The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit

Friends: I’ve been working on this manuscript for quite a while. And I now have a contract to get it finished! Here’s a sample of what I’m putting together for this book:

Jesus says the Holy Spirit would be “another paraclete” to His disciples. Would the term “comfort” be the first to come to mind when we think of how Jesus was to His disciples? He rebukes them for their unbelief, for their sleeping, for having no faith. He defends them when they are accused of violating sacred rules of ceremonial washing or ignoring Sabbath observance. He “comes alongside” them when their faith is too weak to exorcize a demon-possessed boy.

“Comfort” seems to imply bringing solace to one who is weeping. The disciples (during the earthly ministry of the Lord) did not know enough to weep. He does not “comfort” them – He challenges, chastises, corrects, and even cajoles them. “Comfort” is far too weak a term. And sometimes the last thing the believer needs is a sympathetic companion who wipes away his tears. We need One who is fully divine to come alongside of us and put His finger on our sins and remind our hearts, “You belong to Your Heavenly Father.” We require One who will motivate and empower us to take risks for the Kingdom of God, One who will not be satisfied with one-seventh of our week, with the leftovers of our hours and days. We need One who will be “called alongside of” us even when we ourselves don’t have enough wisdom to invite His intrusive presence.

Read more: https://larrydixon.wordpress.com/2021/12/28/the-forgotten-third-developing-a-biblical-relationship-with-god-the-holy-spirit/

10 Reasons to Study the Holy Spirit

Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley It is sufficient that God’s word speaks much of the Spirit, for the only warrant we need to study a truth is that God teaches it in his word. However, to strengthen our motivation to study this topic deeply, let us consider reasons why it is crucial that we study the Holy Spirit.

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How Much Does the Holy Spirit Have You?

Photo by Fernando de Gorocica (Wikimedia Commons)

Do you ever wonder how to unleash the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in your life? In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he writes, “… be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18, NIV). The original Greek phrase “be filled” is grammatically a present imperative—we don’t have a smooth English translation for this except “be filled.” To really get at the idea of the original Greek, you would need to read this verse as “be being filled” or “keep on being filled.” Further, it’s in the passive voice, meaning it’s not “fill yourself up with the Spirit,” but rather “let yourself be filled” or “let the Holy Spirit fill you.” The Bible teaches that an individual is filled with the Holy Spirit by involving himself or herself in the process that leads to an ongoing, day-in, day-out filling. It’s not a once-for-all experience, but rather an ongoing process. It’s a way of doing life. Whenever we talk of something being filled, we usually have an image of something like a glass being filled with water. Whenever the Bible talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit, that’s not what is means. We are not vessels into which God pours a certain amount of Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person, so being filled is a relational issue. So how do we experience “being filled with the Spirit”? Well, it’s not about levitating or foaming at the mouth. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow Him to occupy, guide and control ever-increasing areas of our life. It’s a simple idea, but a profound one. The more you follow the Holy Spirit, the more you are filled. And the more you are filled, the more you are led. And the more you follow that lead, the more you are filled again. The entire dynamic is that you live in and by and through the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, surrendering daily to His leadership and promptings. When we listen to the words of the Bible and the inner promptings of our own spirit as it is nudged and guided by the Holy Spirit, we are being led to become that which we naturally aren’t—increasingly like Christ. We are led to make choices; to say yes to things or no to things; to do this, but not do that. To feel certain ways, think certain ways, act certain ways. How does this work in day-in, day-out life? Read more at: https://www.churchandculture.org/blog/2021/11/22/how-much-does-the-holy-spirit

Walking in the Spirit

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2  A man in one early chapter of Acts was confused about the work of the Holy Spirit. He thought he could have the power of the Holy Spirit without a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. He thought he could buy the Holy Spirit’s power with money—which led to a sharp rebuke from the apostles (Acts 8:9-25).

At Pentecost, Peter spelled it out clearly: “Repent . . . be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ . . . and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Life in the Spirit is preceded by life in Christ—faith and repentance of sin so that Christ’s Lordship is the priority in our life. We can’t walk in the Spirit while grieving the Spirit with sin (Ephesians 4:30). When Christ is Lord, the fruit of the Holy Spirit—that is, the life of Christ in us—becomes evident to those around us (Galatians 5:16, 22-23). If Christ is the Lord of your life, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit are yours. Walking in the Spirit means walking with Christ. He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Scriptures in his hands has all he needs. Alexander MacLaren

by David Jeremiah

Miracle Water

But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:13-14  The “medicine show” was a staple of the nineteenth century in America, especially in the “Wild West” where access to doctors and healthcare was lacking. Traveling salesmen would set up shop in towns and peddle a variety of “miracle” elixirs and tonics promising to cure all manner of illnesses, ailments, and conditions.

When Jesus met a thirsty woman at a well in Samaria, He offered her miracle water: living water, the consumption of which would satisfy her thirst forever. She thought He meant a special kind of liquid; He meant spiritual “water” that would satisfy her spiritual needs forever. It took her some time to understand who Jesus was and what He was talking about. But she soon realized He wasn’t offering her a kind of miracle water, but a relationship with God. Jesus spoke of this living water on other occasions (John 7:37-39), referring to the Holy Spirit. If you are spiritually thirsty today, you can quench that thirst by yielding your life to God through faith in Christ—the greatest miracle “water” of all. A miracle would not be a miracle if it could be explained!  J. C. Ryle

By David Jeremiah

The Fruit of the Spirit Are Ingredients of Happiness

Randy Alcorn

What’s our greatest source of joy? Paul pointed to the Holy Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Commenting on chara, the Greek Word usually rendered “joy” in this passage, the United Bible Societies’ translation handbook advises, “In some languages joy is essentially equivalent to ‘causes people to be very happy.’ In order to indicate that this joy is not merely some passing experience, one may say ‘to be truly happy within their hearts.’ In some languages joy is expressed idiomatically as ‘to be warm within one’s heart,’ or ‘to dance within one’s heart.’”

Translating the fruit of the Spirit as adjectives rather than nouns, the Contemporary English Version reads, “God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.”

If it seems that the translators are taking liberties by saying “happy” instead of “joyful,” note that the other eight adjectives perfectly correspond to the nouns used in the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible. Chara is the only Greek word in this passage rendered differently by the CEV translators. Their goal was faithfulness to the original language. “Joy” is a good translation of chara, but so too is its synonym “happiness.”

Some suggest that the order of the ninefold fruit of the Spirit is significant and that love is named first because “the greatest . . . is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). If this is true, then joy’s position as the second listed might imply it’s the second greatest.

Why does Paul emphasize joy and the other eight components of the Spirit’s fruit in the context of his attack on legalism in Galatians? Reading between the lines, we might surmise that joy was too rare among the Christians there, as it often is today.

Paul’s argument in Galatians suggests that self-righteous legalism chokes out the fruit of the Spirit, leading believers to become killjoys. Killjoys find pleasure in always being right and showing that others are wrong. Their false joy comes from thinking, I’m the smartest, purest, and most doctrinally, behaviorally, or politically correct person in the room. Unfortunately, no one wants to be in the room with them . . . including Jesus.

Finish at: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/randyalcorn/2020/08/fruit-spirit-ingredients-happiness/

The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit (“You talk with Him?!”)

by Dr. Larry Dixon

Friends: I’ve been working on this book for a while. And you get to follow me in action! My plan is to work my way slowly — in these posts — through the chapters in this manuscript. I welcome your input and hope to have this published in the next few months. “You talk with […]

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Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind – What does it mean and how do you experience it?

“And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind” – Ephesians 4:23

Have you ever wondered what Paul meant when he made this profound statement?

If so, then I believe that you will agree with me that being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” is a mystery.  And I believe that this applies even more to experiencing such a renewing.

Yet, it is worthwhile to pursue being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” because this is the key to the daily living of the new man in Christ. It is also the secret to living the kind of church life that God desires.

But before getting into the experience let’s put this passage in its Scriptural context.

Read more: https://holdingtotruth.com/2021/03/08/renewed-in-the-spirit-of-your-mind/

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:22-39 ²² “Jewish men, listen to what I have to say! You knew Jesus of the town of Nazareth by the powerful works He did. God worked through Jesus while He was with you. You all know this. ²³ Jesus was handed over to sinful men. God knew this and planned for it to happen. You had sinful men take Him and nail Him to a cross. ²⁴ But God raised Him up. He allowed Him to be set free from the pain of death. Death could not hold its power over Him.

²⁵ “David said this about Him, ‘I can see the Lord before me all the time. He is at my right side so that I do not need to be troubled. ²⁶ I am glad and my tongue is full of joy. My body rests in hope. ²⁷ You will not leave my soul in death. You will not allow Your Holy One to be destroyed. ²⁸ You have shown me the ways of life. I will be full of joy when I see Your face.’

²⁹ “Brothers, I can tell you in plain words that our early father David not only died but was buried. We know where his grave is today. ³⁰ He was one who spoke for God. He knew God had made a promise to him. From his family Christ would come and take His place as King. ³¹ He knew this before and spoke of Christ being raised from the dead. Christ’s soul would not be left in hell. His body would not be destroyed. ³² Jesus is this One! God has raised Him up and we have all seen Him.

³³ “This Jesus has been lifted up to God’s right side. The Holy Spirit was promised by the Father. God has given Him to us. That is what you are seeing and hearing now! ³⁴ It was not David who was taken up to heaven, because he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right side, ³⁵ for those who hate You will be a place to rest Your feet.”’ ³⁶ The whole Jewish nation must know for sure that God has made this Jesus, both Lord and Christ. He is the One you nailed to a cross!”

³⁷ When the Jews heard this, their hearts were troubled. They said to Peter and to the other missionaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” ³⁸ Peter said to them, “Be sorry for your sins and turn from them and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is to you and your children. It is to all people everywhere. It is to as many as the Lord our God will call.”

There’s some confusion in the church today concerning the Holy Spirit. A number of Christians think the indwelling of the Spirit occurs sometime after salvation, but Scripture teaches that He comes to permanently live within a new believer the moment he or she places faith in Jesus.

We don’t need to pray specific words for the Spirit to arrive. Nor do we have to attend a special service invoking His presence in order for Him to dwell in us. Any teaching that claims we can lose the Spirit and must regain Him over and over again is false. As soon as we trust in Jesus, His Spirit comes to abide with us forever (Then I will ask My Father and He will give you another Helper. He will be with you forever. John 14:16). This truth is essential to understand, because Scripture clearly says that anyone who doesn’t have the Spirit does not belong to Christ (But you are not doing what your sinful old selves want you to do. You are doing what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, if you have God’s Spirit living in you. No one belongs to Christ if he does not have Christ’s Spirit in him. Rom. 8:9).

It would be impossible to live the Christian life without the indwelling Spirit. He’s the one who guides us into God’s will, teaches us the truths of Scripture, transforms us into Christ’s likeness, and empowers us to serve and obey God successfully and joyfully.

When you fully understand this fundamental truth, you realize that instead of trying to “get the Spirit,” you need to live like the Spirit-filled Christian you are.

The Holy Spirit – God with Us

John 14:26

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Read the blog thoughts: https://raymcdonald.wordpress.com/2021/04/20/the-holy-spirit-god-with-us/