Sermon by Pastor. Alex
Hebrews 7:15-16 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
So, Christ was a priest in the order of Melchizedek not because of lineage but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed; an indestructible life.
Now how was Jesus able to get the indestructible life?
From conception to resurrection Holy Spirit was heavily involved in His life.
What is the meaning of indestructible life?
It means mind, will, emotions, feelings, desires all submitted to the Holy Spirit, to the will of God. Unshakable foundation of faith.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
We are living in times when Romans 8:19 will come to pass.
Romans 8:19 (KJV) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
These mature sons mean mature believers raising to fulfil everything that God has planned for their lives. This is the end we are heading towards.
So how did Jesus arrive at this?
Hebrews 9:14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
How was Christ able to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice? Is it because He was God or He was the anointed one? No. It was by the power of the eternal spirit. (Holy Spirit)
What do we understand about the role of Holy Spirit in Jesus life from Hebrews 9:14?
- By the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself. He received grace and strength to lay down His life
- By the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice. He was able to overcome all temptations by the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 4:15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testing we do, yet he did not sin.
He faced all the temptations we do as humans and overcame them by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
We were saved by the penalty paid by Jesus. That implies justification.
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
Next comes sanctification. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives from the moment we give our lives to Jesus until we break the power of sin over our lives and are built into the image of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 [Amp] But we should and are [morally] obligated [as debtors] always to give thanks to God for you, believers beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through the sanctifying work of the Spirit [that sets you apart for God’s purpose] and by your faith in the truth [of God’s word that leads you to spiritual maturity].
There are two kinds of sanctification.
- Positional sanctification means set apart for God and in some instances set apart for God’s purpose
- Practical sanctification is a progressive process and means growing in righteous living. This is dependent on a person’s reliance on the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 1:21 – 23 You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil, he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him. However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
The 3 warnings in Colossians 1:23
- Remain firmly established and
- Be steadfast in faith
- Do not be moved from the hope of the gospel
Remain firmly established
In all the areas of our lives, we should be built according to the Word of God. Word should become convictions in us. Convictions are a set of values we have developed based on the strong opinions we have of God. Sometimes we may feel that God is not with us but we have to have a strong conviction that he will never leave us nor forsake us.
1 Corinthians 15:1,2 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Colossians 2:6,7 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Be steadfast in faith
We face a lot of facts every day, but we have to hold on to what God has promised as our portion. God knows every challenge and every struggle we are ever going to face. When we connect to Him, He will teach us to overcome every challenge and struggles we face.
Hebrews 3:14-19 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So, we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
Do not be moved from the hope of the gospel
Titus 3:5-8 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So, we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
The prayer of Paul for the Ephesians Church in Ephesians 3:14-19 gives us an insight as to how the Holy Spirit strengthens us to walk in obedience to God.
Obedience to the Word of God is an important part of sanctification.
Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.
As we surrender and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, He will anchor us in the love of Christ and love for Christ. How does He do that? He deals with things in our lives daily. He uses the Word to convict us (which is more important). The moment we choose to obey the Word (because we love God, we obey the Word) we grow in His love. Remember, love is not a feeling it is a choice. To read more about this process please go through the sermon on Spiritual Formation.
The whole process of intimacy with the Holy Spirit must produce a surrendered life, where the Holy Spirit has full access to our lives. When we grow in different degrees and measure of surrender ultimately it would produce an indestructible life in us. This will continue until enemy comes and finds nothing in us.
John 14:30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,
There was no area in His life, the enemy could exploit.
The only way the enemy can do anything in our life is he must find a way in our flesh. In our mind, our emotions; somewhere he must find a way to come in. If all that has been surrendered to the Holy Spirit of God, he has no access to do anything in our lives.
That’s why it’s called sanctification that is to break the power of sin over our lives.
Holiness leads to intimacy with God. The actual definition of holiness is to live a consecrated life. That means to set our life apart and live in such a way to please God.
In Romans 7 Paul explains to us about his struggles. These struggles he was having after he had become a Believer. In Romans 8 Paul gives us a strategy to overcome – by setting your mind on the Spirit. When we get saved the Holy Spirit comes and dwells with us. That is the indwelling Holy Spirit. When the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes, we receive power. The Holy Spirit was already there in Paul but why was He not able to help him overcome? Paul loved the word and he was trying his best to do what it says but he could not succeed. Then he explains in Romans 8:5 To set your mind on the things of the spirit and he goes on to say why it is necessary to do this. Then in verse 13 he explains through the Holy Spirit you are able to overcome your weaknesses.
Romans 8:6 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The way Paul overcame his struggle in the mind is in Romans 8:5
Romans 8:5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
A good example of setting the mind on the flesh is 2 Timothy 3.
2 Timothy 3: 1-5 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
They were Christians and they loved God but they loved other things more. They never allowed the Spirit to deal with their lives. That’s why they were Christians, they were in Church and they had a form of Godliness but self was still king in their lives.
So how do we set our minds on the Holy Spirit?
Romans 8:13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Romans 8:14 (KJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
- It talks about mature sons. The more we allow the Spirit to work in us, the more we become like Christ. Then overcoming the flesh becomes easy. We must allow the Spirit to put to death, the things of the flesh. We must make a deliberate decision that every time the Holy Spirit speaks, we obey. We have to set our mind on what He says and make a decision to obey (whether we like it or not) because He knows what He is doing. His main job is to form Christ in our lives.
- Things of the Spirit also talks about things of eternal value. What are we going to bring beyond our graves? We have to evaluate our lives in this way. Of all the things I do what is going to last me beyond my grave, beyond my lifetime? Identify what is only a short-term benefit. Especially, if we are in the last days and we are the last generation we need to be very specific and sharp. Whatever we build internally lasts beyond our grave.
So, for the Holy Spirit to work deeper in us we must live our lives in a certain way. We must set up our lives in such a way that facilitates the Holy Spirit to have free access in our lives.
We can try to overcome our struggles with our will power, but it will fail because will power is simply resistance but to overcome, we need something divine. Paul was explaining to us that for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives we must have a divine structure.
Ephesians 4:20-32 That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Let’s focus on corrupted by deceitful desires. The root of every inaccurate life pattern is desire.
We can try all that we want but at the end of the day we must start from our desire to become like Christ, to become into His image. If desire is not there, the right reasons are not there, then somewhere along the way our desires can get corrupted, and we get diverted into other things.
For the Holy Spirit to work He needs to deal with our desires, first. We are weak but our desires can be pure.
In our weakness we can cry out like David in Psalms 51.
He said: God desired truth in the innermost parts. So, cleanse me but take not your spirit from me.
His desire was not because he would lose his fame or power. His reason for saying take not your Holy Spirit from me is because he knew he cannot live this life godly without the Holy Spirit. It starts with desire. Our desire must be pure. In every area we are facing weaknesses and are unable to overcome our desire must be accurate. Why does God want me to become like that?
The right desire: I must be conformed to the image of Christ; I have to be conformed to the image of Christ.
This desire to become the image of Christ starts with the decision which involves your intellect. As a man thinks he becomes. As a man thinks he forms habits and lifestyles which facilitate the Holy Spirit to come and begin to move in our lives. The name of the game is consistency.
Three things attract God: Hunger, Whole heartedness and Consistency.
He watches for these 3 things in our heart, whether we are consistently desiring to become or we are just simply making emotional decisions or religious decisions.
All the other things are what we should put off; whatever will grieve the Holy spirit.
When the Holy Spirit is grieved, He will first look at our attitude and heart. Is there a genuine desire to change? Are we making an effort to change? Are we truly repentant and not just regretting. If we are He will help us in the process of restoration. But, if there is no genuine desire, effort, and repentance He will just wait in the “background” for the day we truly call out to Him. In the process, He will continually remind us of His Word to bring us to repentance. We can continue to function in the gifts but there will be no peace or joy within. There will be a dryness in the spirit. His gentle nature won’t allow Him to force Himself on us but to wait patiently for our repentance.
Proverbs 16:2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.
He looks for what is actually our desire. So, if the desire is right then if we are struggling and we are falling, struggling, falling He will definitely meet us.
He is looking for consistency, wholeheartedness and hunger. This will facilitate the Holy Spirit to work deeper and deeper in our lives. The rest of the verses is all about what will hurt Him and prevent Him from manifesting, what you need to put on that will attract Him; which means holiness by living a consecrated life. All this will help in creating a life structure, a habit, a lifestyle that will allow the Holy Spirit to increase in measure to move in our lives.
We must understand the role of the Trinity. The father has a role in our lives, the son has a role in our lives, the Holy spirit has a unique role in our lives.
The father is our Creator, Sustainer, Provider and He is our Father. Where is He? He is in Heaven. What is the role of Jesus? He is our Redeemer, Saviour, He is interceding at the right hand of God for all of us. He is our Lord. He is the lover of our soul. Where is He? At the right hand of the Father. Where is the Holy Spirit? He is in us representing Him. He is another helper exactly like Jesus. His role is to help us become intimate with God; reveal to us Jesus, heal our lives, help us finish the task we are called to do on earth. He is also God. He is not lesser than any of them. He is the creative force of God.
What is the difference between intimacy with God and the Holy Spirit?
Intimacy with God
1. To be intimate with the Father we got to pursue a wholehearted sincere love relationship with Him. In order to do that, we need to seek time with Him.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’
We must seek time to be with Him. We are commanded to be intimate with God.
Ephesians 1:15-17 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
2. Set aside times of intimate adoration with Him
Psalms 63:1,2 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole-body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.
3. Prioritising, seeking to know Him and His ways
Psalms 25:4 Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
4. When we are intimate with God we will walk in total obedience, trust and commitment
1 John 2:3-6 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
The Spirit is put into us to follow the decrees of God. So, without the Spirit it is impossible to live the Christian life.
2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Fellowship – The Greek word is Koinonos. The key meanings are intimacy, union, partnership.
Partnership with the Holy Spirit
We see the example for partnership in the book of Acts.
Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements:
Acts 20:23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
They partnered with Him in making key decisions.
Intimacy with the Holy Spirit
Intimacy is more than just becoming one. How does the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifest in our lives? When He has dealt with one area in our life; For eg., One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is love. When He has dealt with all the hurts and bitterness then we receive capacity to love unconditionally. What is manifesting in our lives? The fruit of the Holy Spirit. It means the Holy Spirit is manifesting His nature through one aspect of our lives. Intimacy means to allow the Holy Spirit to have full expression through our lives.
What happens in the journey of sanctification when He begins to deal with all other areas of life (we need to become Christlike right?) our nature is being dealt with and His nature is shining through us or oozing through us. So, what has happened? The body is ours but His nature and our nature have become one. There is no more struggle of desires, mindsets and all other aspects of our life. What He thinks we execute. That’s why we are called manifest Sons of God.
That’s what happened to Jesus.
The Word says Jesus gave up all His divine privileges. In Greek, this means He ’emptied Himself.’ Meaning, there was nothing of His divinity helping Him in going through the cross or accomplishing God’s will. He was fully human. The only way He could do it as a human, was through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 2:6-8 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
He emptied Himself. He also had to go through a process to arrive at total obedience. Even at the last moment at the garden of Gethsamane, His will was struggling with the Holy Spirit. Take this cup away from Me. Take this cup away from Me. Twice He struggled. Third time He made a decision – Not my will but yours be done. After that there was no more struggle. Then the Holy Spirit supplied grace to strengthen Him after He made the decision.
Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
That is the whole process of intimacy.
We are always focused on hearing from the Holy Spirit. We may Hear but we may not be walking in union with Him.
That is why it involves surrender; surrender of different areas of our lives at His pace. We don’t decide the pace. At His pace, He begins to expose, He begins to deal, and we make a choice to surrender. The moment He gives us victory that area is under His control already. The enemy cannot exploit anymore.
That is why we must create the infrastructure for Him to work deeper in our lives. Infrastructure means healthy habits that will facilitate Him to help us grow. We have to create that infrastructure.
Galatians 5:16, 25 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. walk in step with the Spirit. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Basically, through the power of the Holy Spirit we have intimacy with God and manifest the nature of Christ.
How do we start this?
We see many people fasting 40 days many times a year. But we don’t see the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifesting. We see power because when we fast, we stir up the gifts. We see power but we never see the manifestation of the fruits. What has happened there?
1st condition to walk in intimacy with the Holy Spirit is – It’s not about fasting and all that. It’s about our humble admission that we need Him.
David is a good example. He verbally expresses his need for the Holy Spirit. We must always admit our inadequacies, that we are weak, our mind is limited.
Psalm 51: 1-11 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Admission and acknowledgement do not come without brokenness.
David was broken. That is why he was able to recognize who he is, where he is, where he was etc., Basically, it is a picture of humility, repentance and recognizing his need.
He could have said all this without mentioning the Holy Spirit. It still would have sounded repentant. But he understood the key thing that if God took the Holy Spirit from him, everything would crumble.
We must have the attitude and heart of surrender to Him, acknowledge our need of Him. Sometimes intellect can take over.
Some of us have a very strong will power, resilience, tolerance level. Sometimes we depend on all these things to overcome challenges. But these things don’t bring in permanent victory. Only divine power can break the power of sin and inaccurate behavior patterns in our life.
James 4:5 ISV Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?
The Spirit God caused to live in us is the Holy Spirit. Why is the Holy Spirit jealously yearning for us? Because He understands His assignment. He is sent to help us. He is waiting for our cooperation. He is waiting for our partnership.
So, every day Holy Spirit is waiting inside us. He is waiting for us to come and spend time with Him so He can help us. That is why He is yearning jealously. He feels, “When I am here having the solutions for all the challenges you will face in this world, why are you running here and there?”
When we don’t understand the role of the Holy Spirit we go into arguments, comparisons and worldliness.
How are we going to develop an intimate relationship with Him? We have to find ways. We only pray to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to understand He is dwelling within us.
Ask yourself: How aware am I of the indwelling Holy Spirit? Do I sense His moods? We are praying in tongues and so our spirits have been sensitized. We must involve him in our conversations and everything we need to do. Like in the book of Acts, they said “It felt good to ask the Holy Spirit.” It sounds like they had a discussion; they involved Him in decision making.
Because Holy Spirit is in us, He is facing the same thing we are facing. We can involve Him in our challenges. The more we do this consistently, the more tangible and real He becomes in our lives.
Dr. Paul David Yonggi Cho did this in his own way. He put an empty chair to train his mind to understand “Holy Spirit is always with me. In office He is with me; when I am preaching, He is with me.” He did it until his mind was programmed to understand the Holy spirit is always with him. We all can do different things.
The important thing is we learn how to communicate and build a relationship with Him.
Pastor Benny Hinn and Katheryn Kuhlman spent time talking with Him on a daily basis; developing a relationship with him. Pastor Benny Hinn mentioned in his book “Good morning Holy Spirit” on how he developed such an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. He was such a tangible presence in his life; like a real friend.
Why do we need this? Why do we need to have indestructible life? We already know what’s coming. Without divine help we cannot overcome. Start this process. You must focus on this.
Another confusion to clear is – Paul is telling that we need to grow intimate with Christ. Does that mean we worship them individually?
There are a few scriptures that tell us the connectivity between them.
John 14:7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”
When Paul says he longs to know Christ it also means he longs to know the Father intimately. It is a very complex relationship to understand. All three are one but because of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives the way we develop and walk in intimacy with Him is different. For eg. Holy Spirit works in us and helps us be intimate with the Father. How do we become intimate with the Holy Spirit?
It is a whole other dimension because He is within us. We need to communicate with Him. We need to involve Him in every decision of our life; important decisions, everyday decisions, decisions regarding our self, decisions regarding family. We need to verbalize our needs to Him. It is not only about hearing Him. He should freely be able to express Himself through our lives; not just in one area but every area of our lives.
So that we can truly say – Every word I want to speak should be His word.
In Acts 5 Peter asked, “Why did you lie to the Holy Spirit?” It was actually Peter asking the question, right? But who was speaking through Him? Holy Spirit Unhindered; there was no processing through Peter’s mind to add on his own opinions. There was nothing of him to contaminate or add on. Remember Paul said, “No longer I but Christ lives in me.” Of Course, there were areas of his life he had to let the Holy Spirit deal with. We don’t know how long it took for him to deal with all the areas of his life. But at some point of time the Holy Spirit took over. His mind, will, emotions, desires everything was surrendered to the will of the Holy Spirit who is the architect of our lives.
He knows our pace. We all have different paces in our walk with Him. We just have to consistently, wholeheartedly walk with Him. We know the nature of the Holy Spirit. He is our comforter. He is an expert in all things. He is the Spirit of Truth. All this we have access to through Him.
We have the most potent weapon living inside us; if we know how to tap; if God allows us to tap because in the days coming ahead, we need to live in a different dimension.
It starts from here. We must become more aware of His presence inside our lives. Start communicating with Him. Whatever spiritual things you are struggling you will see you are quickly breaking through.
So, learn to communicate with Him and then you need to honor Him with your body. Glorify Him through your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.
We must be conscious. You know the plaque that says Christ is the unseen guest at every meal? He is listening to every thought of yours. Devil can only hear what comes out of your mouth. Holy Spirit can see what you think, see, everything He can observe. This body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But we behave as though it is our temple. So, in every aspect we need to glorify Him. He comes to glorify Christ but we need to give Him freedom.
Focus on the intimacy with the Holy Spirit. When day to day this becomes consistent then everything will fall in place there are no more struggles.
Why is it important to build your family altar?
An altar is a place of sacrifice where we allow God to deal with us; the place where we come together to draw strength and wisdom. We don’t just pray for one another we pray for others who are also connected to the altar in any way. As parents you begin to pray for your children’s future prophetically to set their destiny in line to the altar. It is not an activity that we need to do because we are Christians. It defines destiny and defines our lives.
As we develop intimacy with the Holy Spirit one of the things that we must see growing is our love for one another. Even Paul said right? Even if I have all these extraordinary things happening around me if I don’t have love, I am poor. One of the ways to measure if we are growing in Christ is, our love will grow. It is the Holy Spirit who works that within us. Without Him it is impossible. Even God Himself says in Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
There is no way we can live the life that He wants us to live without the Holy Spirit. He didn’t leave us as orphans, He gave us His Holy Spirit. Engage with Him, walk with Him, listen to Him all other things will fall into place.
Distinguishing voices is important
When you are confused whether you are hearing from the Holy Spirit
- Don’t rush into anything. We can take as much time as needed to find God’s heart in a situation
- You can continue to seek God. You can let it “simmer”
- You can pray with your prayer partners. You can put it through peers
- Seek what His Word says about a particular thing. What Holy Spirit speaks will never contradict the Word
- Go by the principles you understand from the Word. No Word, no absolutes
- Don’t always go by inner peace because a thief while he is stealing may have inner peace too because he is getting his heart’s desire
- Whenever God speaks whatever is reigning inside you will rise up to challenge the Word. Are you sure this is what God said? Voice of intellect may raise up and ask, is this going to work? If you have a bad experience in the past, the voice of experience might go, “Are you sure this won’t muck up again?” If the devil could challenge the Lord Himself using the Word, how much more us. Learn to discern these different voices
- It is an acquired skill to partner with the Holy Spirit
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes because that is how you learn
- As you wait for Him, He will communicate. God is not a bad communicator. He says in Isaiah, “Come and reason with Me.” Isaiah 1:18a “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says, the LORD. God wants us to reason (have a conversation or dialogue) with Him. He is always ready to listen and guide us
- Jesus’ mind was always on what the Father’s will was. What is your mind set on? The things of the flesh? Things of the Spirit? Choice is yours
Focus on building intimacy with the Holy Spirit. After a few months you will first see the change in your spiritual life. How you are becoming more accurate. Compassion will increase as He becomes more involved in your life. People will be drawn to you. Never shy away from asking Him for help. He is the best encyclopedia of life, you can have.
Rehoboth 