you are now aware of what His presence practically means. 

For example, when you're driving and the police are following your car, you experience a revelation leading to consecration!  Now that you know the police are following you, you submit to their authority.  Their presence, red and blue lights, and sirens summon your submission.  The same is true with the divine person in you, the Spirit of God.

If the Spirit in you doesn't shape everything you think, say, and do, then either you don't know He's in you, you don't believe He's in you, or worst of all, you don't care.  It would be like you running from the police instead of stopping when they follow.  You would be deliberately disrespecting the authority of the law.  The Lord in you is now in authority over you.


The Spirit of the Lord is your Lord.  What will you do with His presence from now on?



You have a choice:
Acknowledge Him and submit to Him.
Ignore Him and rebel against Him.

There is no neutral ground with what you now know.

If you choose to acknowledge and submit to the Spirit of God who is in you, pray this prayer with me:

"Our Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus I acknowledge and totally surrender to Your Spirit who is in me.  I no longer live for myself.  I live totally for Him.  Amen."

From this moment on, you are aware of the Spirit of God who is in you.

Your life will never be the same, nor will anyone else who encounters God in you and with you.

Jesus is Lord.
Amen.

Something you HAVE to know and DO (Part 1)

You have to know one thing by the end of this blog.
You have to do one thing with what you will know.

The first thing you need is a revelation.  The same revelation Paul gave the Corinthian Christians is the revelation you have to have by the end of this blog.  Here it is:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
I Corinthians 6:19a NIV

If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins, you have to know this:
The Holy Spirit is in you.
The Holy Spirit is God.
Therefore, God is in you.

God is in you.
God.
In.
You.

Not a power or influence.  Not an "it."  Not a "force."
God, a person, The Person, with a mind, emotions, and will, is inside of your body right now as you read, acknowledging His presence as you read my words.

Ponder it with me.
(Click here for part two)

The one thing you need to do as a child of God

"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God." The Apostle Paul to the Roman Christians

 

I'm writing to the children of God, to those who believe in and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, to encourage us to do the only thing we need to do as God's children. 

 

Here is the only thing we need to do:
Follow the Spirit of God.

 

When we do this one thing, we experience everything necessary for the Christian life:

• We experience an understanding of the scriptures, inspired by the Spirit of God.
• We experience the character and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, experienced in the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit.
• We experience the very presence of God Himself in each of us and with all of us when we come together.
• We experience perfect unity, the oneness Christ prayed for, by which the world knows that Christ came into the world.

Follow the Spirit of God.  This is the only thing you need to do as a child of God.


How do you follow God's Spirit?


You begin by following your renewed conscience, as it is written,


"I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense towards God and man."  Acts 24:16


When you maintain a clear conscience, your spiritual ears become more and more sensitive to the Spirit's voice.  At first you will receive simply "yes" and "no" kinds of guidance from God's Spirit.  You will seek His permission to act or refrain from acting, to speak or remain silent.  You will seek His direction and His will, and He will give it to you more and more as you trust and obey Him.


Soon you will experience the Spirit initiating guidance, giving you intuitive directions and revelations about your life.  As you follow these step by step, moment by moment, and day by day, your spiritual ears will become even more keen. Growing in faithfulness and obedience to God's Spirit, you will come to know with confidence the very voice of God. 


You will not only receive guidance and wisdom concerning God's will, you will become intimately connected to God's heart.  The Spirit will guide you into all truth, His word being truth.  He will connect you to other Spirit led believers, and you will be the true church of Christ, one in heart and mind. You will bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to those who don't believe.  They will hear God's Spirit empowered word and feel convicted of their sins.  Some will repent, others will reject conviction.  But everyone who hears the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ from you will know that the Spirit of God is with you and in you.  They will have no excuse.


You only need one thing:
Follow the Spirit of God.


Please pray with me:


Our Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, we ask that you fill us and lead us by Your Spirit so that we will bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus until He returns for us.  Amen.


God bless all who read these words and put them into practice.

 

 

How to KNOW GOD'S WILL for YOUR LIFE (3): How to follow the Holy Spirit

This is how you follow the Holy Spirit:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to specifically lead you, to tell you what to do.
2. Listen for His answer.
3. Obey His answer.

Step two is the one that challenges some believers.  I'll focus on listening to the Spirit's answer.

When the Spirit leads you or answers you, you sense the answer in two deeply internal ways:

• Deep, indescribable, perfect peace.  (This means NO confusion, whatsoever.)
• An intuitive absolute certainty of what to say and do. (This means NO doubt or uncertainty, whatsoever.)

You know that these two sensations are the Holy Spirit because they will focus you on Jesus and you will have perfect control of your mind and will. 
--If you are passive in mind and will, it is not the Holy Spirit.
--If the Jesus isn't the focus, it's not the Holy Spirit.

For example, say I ask the Holy Spirit if I should choose or refuse to accept a job offer in which I can use a God given ability.  After asking Him to lead me, I feel perfect incomprehensible peace and absolutely certain that I should take the job.  This is from the Holy Spirit and I should follow Him.

But if the job is not one that I can use a God given ability, and I feel confused uncertainty, then I know the Spirit is not leading me to take the job.

Or suppose I'm asking if I should marry someone.  This person distracts me from Jesus.  That alone is enough to refuse marriage.  But say she is a Spirit filled believer.  This doesn't mean I should marry her, because there are other Spirit filled women I could meet.  So I pray for the Spirit to lead me.  I feel uncertain and no peace at all.  This is the Spirit telling me not to marry her.

Whatever the case or situation may be, the Spirit will answer with perfect peace and perfect certainty for the Lord's glory, and you will know this with an active mind and will. 

This is how you follow the Spirit.

Satan: The Christian's First Mission (Part 2)

The Spirit filled Jesus.
He then led Jesus into the wilderness.
The Spirit led Jesus to encounter, resist, and defeat Satan.
As Christians, we must imitate Christ.

BE SPIRIT LED
When the Spirit permeated Jesus' life, the very first thing He led Jesus to do was to encounter Satan.  How did Jesus know the Spirit was leading Him to the enemy, and how can we?  Look at what happened with Jesus at His baptism:

1.  The Father Himself affirmed Jesus as His beloved Son.
2.  The Spirit descended upon Jesus in a tangible way.
3.  John the Baptist not only saw the Spirit descend upon Jesus, but identified Jesus by the Spirit.

The same must be true of me and you. 



 



When God affirms you as His child, and when the Spirit is filling you in a way that is tangible, undeniable, irresistible, and irrefutable, the next person, key word person, you will encounter is Satan.  He is always in opposition to God and His children.  From the garden of Eden until now, you can know that where God speaks, so will Satan in contradiction:

• God said to Adam (and Eve), "From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.  The day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die."
• Satan said to Eve (and Adam who was with her), "You will not surely die, for God knows the day you eat of the tree of knowledge you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

• God said to Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, with Him I am well pleased."
• Satan said to Jesus, "IF you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread.   IF you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the temple."

What is God saying to you right now?  Whatever it is, expect Satan to respond in contradiction.  More than this, expect the Spirit TO LEAD YOU TO SATAN to resist and defeat him.  Having resisted and defeated the devil, you can begin your mission, just as Christ began His mission.

You will be as sure of the Spirit driving you as Jesus was sure of the Spirit driving Him.  And how will you know the difference between the Spirit influencing you and the devil influencing you?  Easy.  The Spirit will lead you TO RESIST THE DEVIL.  In other words, the very distinction you fear is the very way you will know the distinction between God and Satan.  God always leads you to resist Satan, and Satan always leads you to resist God.  Again, easy!  As it is written,

"Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you."

If you agree, please pray with me:

"God I submit to Your Spirit and resist the devil and every demonic spirit.  Please fill me and lead by your Spirit to resist the devil.  In Jesus' name, amen."

May God bless you always by the Spirit filling you and leading you as the Spirit led Jesus Christ.

How To Release The FIRE in YOU

Do not quench the Spirit.  The Apostle Paul

Your fire burns naturally and effortlessly...unless you suppress it.  Unless you refuse or fail to express it. 

What is your fire?

It is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, manifest when you use your spiritual gift.

Every reference to "quenching" that I found in the New Testament had to do with fire, extinguishing a fire.  John the Baptist said he baptized with water, but that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and with fire.  When the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, flaming tongues of fire hovered over each of the 120 believers, and they were filled with the Spirit.  Paul told Timothy to "fan into flame" his spiritual gift, to do the opposite of quenching the Spirit.  Paul also said that our "shield of faith" would "quench the fiery darts of the wicked one," extinguishing the burning accusations and temptations of Satan.

FIRE

YOUR FIRE

To release your fire, the presence and power of the Spirit, the spiritual gift Jesus gave you, do two things:

1.  Recognize the burning passion God gave you to honor Him and help others.
2.  Express that passion today.  It will take great effort to suppress it or keep it in.

For example, when I read a scripture, certain truths or words jump out at me.  I feel inspired to either write about those words, or to tell someone what God just showed me, namely YOU.  My fingers flow, or the words flow out of my mouth.  Flow.  Burning truth from the Spirit.  My fire.

Yours may be a desire to pray for someone or something that you simply can't get off your mind or out of your heart until you pray.

The fire is burning.  You feel it or you have felt it.  God gave it.  Let it out.  Let it burn.

If you agree, pray with me:

God, in the name of Jesus, let the fire of your Spirit burn in me and from me and through me.  Show me my fire, or remind me what it is, so that from this moment forward, I many never quench the Spirit again.  Amen.

How To Have Unity In the Church (Part 1)

There is only one way to have unity in the church.

By "the church," I mean those who gather together under the Lord's authority, for his glory, with Him actually among them.  His presence alone, in this way, unifies.  Yet there is a specific condition that must be met for there to be unity. 

There must be a divine commander giving a divine command to bring unity to the church.

Follow me from Acts chapter one to Acts chapter two.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:1-2 ESV

Here Jesus is obvious The Divine Commander giving His divine command, through the Holy Spirit.  This is very significant.  Jesus was born of the Spirit, then at the age of 30 He was filled, led, and empowered by the Spirit for His ministry.  Now, after rising from the dead, by the Spirit (according to Paul,) Jesus is still dependent on the Holy Spirit to give commands to His apostles. 

We who are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ must be just as dependent on the Spirit as Jesus was, even after He rose from the dead.  This dependence on The Spirit will reveal Christ as our Divine Commander.  Following His Spirit is what reveals the Lord's divine commands.  The divine command of the Lord Jesus to his apostles and followers was to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Remember this command, and from whom it came.

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.  Acts 1:14 ESV

Notice the words "with one accord." You will see these words again.  They mean complete unity in purpose.  No divisions.  No dissentions.  No separate opinions.  One mission expressed in one action:  prayer.  If the church knows nothing else, it should be prayer.  If there is nothing else we can agree to do, at the same time and place, it's pray.  This is the easiest unifying action we can take.  But to take this unifying action, we must have a divine commander unifying the followers by a divine command from the Lord.  They all were unified by obedience to the command of the Lord: Wait for the Spirit.  So they waited, devoting themselves to prayer until the time of waiting was over.  But notice something else that happens:

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.  Acts 1:15-16

This will happen again and again.  Peter, or Paul, or some other leader in the church, will stand up, and in doing so, unify the body, under the Lord's authority.  He will speak words that unify everyone listening. 

Now stay with me as we move to Acts Chapter 2. (Click here.)

How To Have Unity In the Church (Part 2)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Acts 2:1

All together.
In one place.

Unity.

One command:  Wait for the Spirit.
One commander:  The Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, the Spirit comes, just as Jesus promised.  The crowd watches in amazement, but some mock what they see.  And who stands up to speak?  Read and see:

Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say."Acts 2:14

Again, Peter as a leader stands up and speaks on behalf of Christ and His church.  There wasn't a fight over who would address the mockers, with believers interrupting each other.  No.  When the Spirit filled them, He unified them.  And in doing so, He chose Peter to be the one, key word:  ONE, who would speak on the Lord's behalf in the church.  Now look at this:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common. 
Acts 2:42-44

Notice three things:
1. Devotion to the apostles teaching and fellowship
2. Awe of the apostles because of signs and wonders.
3. The believers were together with everything in common.

What unified the believers was the apostles, or leaders, of the church, those divinely appointed by the Lord Himself, evidenced by the supernatural power they displayed.  In the book of Acts we'll see the same thing continually happening:  Peter will stand up as a spokesperson.  Later in Acts we'll see Paul as the primary leader, speaker, and unifier, backed by the authority of the Lord. 

The reason the church is so divided is because of a lack of Spirit led and empowered leadership.
The Spirit led and Spirit empowered leader will unlock the gifts in each member of the church so that they are no longer spectators, but participators in the mission of Christ: 

Preaching the Gospel and Making Disciples.

One leader, one representative of the Lord, filled with His Spirit, brings unity in the body so that everybody, using his or her gift, manifests the Spirit of Christ. 

This is better and higher than "democracy," yet it is not a democracy at all.  It is the Kingdom of God.

There is but one King:  The Lord Jesus.  One Father and Creator.  One Holy Spirit and Master.

The leader is indeed a follower, a follower of the Spirit of Christ.

This is the only way to have unity in the church.

Your role is to follow a Spirit filled leader, or to be a Spirit filled leader.

What We Can't Live Without

Jesus told us, His followers, to stay connected to Him.
Why?  Because we can't do anything without Him. 

Apart from Me you can do nothing.

As helpless as a leaf fallen from a tree.
A branch disconnected from a vine.

I can see what Jesus means.

I've been very sick lately, so sick I couldn't write or read my Bible.

All I could do was say quick prayers like:

"God, please help me."
"God, please heal me."
" I submit to God and resist the devil."

Quick prayers.  That's it. 
Then I'd try to position myself in bed where I felt the least pain.
Those quick prayers were the best I could do to stay connected to Jesus by the Spirit.
Without Him, I could do nothing.  I needed Him to comfort me, and pray for me.

I'm better now, thank God.  Better meaning the moment it hits you that you actually feel "normal."

It's not just the sickness though.  It's life in this world.
All of it seems to be against us.  Sometimes it doesn't seem to let up.
Everywhere.  Every day. 

Sometimes it feels like I'm just holding on until Jesus returns.  When it feels like that, I know I can't make it another moment without the Spirit's leading and power.  Apart from Him, I can do nothing. 

What we can't live without is the Spirit of Christ.

If you agree, pray with me:

"Father, by Your Son, I depend on Your Spirit.  At this moment, every step I take, I take following Him.  Without Him, I'm lost.  Amen."

Your Truest Ministry (Part 4)

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts....The Apostle Paul

USE YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT
The most loving and powerful thing you can do for your fellow believers in Christ is you use your spiritual gift, and to ONLY use your spiritual gift.  Nothing else you do is helpful or beneficial, because only what the Spirit empowers you to do will cause them to grow in faith in Christ.

Hear that again.

The only help you can give your fellow believer is your spiritual gift.
Or even an unbeliever for that matter.

How do I know?

Because Jesus told His very own followers to wait in Jerusalem to be clothed with power from on high.  These men had been with Jesus for 3 years and only had to go and tell what they had seen and heard.  How hard was that?  They learned from God Incarnate for three years.  They saw Him risen from the dead.  They saw him ascend into heaven. And they were commissioned to simply go into all the world and tell everyone the good news: 

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He died for your sins.  He rose from the dead.  He ascended into heaven.  He is Lord, and He's coming again.  We are eyewitnesses of this.

They were to preach this gospel and make disciples, simply teaching those who believe to do what Jesus taught them to do for three years. 

Yet they were commanded by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem and NOT fulfill the great commission until they had power from the Spirit.  For 10 days the world waited for the believers in Christ to be clothed with power and to hear the message, a message that they were commanded NOT to preach until they received power from the Spirit.

In the same way, you dare not attempt to glorify God and help people without God's power in you, without your spiritual gift. 

Now that you know what your spiritual gift is, make it your first and foremost priority to use it in everyway, to shape your life so that your job, your friendships, and every relationship and thing you do involves the use of your gift.

If your spiritual gift is the ability to give "messages of wisdom" according to 1 Corinthians 12, then take every opportunity on your job, at home, or in your relationships to in fact give messages of wisdom to those who lack it, or those who want to increase their wisdom.  There is no where you can go, and no relationship you can be in, where someone doesn't need wisdom.  Because the Spirit has gifted you with wisdom, it stands to reason that He has placed people in your life, or placed you in someone's life, who desperately needs your spiritual gift.  Find them and help them.  If you agree, pray this prayer with me:

"My God and Father, show me the people in my life who need my spiritual gift.  In Jesus name, amen."

Now actively look for the people in your life who need your spiritual gift. Then by faith, follow the Spirit in using your spiritual gift in his or her life.  God is with you.  I'm with you.  Jesus is Lord.

Your Truest Ministry (Part 3)

Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.  The Apostle Paul

 

These are the steps in fulfilling your truest ministry:

1. Know how the Spirit leads you.

2. Know how to use your spiritual gift.

3. Follow the Spirit's leading.

4. Use your spiritual gift.

 

Today we are focusing on step 3.

 

FOLLOW THE SPIRIT'S LEADING.
As master martial artist Bruce Lee once said,

 

"Knowing is not enough, you must apply.  Willing is not enough, you must do."

 

Or as James, the brother of Jesus, said, "Faith without works is dead," or useless.

 

Now that you know how the Spirit leads you, being taught this in my first blog of this series, you have to do it. 

 

Actively choose to follow the Spirit's leading, step by step, day by day.  Today.  Right now.

 

As a child of God, this is your obligation.
Everything hinges on this, and this alone.

 

• Before you read the scriptures, stop and pray that the Spirit leads you in your reading.  When you do this, certain scriptures or passages will stand out to you.  This is His revelation, meant for your inspiration and application.
• Before you talk to someone, pray that the Spirit leads the conversation.  He will help you to listen and hear insights into the person's heart, and He will give you words that will draw him to Christ, words that will conform her to the image of Christ.

 Before you say or do anything, pray this prayer, if you agree with it:

 

"My Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, please lead me by your Spirit. Amen."

 

It's an easy prayer to remember and pray.

 

After you pray it, present to the Lord what you have in mind to do to serve Him.  If you have in mind to read the Bible, ask Him where to begin, or what to read.  If you have in mind to encourage a brother or sister in the Lord, tell Him what you have in mind to say, and see if you have the incomprehensible perfect peace of God in those words.  If not, the Spirit will give you different words to say.  He will lead you if you follow Him.  The choice is yours.

 

Follow the Spirit's leading to achieve your truest ministry.

 

Your Truest Ministry (Part 1)

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children on of God.  The Apostle Paul 

What do you as a follower of Christ need to be doing, all day, everyday?

The answer to this question determines your effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, in God's purposes.

Look at the question again.

What key words do you see?
There should be two:

• Follower
• Doing

Followers follows. 
They do what their leaders command and empower them to do.

As a follower of Christ Jesus, you should follow the His Spirit

in using the spiritual gift He's given you. 

This is your truest ministry. 

 

These are the steps in fulfilling your ministry:

1. Know how the Spirit leads you.
2. Know how to use your spiritual gift.
3. Follow the Spirit's leading.
4. Use your spiritual gift.


Let's focus on number one.

KNOW HOW THE SPIRIT LEADS YOU.
The first level of the Spirit's leading is Spirit led conscience, or a sense of the peace of God as you are about to make a decision.  It's like a "red, yellow, or green light" that you sense when you think through what to do.  For example, you pray and ask God if you should or should not take a job offer.  You express your thoughts, feelings, and desires about the job offer.  You then wait to sense the Spirit's leading.  You feel a "red light," a sense that you should not take the job, even though it "makes sense for you to do so."  Or you sense a "green light" to take the job, even though it does not make sense to do so.  Or maybe you feel a "yellow light" to wait and pray more. 

In the beginning of following the Spirit, He will lead you with the peace of God, which is incomprehensible and perfect. It "surpasses all understanding," and it is a complete deep down sense of peace.  This is how the Spirit leads you in the beginning, and is a basic way to sense and know His direction in your life.  As you mature, the red/yellow/green lights will become more specific--you'll receive more specific intuitive revelations. You won't simply present things to the Spirit for Him to approve or disapprove through peace, or a lack of peace.  As you grow in your faithfulness in following your Spirit led conscience, He will initiate revelations and directions through your Spirit led intuition.  And the more faithful you are to Spirit lead intuition, the more specific the revelation, until it become a conversation--spiritual communion.  In other words, you will come to know the very voice of God. 

Know how the Spirit leads you by being faithful to your Spirit led conscience, to peace of God, to the red light/yellow light/green light.

(To be continued.)

Your Only Goal. Your Single Purpose.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

If you believe in Jesus, you have one goal:  Obey the Holy Spirit.
If you believe in Jesus, you have one purpose:  Honor the Holy Spirit.

Nothing else matters.
Everything is encompassed in this.

If each of us who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, obeyed His Spirit to honor His Spirit, we would have everything God intended us to have on earth:

1. We would have The Perfect Unity Christ prayed for in John 17.
2. Non-Believers would experience conviction leading to salvation.
3. Believers would experience edification leading to sanctification.
4. Believers, individually and collectively, would understand the Bible as each read it alone, and through Spirit led Bible teachers and pastors.  The Spirit inspired the scriptures, so He, the author, would give us true and unifying revelation.
5.  We would bear the fruit of the Spirit and use the gifts of the Spirit, manifesting the Spirit to believers and non believers.
6. The gospel, empowered by the Spirit, would reach the entire world, and then the end would come.

If we would only obey the Spirit as our only goal, and honor the Spirit as our only purpose, the Name of Jesus would be glorified on earth, and the Father would send His Son for His church.

The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come."

What about you?

What is your only goal and purpose as a follower of Jesus?

Right now, commit to one goal:  Obeying the Spirit of Christ.
Right now commit to one purpose:  Honoring the Spirit of Christ.

Jesus is alive.  Risen.  Ascended.
He is on earth by His Spirit.  Alive.  In you.

Obey Him.
Honor Him.

Read the prayer below, and if you agree, pray it with me.

"Our Father in Heaven, In the name of Jesus, I ask you to lead me by Your Spirit that I may honor the Presence of Your Spirit on earth.  From now on I have one goal:  To obey your Spirit.  From now on I have one purpose: To honor your Spirit.  In the name of Jesus, Amen."

Two Tips for Being Led By The Spirit (Part 1)

...if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  ...the fruit of the Spirit is...peace...and self-control.  Galatians 5:18, 22-23


How can you know without doubt you are being led by the Spirit of God?  After all, this is the essence of the life a disciple:  to follow the Spirit of Christ wherever He leads you.  You must know.  You can know.  By the end of my words, you will know.

The Lord Jesus affirmed the words of Moses when He said, "Let everything be established by two or three witnesses."  So let's establish the certainty of following the Spirit with two witnesses:

1. Peace

2. Self-Control.

You can know without a doubt you are being led by the Spirit of Christ if you experience perfect, incomprehensible peace and complete self-control. 

Let's explore both.

BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT RESULTS IN PEACE.

Not just any kind of peace, mind you, but what the Apostle Paul calls "the peace of God."  God's peace has two characteristics:

• It's perfect.
• It's incomprehensible, or "surpasses all understanding."

This means that it is complete and can't be explained any other way than being from God.  For example.  You pray about whether you should take a job offer or not.  The job doesn't seem quite right for you.  It's not in the location you wanted, and it doesn't pay what you think you need. But for some reason, you feel complete peace about the job, and the peace doesn't make any sense at all to you.  Yet deep inside, you have a deep sense of inner tranquility when you consider the job offer.  That peace is the peace of God, surpassing all understanding.  When you feel that, you can know that you are following the Spirit.

Now imagine you are in a different job situation.  You have a job opportunity that seems absolutely perfect in every way.  Perfect location. Perfect pay.  Perfect responsibilities.  You like the people, the boss, the office.  Yet for some reason, you just don't feel right about the job, and it makes no sense to you why you don't.  No matter how you try to rationalize your decision to take this perfect job, you feel deep inside you shouldn't, though there is no physical evidence against the job.  This is the Spirit leading you away from the job, if you will listen.  The Spirit will lead you by the Peace of God, one of the fruit of the Spirit.  He will also lead you through self-control.  Find out how.  Click here.

True Disciples of Christ

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth."  John 14:15-17

• True disciples of Christ don't follow a doctrine, they follow A Person.
• They follow the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as the apostles followed Jesus when He walked on earth.

Jesus Himself said He would send "another advocate."  Notice the word "another."  This means they had an advocate while He spoke to them:  He Himself was their advocate while He was on earth.  Jesus, their first Advocate, was about to leave; He was about to die, rise, and ascend into heaven. So He was going to send them another advocate "to help them and be with them forever."  His Spirit is the other advocate:  A Person, not a doctrine.

When Jesus called His followers, He didn't say, "Follow My doctrine."  He said, "Follow Me."

The Spirit of Christ says the same thing to you and me:
"Follow Me."

If we allow follow the Spirit of Christ, our risen Savior and Lord, we will all agree on The Lord's doctrine, and there would be no need for "denominations."  Our petty disagreements show that we are not following a Person, who knows His own doctrines in every situation.  Jesus is alive!  His Spirit in us and with us give undeniable proof, if we would only follow Him.

• As true disciples of Christ, we don't follow a doctrine, we follow A Person.
• We follow the Spirit of Christ, just as the apostles followed Christ when He walked the earth.

An Illustration of Following the Spirit (Part 2)

Imagine a leader as an initiator, and a follower as a responder.  The leader can initiate verbally or nonverbally, and the responder can respond to either.  Focus on initiation and response to understand how the Spirit leads you.

For example, Jesus simply said, "Follow Me," to Matthew the Tax Collector, and Matthew left his occupation and followed Jesus.  Jesus verbally initiated, and Matthew responded.  In the Book of Acts, the Spirit verbally told Phillip to go to the chariot of the Ethiopian Eunuch, and Phillip responded. 

Matthew was led by Jesus' verbally.  Phillip was led by the Spirit  verbally.

Yet often times the Spirit leads nonverbally, like when Jesus was "driven by the Spirit" into the desert.  Jesus felt compelled within Himself to go to the desert to be tested by Satan.  The Spirit initiated Jesus' act by an internal leading or driving, and Jesus responded by following this drive. Again in the book of Acts, Paul would attempt certain missions trips, and the Spirit would "hinder him," or "forbid him." The Spirit would initiate a sense of restraint on Paul's act, and Paul would respond by following the Spirit's restraint. 

The Spirit initiated Jesus' movement nonverbally, and Jesus responded.  The Spirit initiated Paul's missions trips nonverbally, and Paul responded. 


click HERE for part 3