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The Amish Voice 9
The believer is expected to live his life
constantly under the power and leading of
the Holy Spirit. The believer must also
understand the mindset of one who walks in
the Spirit and know how to be led by the
Spirit of God. Look around you and find
someone who is led by the Spirit. Learn from
him or her. Ask questions. Seek God for
understanding. Learn to wait on the Spirit for
direction and wisdom. He wants to lead you.
But they that
wait upon the LORD
shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
How often do you wait to hear from Him
before you act?
The Bible says we are to grow in spiritual
things. See 1 Cor. 2:6-3:3. Before you can
begin to grow, you have to be born (in the
Spirit). If you have never asked the Lord
Jesus to save you from your sin and give you
everlasting life, if you have never asked the
Lord to put the Holy Spirit in you, if you
have never accepted what Jesus did on the
cross for you was enough—you cannot add
anything—then you are still dead and lost.
The new birth happens in a moment. It
happens when you give up trying to get to
God on your own, and you let God do it for
you. Just give it up, friend! Give it up. It’s
freeing and beyond anything you have ever
experienced in your life. Let God do the
work. He already has, whether you have
accepted it or not.
Not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to His (God’s)
mercy He saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost (Titus 3:5).
The new birth is the beginning of a process;
the Christian goes through several stages and
learns many things on the way. He is
supposed to go all out for God by ensuring
that he maintains life in the Spirit.
Are you conscious of the role of the Spirit in
your day-to-day life? Jesus says to you:
And I will pray the Father, and He shall
give you another Comforter (Holy
Spirit), that He may abide with you
forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth
Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye
know Him; for
He dwelleth with you
, and
shall be in you
(John 14:16-17).
Verse 26: But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name,
He shall teach you all
things
, and
bring all things to your
remembrance
, whatsoever I have said
unto you.
Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit
comes he will lead you and me into all truths
and remind us what Jesus has taught us in the
Bible. This is an ongoing process.
THE INFILLING OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT
But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is
come upon you
: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto
the
uttermost
part of the earth
(Acts 1:8).
Just like batteries in
a flashlight, the Holy
Spirit will empower us to
shine
brightly
in
our
hometown, home state and all over the
world. Are you a flashlight…
Without batteries?
With batteries that have grown dim?
With batteries that are fully lit up?
Jesus is clear; His followers will be witnesses
of the cross, meaning they are ones who
shine forth the light in a dark and lost world.
THE HOLY SPIRIT AT WORK IN THE
CHURCH
And when they had prayed, the place
was shaken where they were assembled
together; and they were all
filled with the
Holy Ghost
, and they spake the word of
God with boldness. And the multitude of
them that believed were of one heart and
of one soul…with great power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon
them all (Acts 4:31-33).
Many people in churches today have given
up the thought that anything like this could
ever happen in their church, let alone in their
generation. Really?! Maybe that is the very
reason it’s not happening. We do not believe!
Here is what I believe:
1. The Holy Spirit has not changed.
2. His passion to reach the world for Jesus
Christ has not changed.
Maybe we are the ones who changed!
My honest belief is that churches in America
have tried to do church without the Holy
Spirit. In fact, few of us even know much
about the Holy Spirit. Hardly anybody
mentions His name in sermon or
conversation. He’s looked at as one who
worked in lives 2,000 years ago, but not
today. We fear that if we get too spiritually
minded, someone will notice and avoid us, or
worse yet, talk behind our backs.
In 1 Corinthians 12, we are told by the
Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit
distributes His gifts to
members of His family,
such as He feels
necessary.
For to one is
given by the
Spirit
the word of
wisdom;
to
another the word of
knowledge by the same
Spirit; To another faith by
the same Spirit; to another the gifts
of healing by the same Spirit; To another
the working of miracles; to another
prophecy; to another discerning of
spirits; to another divers kinds of
tongues; to another the interpretation of
tongues: But all these worketh that one
and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every
man severally as he will (1 Corinthians
12:8-11).
What would a working, breathing, living
church look like with all of these gifts in
operation? The answer that comes to mind is
POWER! Not our power, but Holy Spirit
Power. Power that overcomes! Power that
changes the world! If this Holy Spirit power
is only available in believers, and believers
bottle Him up and don't let Him out, what is
that going to do for our generation?
Other Ministry Gifts in the Church
Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11-14:
And He (God) gave some, apostles; and
some prophets; and some evangelists;
and some pastors and teachers;
Why?
For the perfecting of the saints, for the
Holy Spirit, continued
Continued—next page
Men and women of God, it is time to
evaluate where we stand with God!
Soon we will stand face to face with
Him. What lame excuse are we going to
bring to the table? Do we even care that
we have bottled the Holy Spirit up and
held Him back? Oh God, please forgive
us and help us let go of our pride and
selfishness and help us get real today!