When Jesus was on earth, He gave us a promise. That promise was the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4 says And being assembled together with them, He (Jesus) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So here Jesus is talking with the apostles and tells them to wait and be baptized with the Holy Spirit. What does the Holy Spirit do in our life? A BUNCH! Grab your Bibles cause we are going to cover a lot of scripture today.

Jesus said that we would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us (Acts 1:8). In the same verse, He stated that we would be a witness of Jesus. John 16:14 says that the Holy Spirit glorifies God, so the Holy Spirit in us and through us glorifies the Father. This is further shown in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit filled them they spoke in other tongues glorifying God by proclaiming His wonderful works. Acts 4:33 Says that with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Now some people say that the gifts and the baptism of the Holy Spirit was for the apostles and it died with them. But Peter (and the rest of the Word) makes it very clear this promise was for all believers. Acts 2:38-39 says Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” This gift is available to all believers, and there are several more instances in the Bible where the apostles would go to people and baptize them in the Spirit one being Acts 8:14-17.

There are so many other functions that the Holy Spirit does in us. Take some time to go through this (not complete) list with your Bible.

 

* The Spirit brings conviction (John 16:8-11)
* He teaches us the Word (John 16:13, 2nd Corinthians 2:10-16
* He glorifies the Father (John 16:14)
* The Spirit gives us the power to be effective witnesses of Christ (Acts 1:8, Acts 4:33)
* The Holy Spirit reveals Gods love to us (Romans 5:5) (Part of revealing truth to us)
* He enables us to walk out the Bible (Romans 8:13, Galatians 5:16)
* The Spirit imparts gifts to demonstrate the Glory of God (1st Corinthians 12:1-11)

There is more that the Spirit does in our life, but this list will get you started. Ask God to baptize you with The Holy Spirit so you can go out and be an effective witness of Christ.

When Jesus died, it wasn’t just for eternal life. Jesus said in John 16:7 ” Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” The Helper Jesus is referring to is the Holy Spirit. His role in our life is paramount in order to serve God. Today we are going over just a few scriptures on The Holy Spirits role in our life.

John 16:8 (NLT) says: “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” The Holy Spirit convicts the world of their sin; this includes us as believers. God calls us to repentance so we can draw closer to Him.

John 16:13-15 (NLT) ” When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.”
John 14:26 (NLT) “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
The Holy Spirit teaches us the Word and helps us recall it (This is part of the covenant God made with us see Hebrews 10:16). He leads us to the truth and proper understanding of God’s Word. He doesn’t speak on His own meaning He will never tell you anything opposite of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit primarily tells us the future through His Word. An example of this can be found in John 16:33. He Also reveals the future through dreams and visions. The word of God revealed by the Holy Spirit will produce real fruit in our lives, and the fruit always points back to Jesus.

Romans 8:12-13 “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 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.”
The Holy Spirit takes an active role in helping us obey the Word. He doesn’t just convict us when we do wrong but is proactive to help us. Relying on the Holy Spirit during a time of temptation is extremely important in a believer’s life. We cannot through ourselves do anything, but through the Power of the Cross, we have access to God’s grace to overcome anything that comes at us.

These are just three scriptures referencing the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. There are many more, and I encourage you to take a look in your Bible and search it out for yourself. In later blogs we will be going over the baptism of the Holy Spirit and why it is vital for all believers.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.  – Colossians 1:13

When we accept Jesus as our Lord, a lot of things happen. We enter a covenant with God, we have fire insurance, Gods Spirit is put in us, the list goes on, and we will probably cover these in another post. One thing that happens is we get transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His Son. Simply put, you don’t live your life the way you used to.

I live in the Unites States of America. If I move to another country, let’s say North Korea, I would have to live life drastically different and the freedoms I enjoy here I would not be able to enjoy there. The Same concept applies when you accept Jesus (thank God His Kingdom is nothing like any we have here on earth). Now we live our life the way the Word of God says to. When the world says to look out for #1 (yourself), God says to take care of my business, and I will take care of you (Matthew 6:33). When the world says to be all you can be, Jesus says to die to yourself and be like Me (Galatians 2:20).

When the world says you control your own destiny, God says that’s a terrible idea I will direct your path (1st Corinthians 3:19, Proverbs 16:9). Simply Put when you follow Christ you must rely on His Word and Spirit to direct your life. We don’t just “get saved” and that be the extent of our relationship with Jesus. He totally wrecks our old life ( the old way of doing things) and enables us to live the way He intended from the beginning. Seek God daily and allow Him to lead and guide your life.

 

Have you ever thought poorly of yourself or others? How we see ourselves and others significantly affect our ability to serve God and others. Now you may say “Ben, serving God isn’t dependent on us, but on God.” I totally agree with that, when we rely on truth and the Holy Spirit to reveal that truth, it is God doing the work in and through us. So let’s look at how a wrong mindset about ourselves can hinder the work of God in our life.

Romans 12:3 says this “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” So should I think of myself as a worthless worm? We are to think soberly according to the measure of faith God has given us. That means thoughts about ourselves must line up with the truth of God’s Word. Deception causes us to think of ourselves as worthless, as a screw-up, an idiot, etc.

God has a unique perspective concerning us. Psalm 139:14 says ” I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works…” If we accept any thought that is contrary to this, we are calling God a liar and His works garbage. When we get a proper perspective and believe what God says about us, we stop thinking about ourselves and can move forward boldly in the plan God has for our life. Having right perspective isn’t about feeling good about ourselves, it sets us free from deception so we can serve God without our own mindsets hindering the work of the Holy Spirit in our life.

Same applies to other people. If I look down on other people because of the way they act, talk, or look, I judge the Word of God false. “Well Ben, I don’t look down on people, I love people.” If someone cut you off in traffic and you yelled something at them like “you idiot!” or worse, you have judged that person according to their actions and not the Word. Yeah, people do and say crazy things sometimes, but if we look at that and then snicker or sneer how can we give them the truth of God’s Word if we don’t believe it ourselves?

Even if I try to reach out to someone who I look down on, I can recite Biblical truth to them, but it is not done in love. Rather it is done with a condescending attitude, and there is no Grace (Power) in what you say. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (1st Corinthians 13:1). So next time you’re tempted to speak or think poorly of others or yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to give you correct perspective. That is how we allow God to do the work and not ourselves.

 

Practice Truth:

• Renew your mind in the Word when it comes to yourself and others.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you, and to lead and guide you away from lies about yourself and others

As a door turns on its hinges,
So does the lazy man on his bed.

-Proverbs 26:14

 

When we think of a lazy person, typically we think of someone who doesn’t work, sleeps a lot, etc. But what does laziness with our relationship with God look like, how does it affect us? Proverbs 19:15 says: “Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
And an idle person will suffer hunger.” When we are idle or too lazy to seek God, we experience spiritual hunger. Now you may think “I’m not spiritually lazy, I am an Elder or I work in the worship team, youth ministry, children’s ministry, etc.

Laziness hides behind excuses and justifications. Let’s take a look at the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-27.

For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

Notice this man said that the Lord was a hard man and he was afraid. He made an excuse by saying he was afraid and tried to justify it because he viewed the task too troublesome. The Lord discerned that the man was lazy and wicked. God sees laziness as wicked.

Proverbs 19:24 states this:

A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl,
And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

I have always looked at this passage and chuckled. It always seemed like an extreme example, and people couldn’t possibly be that lazy. Never the less God spoke to me one day and said: “Anyone who goes to church but doesn’t bother to understand or apply what they heard is akin to a lazy man.” I was like wow…I have been that lazy man. How many times have I gone to church and forgot about what was said? “Oh that was good, now let’s move on.”

How many times did I read my Bible and not bother to ask the Holy Spirit for understanding of it? If we don’t seek the Lord consistently, we will suffer spiritual hunger. We cannot be listless when it comes to seeking God in His Word and seeking Him for an understanding of it.

Practical Application

• Ask God to reveal areas of laziness in your life. Be open to what the Holy Spirit tells you.
• Ask God to help you be consistent and faithful to spend time with Him.
• Be proactive when hearing the Word. Determine to value what you hear and read in the Bible and seek God for understanding of His Word.

For a long time, I would look at the Bible and see what God says a believer should be and think “man I need to be at that level.” I would struggle and try and be what I know I could be, but would end up discouraged and back to square one. If we desire God and want to obey Him, we cannot start anywhere else except at step one, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30). That is why the Bible tells us in Colossians 3:14 that love is the bond of perfection (completeness in Christ) because all of God’s commandments hinge on our dependence on Him. Romans 8:5-8 says this:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

If we live our lives focused on our material needs or wants whether that be our jobs, friends, bills, family, home, etc. We will never please God because our decisions will be influenced by our plans and purposes and not Gods. Our human understanding cannot begin to comprehend Gods ways. If we try and live life based on how we think it should be done or how we think God wants it done, we will miss the mark every time. The only sure way to live a life pleasing to God is to walk with Him.

Romans 12:1-2 says this: I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

When we continually allow the Holy Spirit to teach us the Word, the way we think, act and talk change. Our life will begin to reflect the life God intended us to live.

So if we want to live the life God intended us to live, we simply just have to start somewhere. The Bible tells us in James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. When we make an effort to draw close to God, He meets us where we are at. Take time to consistently read the Word, and seek God for the understanding of it.

Fear and anxiety is something most people deal with. It controls and manipulates our decisions, sleep, our mental and physical health. It could be fear of losing someone dear to us or fear of not finding/keeping a job. The list goes on and on. I can tell you that many times I have made decisions based on fear. In a stressful situation, I would contemplate the 16 different scenarios that could go wrong, only to find that it turned out nothing like I thought.

Choosing to act on fear derails the will of God in our life. God never intended man to live with worry, and the awesome thing is, we don’t have to. The Bible tells us God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. He gave us the power to take every fearful thought captive (2nd Corinthians 10:5). He gave us love because the revelation of God’s love cast out fear (1st John 4:18). And He gave us a sound mind to know the will of God in every situation (Romans 12:1-2).

God wants us to live a life free from fear, so we are free to love and serve Him. 1st Peter 5:6-7 tells us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. We do this by casting all our cares on Him. In this life, bad things will happen, and things will go wrong. But we can choose to trust God in everything and live a life free from fear and anxiety.

Practical steps to live free from fear

• Get into the Word. You cannot trust someone you don’t know. Start finding out who God is through His Word.
• Choose to believe God works everything out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

What does God want me to do with my life? I have heard this question a lot, and it’s a good question to ask. God has a perfect plan for all of us, and thankfully it doesn’t have to be a mystery. Jesus said in John 15:15 that if we are His friends, He will make known what the Father has spoken. In other words, He reveals the plans of God to His friends.

So how do we know we are Gods friends? Jesus defines it for us in John 15:14. We are His friends if we keep His commandments.

Now by this, we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
– 1st John 2:3-5

1st John lays it out pretty clear. We know that we love Him if we keep His commandments. Jesus further says in John 14:15-18 that if we love Him, we keep His commandments. So to show I love God, I have to do everything right and live my life super strictly? Absolutely not!

If you read on in John 14:15-18 Jesus said I will send you a Helper (the Holy Spirit). If we try and keep Gods commandments ourselves, we will fail every time. That’s part of the reason why God sent His Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost leads and guides us into all truth (John 16:13). God’s Word when revealed to us by the Holy Spirit continually transforms our lives and moves us from faith to faith and glory to glory.

Romans 12:1-2 says that we can prove what the good and acceptable will of God is when our minds are renewed in the Word. We cannot do anything with eternal value apart from our relationship with Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 that people will come to Him boasting many good works healing the sick, casting out of devils, but He will tell them to depart from Him. Not because they were workers of iniquity, but because He never knew them. When we don’t do the first thing, God commanded (to love Him) our life will aways produce lawlessness.

This is a HUGE thing many people miss. We don’t “check-in” with God from time to time. He is our life! By Him we live, move and have our being. Our works no matter how good they may seem, mean nothing if we are doing them apart from Him.

So when asking God what He wants for your life, start with the first thing He commanded. Ask God to give you a love for the truth. Thank Him for His Holy Spirit working in your life. He will give you the steps you need to take for your life to glorify Him.

Have you ever been fired up about doing something only to fizzle out after about a week or two? I am the king of this when it comes to working out. The thing I have found about going to the gym once in a while is that you never really see any real progress. I go for a bit, but I don’t stay consistent with it. So every time I go back to the gym and lift weights, I can’t lift anything heavier than what I had previously lifted, or worse I have to go down in weight.

This can apply to anything thing in life. If you don’t stick with something, typically it becomes an exercise in futility. This can especially be true when it comes to our relationship with God. Jesus tells us in John 15 that we need to abide in Him and His Word abide in us. The Bible tells us over and over to set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth (Romans 8:5, Colossians 3:2). When you abide somewhere, you don’t just visit once in a while and check-in. You live there, Jesus is our life, and we must stay connected to Him.

So, how do we stay connected without falling off the bandwagon? Get a schedule, Wake up a half-hour earlier? Well, just like with everything we cannot lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). We must rely on God to be faithful to Him. Jesus gave us every advantage to have a lasting, meaningful relationship with Him through the Cross.

Galatians 5:22 list of the fruit of the Spirit

 Love

Joy

Peace

Longsuffering

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

Notice these are the fruit of the Spirit. These are not the fruit of our human nature. This is why we must rely on God to be faithful to Him. Without His Holy Spirit stirring our hearts, writing His Word in us, leading and guiding us into all truth we are going to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. God truly made it easy to have a relationship with Him, we just have to get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

Start somewhere! Ask God for practical steps on what to change to spend more time with Him. He is our life, our daily bread. Make it a priority to feed on His Word, even if you just spend 5 minutes. Start somewhere and ask God to stir your heart for a passion and desire for the truth. If you submit your time to His Lordship, you will see a drastic change in your life!

 

It’s Monday! Let’s be honest though; no one likes Mondays. We have to get out of our comfy beds and embrace the harsh reality that is work. Then Tuesday rolls around, and you find yourself on the struggle bus yet again. Before you know it you’ve ridden that bus all the way into Friday.

Is living for the weekend the way God intended man to live? Yeah, you may not have the most fun job in the world, best boss, or co-workers, but that doesn’t mean it has to ruin your day or week. The Bible tells us God frames every day. Each day presents new beauty and opportunity if we are looking for it. Too often we get so consumed with trying to survive the week that we don’t see all the good things God has given us.

Our situation doesn’t need to change; it’s our perspective. The Bible tells us to rejoice in every day that the Lord has made. It also says in James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights…” Every day is a gift from God because every day God wants to show His mercy and love to us. Each day we have the opportunity to draw near to God and let His joy be our strength.

Practical Steps:

• Thank Him for your job and opportunity to show Christ to those around you
• Rely on the Holy Spirit to correct you if you start complaining
• Ask God to create in you a heart of thankfulness