Tag: Spirit of God

19.t. “Guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

Romans 8:9  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Galatians 4:6     And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

Ephesians 1:13   In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 1:17-18  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

 2 Timothy 1:14   By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

 1 John 4:4  for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

 Jude 1:19-21     It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

This means every believer has the Holy Spirit. It is a misnomer to divide Christians among the “Spirit-filled” and the “non-Spirit-filled.” If a person is not filled with the Holy Spirit, they are not a Christian at all.  However, many do miss out on living the Christian life in the constant fullness of the Spirit because they are not constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit as Paul commanded in Ephesians 5:18. They have no experience of what Jesus spoke about when He described rivers of living water flowing from the believer.  How does one know that they have the Spirit? Ask these questions: Has the Spirit led you to Jesus? Has the Spirit put in you the desire to honor Jesus? Is the Spirit leading you to be more like Jesus? Is the Spirit at work in your heart?  

Not only are we in Christ (Romans 8:1), but He also is in you, and because God cannot abide a sinful home, the body (old man) had to die when Jesus came in. (Guzik)

I think the problem most Christians have is that they tasted the indwelling Holy Spirit at conversion but somewhere in their life they quit listening to the Holy Spirit and reverted back to listening to what the world, worldly, and flesh has to say.  They are no longer influenced and led by the Holy Spirit.  The voice in their heart is that of the flesh and does what seems right in their eyes or in the eyes of the worldly.  This person has no victory over sin anymore.  They no longer listen for the Holy Spirit’s leading.  They find comfort and peace in not being convicted of sin and are not encouraged to honor and glorify Jesus Christ.  They have found it more pleasing to live in a neutral stasis thinking that living here somehow makes their lives easier to live out.  There is nothing further from the truth.  This is a lie from Satan and he is robbing them of power, strength, refuge, peace, hope, love, and courage, to live God-honoring, surrendered, and obedient lives.  In this neutral stasis, they seek what it can not deliver or provide.  How can they think they are Spirit-Filled?  How can they think there is a neutral stasis?  There is no neutral stasis.  There is either Spirit-Filled or worldly filled.  If you are not hearing the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart then it would be good to examine your heart and what is in it.  

2.r. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

2 Chronicles 21:16  And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

1 Kings 11:11    Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.

1 Kings 11:14    And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon,

1 Kings 11:23     God also raised up as an adversary to him,

Ezra 1:5    Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 10:5-6     Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!  Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the street

Amos 3:6     Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?

Isaiah 45:5-7     I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,  that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.  I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Do you ever wonder what God is not in control of?  Is He in control of everything?  We see “the Lord stirred up against Jehoram,”  “I will tear the kingdom from you”, “the Lord raised up an adversary”, “everyone whose spirit God had stirred”, “the staff in their hands is My fury”, “Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”, and “I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord who does all these things.”

God uses both the godly and ungodly too manifest is plans and purposes.  He is the creator of all there is so it is well understood that He can control it.  Do we live our lives like God is in control?  Do we pray like God is in Control?  Do we trust God like He is in control?  People reject God’s calling in their life.  They choose to ignore Him.  However, even in their rejection and the problems and troubles, they cause on others God can and does use it for good.  We may not see it but we can trust it is true.  One example is with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  Evil and lost people did this but it was ordained by God for the salvation of all who believe.

We know how David cried out to God and stating what appeared to be an oversight by God, in that, there were evil people who seemed to prosper, denounce God, treat others with harm, and God was seemingly blind to it.  He wasn’t and isn’t blind to actions, but more than that, He knows the thoughts and intents of each person’s actions.

The problem we have is that we don’t have the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of God.  We chase after answers with our limited understanding and knowledge.  We convince ourselves that we no best and if we were God we would do it differently.  He is God, not us.  His ways are not our ways.

So why is it that we say God is in control and then do not believe or trust Him when seemingly bad things happen?  He does not change.  He has been the same forever and there is no changing in Him.

I think the closer we are to Him the more we learn and grow in our trusting of Him.  The closer we are we have fewer questions and we have more praise.  The closer we are doesn’t mean we have fewer questions but it does mean we have one answer “God is in control” and in this, we can find a peace that passes all understanding.

You have to imagine the Israelites were full of questions and afraid when they were at the banks of the Red Sea with the Pharaoh and his warriors approaching. When we face the impossible, tragic, and terrible, trials in our life, know that there is a God who is in control and will work out all things for the good of them who are called by His name.

2.b. The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him,

2 Chronicles 15:1  The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Asa listened to the prophet.  He had open ears and mind to hear because he sought God with all his heart.  We can know what to do and how to respond to many things from God’s word.  Asa took courage from God’s word and took action accordingly.  When God’s word is received by a person who is seeking God with all their heart, mind, and soul, they are moved by the leading of the Holy Spirit into action that would not have happened otherwise.  Their inner being is renewed, strengthened and that which was worrying them is now faced with courage.

Note how the people of Israel came to live under the rule of Asa because they saw the Lord God was with him.  Note how they responded with sacrifices unto God and entered into a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and all their souls.  Anyone who would not do so should be put to death.  They rejoiced over the oath that was given with all their heart and how they sought the Lord with their whole desire and He was found by them.  They were given rest from all around because the Lord gave it to them and His hand of protection was over them.

Asa removed his mother from being queen mother because she made a detestable image.  Asa was wholly true all his days.

It is one thing to commit to the Lord Jesus Christ, to come that first time loaded with sin and guilt, to come with a need to be forgiven, to come trusting in and relying on redemption, mercy, and grace through Jesus Christ.  It is another thing to be wholly true all your days.  What does it take to be wholly true?  First is a desire and seeking that comes from deep in your heart, mind, and soul for God.  Second, there is a desire and seeking to hear Him speak into your life.  Third, there is a willingness to follow and obey what He says or has said. Fourth there is a turning away from that which is not pleasing to God.  Following God with our whole heart, mind, and soul is not like making a New Years resolution that slowly drifts away after a time.  No, it is a commitment that is fueled by an absolute need and want to be in His presence and knowing Him and doing that which honors Him.  This commitment is renewed with each breath and brought into focus with each blink of the eye.  This commitment is both the bread of life and living water for the soul.  This commitment gives life to the heart and should and without it, no purpose and satisfaction are found.

A new heaven and earth

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Psalms 104:30  When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Job 12:6-10    The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you,  or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.  Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?  In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Ephesians 2:1     And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

Titus 3:5     he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 65:17     “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22     “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.

Revelation 21:5     And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

We are created and given life by God.  We are both flesh and spirit. Though the flesh may return to dust the spirit lives on forever.  Eternity is timeless.  We fill and track our days – time.  Some days seem to drag on and others seem to fly by.  But a time is coming when there will be no more time, no more death.  God, our Creator, has promised a new heavens and new earth.  This promise from Isaiah is to everyone as recorded in

John 3:16  📝  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Joh 3:17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Joh 3:18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

However there are those who choose to reject God’s grace through Christ. Those who reject Christ are doomed to God’s wrath and will forever live in torment.  They will not see this new heaven and new earth.  They are forever cast into the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Trying to understand this forever torment is hard for us this side of eternity to comprehend.  Though not having this understanding does not leave those guiltless.  God’s grace and mercy through Christ, to those who believe, is a eternal life decision and life forever in His presence.  Do not reject His grace and mercy.  Do not neglect His calling.  Do not listen to the lies of satan that this world is all there is to your life.  The consequences of this decision is for eternity.

Led by the Spirit

“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

John 3:1  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Isaiah 55:9    For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

John 1:13    who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

How does the Spirit of God lead us?  How do we know we are being led? When we become a “child of God”, “a new creation”, “born again” we are given the Spirit of God to dwell inside us to lead us in all truth and on paths that honor and glorify Him.  We are able to hear His whispers of leading and we find comfort, peace, purpose, faith and meaning in our lives.  Confusion is replaced with confirmation.  Feeding of our spirit/soul comes from being in His word.  Little time in His word leaves our mind and soul open to things that do not honor or glorify Him. Little time in His word will create an emptiness and confusion and leaves a void that will be filled with something this world has to offer.  To be led by the Spirit of God we must be wanting, waiting, willing, and seeking to be led each day.