Live By The Spirit

Welcome To The Family Of God!

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7 NIV

Since Jesus invited you into Himself (2 Corinthians 5:17) and you accepted His invitation, the Holy Spirit lives in you (Romans 8:9). As a “born again” child of God, you have a new Family and you are a citizen of Heaven! From this point forward, you will receive your directives from God Himself through the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, the Bible. You will find that God’s love is the motivation for everything the Holy Spirit wants His children to do, because God is love. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.  No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:7-13 NLT

If you have not met Jesus Christ, please visit the Meet Jesus page on the menu because I would love to introduce you to Him!

The Foundation of Your Faith

Jesus paid the penalty for the sin of every person in the world when He died on the cross. He offers forgiveness and closeness with God for free to anyone that believes in this extravagant gift of grace. But many Christians fall into a wrong mindsets that they have to earn right-standing with God, even after they are born again by the Spirit. These are learned patterns in our brain having to do with striving to achieve in order to please those we love. But love is never earned. Love is a gift! Those patterns have to be confronted and changed by dwelling on God’s truth.

After we are born-again we do good works, but they aren’t done to “earn points” with our Father in Heaven or to avoid punishment. We are very loved children of God. He is already pleased with us because our sins have been washed away by the precious blood of His Son! We are one with God and we do good works because we are just like our Father. We love! We are empowered by Him to be a light to the world, showing others the way to Jesus. Always keep the beautiful sacrifice of Jesus at the forefront of your faith. His great gift of love is the foundation we build our lives on by the Spirit.

Two Spiritual Kingdoms

For three years, Jesus preached repentance (turning away) from sin. He taught about the Kingdom of God, healed the sick, drove out demons, raised the dead and did many amazing signs and wonders such as multiplying food for the hungry. But the focus of His message and the miracles He performed was God’s Kingdom. (Matthew 4:23-25)

We have been brought out of the kingdom of darkness into God’s Kingdom. We were dead in our sins when we obeyed the “ruler of the kingdom of the air” which is Satan. But when we put our faith in Jesus, He made us alive, purifying us from our sin. Then Jesus seated us with God in the heavenly realms. We’re not in Heaven yet while we’re still in this earthly body. However, we are in fellowship with God by the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God has come to us because of His presence that lives in us! (Ephesians 2:1-10) And one day He will give us a brand new body and we’ll be with God forever– in His beautiful, more real than we can imagine— Heaven!

Our enemy hates that we have been rescued out of his chains and placed in God’s powerful, loving and protective care. Satan wants to deceive us into thinking nothing has changed and that we have to live the Christian life on our own power. But everything has changed! We are new beings and live in a different kingdom now! God has empowered us to live free from our old chains. But we have to know who we are in Christ, renew our minds and live from the realm of the Holy Spirit– the Kingdom of God!

Every temptation from the demonic realm is a lie from the kingdom of darkness that leads to fear and shame. But Jesus is the Truth. The Truth sets us free and keeps us free. We have to get to know Jesus, our King, more intimately so we can understand the Kingdom authority He has given us against the devil.

God is Patient

Most of us make mistakes in our journey with God, but we can learn from them. He is a good Father and so patient with us! As you grow, remember that your brothers and sisters in Christ are growing too– even if they have known the Lord for a long time. We are forgivers like our Father. Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you with His kindness and patience as we all grow up together in the Lord.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 ESV

Intimacy With God

Because the Spirit lives in us, we can learn to hear God’s voice when we pray. Prayer is a loving two-way conversation where Jesus is the Shepherd and we, His sheep, follow His voice (John 10:27-30). It is a Father and child conversation where God the Father already knows what we need before we ask. But He longs to spend time with us and hear our requests (Matthew 6:5-8). The Father wants us to stay close to His heart through paying attention to the Holy Spirit. That is how we keep the lamps of our hearts burning brightly for His Son, Jesus, to return for us (Matthew 25:1-13).

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 NKJV

Reading God’s Word helps us to know Him better as well. But we don’t simply read the Bible to learn information. God’s Word is alive by the Spirit when we read or listen to it from our hearts where the Holy Spirit dwells (Hebrews 4:12). In that way, the Word brings life to our body, soul and spirit. If we read the Word of God as if Jesus is actually talking to us– because He is— we allow Him to do with our lives whatever He wants. That’s when real transformation can take place– real growth!

For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14 AMP

Baptized by the Spirit

After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His followers and spoke many things to them. He breathed the Holy Spirit on them causing them to be born again. But then He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. After that, Jesus ascended into Heaven and disappeared.

So, Jesus’ followers waited in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. They were unified in the love of Jesus praying when the Holy Spirit descended upon them like flames of fire. The Spirit supernaturally empowered them to tell others about Jesus. After that, when someone believed in Christ they were born again by the Spirit, baptized in water, and then prayed for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. They wanted all God had for them.

If you know Jesus, you are born again and the Holy Spirit already lives in you. You are saved by the grace of God. But you can also be empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is the baptism of fire by the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16) The Holy Spirit empowers us with spiritual gifts to encourage other believers. He also empowers us with the ability to bring people to Christ in ways that we would not be able to do on our own power.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 NIV

Worship God by the Spirit

But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24 NET

Any loving relationship requires time and devotion. The same applies to our relationship with God but even more so because He is our source of eternal life. Jesus died for us to be brought to the Father and have a loving and obedient relationship with Him (John 14:6). Worshiping God in Spirit and truth keeps us in close connection to God.

We stay humble in His presence, desiring to remain in Christ and to serve no other gods. “Other gods” are not always statues. They are anything that pulls us away from our relationship with the Lord. In this posture of worship we expose our hearts to Him in truth, willing to give up any dark thing that may be keeping us from getting closer to His light. The Spirit helps us worship God with our whole hearts (Matthew 16:24-27).

Grow With the Body of Christ

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you find a good church so you can grow in Christ. Take the time you need to make this important decision with God’s guidance. In the right church, you will be able to thrive in God through the Holy Spirit and have good fellowship with “on fire” believers like you.

As you look for a church family, get a good Bible (like the NIV or NLT translations) and find some worship music. Spend time with Jesus by paying attention to the Holy Spirit. You will not regret the time spent with Him! No matter what happens, let God’s love flow into you and you will always be able to love others by the Spirit!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 NIV

God Bless You!

God bless you in your adventure with our King! May you bring many to Jesus as you live by the Holy Spirit. Enjoy your journey with the Family of God. He loves us more than we can imagine!