Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25
This post is a continuation of my ongoing series on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In previous posts, we discussed who the Holy Spirit is, His Role in salvation and how He empowers us to live a free life in Christ.
In my last post I stated that the Holy Spirit takes everything God has given us in Christ Jesus and makes them a reality in our lives today. This He does by empowering us with the freedom to walk in our new lives in Christ. However, although God has already given us the Holy Spirit who lives and dwells in us, we will not bear good fruit nor live in victory here on earth unless we learn how to:
- Engage Him
- Hear Him
- Listen to Him
- Obey Him
- Walk with Him
- And keep in step with Him
Therefore today’s post is the first of two (or three) posts on how to fully engage the Holy Spirit and walk with Him. I’m not going to pretend that I have fully arrived nor am I going to pretend that I have all my ducks in a row so to speak. Since I’m also learning, I wrote this post with God’s help primarily for myself and my prayer is that it will be a blessing to you also.
How to keep in step with the Holy Spirit
1. Never lose your awe and wonder of God
God lives in us by His Spirit but He remains God Almighty. He is God and we are not. Never come to that place where you feel like you have attained equal stature with God.
Personally, when I want to meditate on how mighty and awesome our God is, I turn to Isaiah 40:12-14 which reads:
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?
Just stop and ponder on the splendor of our LORD. He is definitely more than worthy of our worship and praise!!!
We should never lose our wonder of Him. The more we learn of Him from the Word, the more we grow in our awe of Him.
2. Be God-inside minded
Then with absolute humility but unhindered boldness realize, accept and fully acknowledge that this same almighty powerful God lives in you by His Spirit.
What an awesome God we serve, what a wonder He is! He does not withhold Himself from us but has given us His Spirit and made us one with Him.
There are multiple Scriptures, which plainly tell us that the Spirit of God lives in us.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? -1 Corinthians 3:16
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. -2 Corinthians 6:16
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: -1 Corinthians 6:19
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. John 14:16
None of these Scriptures indicate that God diluted His Spirit to be able to dwell in us. None of them suggest that since we are “mere mortals,” God divided His Spirit and gave us a fraction of Himself so that we can handle His presence living in us.
In the Old Covenant only the High Priest was allowed to go behind the veil into the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelt (Leviticus 16) but the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus Christ was crucified (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38). Therefore, under the New Covenant, the Spirit of God no longer dwells in man made temples but in our hearts (Acts 17:24).
If you are born again, then the Spirit of God lives in you. PERIOD!
Not a diluted version, not a fractionated version but the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you (Romans 8:11).
No, you are not God. You are neither omnipotent, omnipresent nor omniscient but the Holy Spirit is, and He will teach you, guide you and reveal things to you as you yield to Him. God did not create you to save the whole world nor is your purpose in life to run the affairs of the universe but you are made in His image. You are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Therefore, whatever He created you for and assigned you to, He empowers you to accomplish through His Spirit within you.
The Holy Spirit will empower you to accomplish everything God created you for.
If God has called you to be a wife and mother, you can do so through Christ. Likewise, if He has called you to lay hands on the sick or speak life to the dead, you equally can through Christ.
The Holy Spirit will not force His desires on us. Although His power is freely available to us, it will make no impact in our lives unless we acknowledge His presence and yield to Him by faith.
Practical Applications
-When you feel physically weak, your first response should be to remember that the Spirit of God lives in you and you can depend on Him for strength because He has promised that those who hope in Him will renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).
-When fear attempts to hold you back in life, instead of thinking about how impossible your situation is, meditate on who God is and remember that He did not give you a spirit of fear but of POWER, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
3. Realize that you are united in spirit with God
But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. -1 Corinthians 6:17
For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. -1 Corinthians 2:16 AMPC
If you are a child of God, your born again spirit is one with God who is the Holy Spirit.
One in the sense that you are directly of God and your born again spirit operates in unity with the Holy Spirit.
Again, this does not mean that you are equal in stature and position with God but it means that you can directly fellowship with Him and His nature and attributes flow without disruption from His Spirit into your spirit. The only thing you need to do is accept His gift by faith, yield to His Spirit and walk in harmony with Him.
What an awesome privilege to realize that I can know the heart of God and have the desire to bring Him glory by obeying Him and doing His work.
What an honor to know that I can communicate directly with Him, know His thoughts and put His desires into action.
What a relief to know that my spirit is in direct union with His love, joy, peace, patience, power etc.
Practical Applications
-Make a daily commitment to uphold your union with God by being obedient to His voice. The more you obey, the clearer His voice will become.
-When you are tempted with depression, remind yourself that you have the mind of Christ and your spirit is in union with the Spirit of God.
Conclusion
Since we positively know through the Scriptures and through the witness of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16) that the Spirit of God/Spirit of Christ (Galatians 4:6) lives permanently in us, let us determine to agree and cooperate with God’s thoughts, desires and purposes for our lives.
We are no longer slaves. On the contrary, we are now free in Christ to step out of our comfort zones and keep in step with the Holy Spirit as He displays His love, power and wisdom through us to the world around us.
Confession:
- I am a child of God (Galatians 4:7)
- I am born of the Spirit of God (John 3:6)
- I am the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:16)
- The Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead lives in me (Romans 8:11)
- I have the Spirit of Christ and I belong to Christ (Romans 8:9)
- I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)
- I am one with God in Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17)
- I know the thoughts and purposes of God’s heart (1 Corinthians 2:16 AMPC)
- God has not given me the spirit of fear but of power, love and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7)
- I am led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14)
Read the continuation of this post by clicking the links below:
- Learning to Keep in Step with the Holy Spirit: Part 2
- Learning to Keep in Step with the Holy Spirit: Part 3
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Except where indicated, Scriptures are taken from the NIV.
Other posts on The Holy Spirit:
- The Holy Spirit: Who is He?
- The Holy Spirit: What is His Role in Salvation?
- Sealed with The Holy Spirit
- The Holy Spirit: Freedom through The Spirit of God
Great stuff, Chizobam!
Praise the Lord!
It’s all God’s grace Mirka.
He enables us to walk the talk through the Holy Spirit and when we fail, He lifts us up again and again.
Thank you Jesus!!
Really deep insight with real world applications.
May our wisdom and insight continue ro multiply in every way.
Good read! Thank you
Great piece…
Romans 8:8-11 readily comes to mind to encourage us to live by the Spirit of God. This actually affects every bit of our lives – showing love to all as Christ would do; living above sickness and diseases and knowing that we are the Righteousness of God by His Grace and Redemption…
Thanks!
“God did not give us a spirit of fear” these are words we hear too often but sometimes as Christians we lose perspective. May meditation on His word and constant prayer allow us to always be aware of that reality. Thank you for sharing
It’s all by His grace Ada.
He truly did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us His Spirit and His Spirit is one of power and love.
Thank you so much for sharing. I always look forward to reading your posts.
Thank you Judy for your encouraging words. It’s ALL by God’s grace.
My prayer is that we will be continously transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory as we soak in His word and yield to His Spirit.
Many blessings!
Thank you so much for this teaching of what the Holy spirit does in our lives and practical applications to it. May God continue to use to draw souls to him and understand how He is.
thanks and God bless