VISION 2015 PURSUING GOD S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE RUNNING AFTER YOUR DESTINY October, 2015 THE EIGHTH PRINCIPLE Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. KNOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT For the Child of God nothing can be more important than knowing that your life is being guided and your steps are being ordered by God. The knowledge that God is indeed orchestrating the affairs of your life is the most consoling knowledge that one can have. It is to know that no matter what happens in your life, God is in it with you, and with His Omnipotence, He will bring whatever it is out for your good. But, I must now impress upon you the fact that it is impossible to ever be confident and comfortable in the knowledge of God s DIVINE ORCHESTRATION in your life until you have become acquainted with the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, one cannot genuinely Pursue God s Plan for life without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit at work. You may have been born and raised in the Church, held as many positions in Ministries as you could hold, attended as many Sunday School and Bible classes as the Church offered, but if you have not surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit you can never know God s will for your life. Holy Spirit presence is so important that Jesus promised that He would be made available to His children soon after He returned to Heaven to be seated on the right of the Throne of God. Jesus knew that without the HOLY SPIRIT, His followers, including us, would not be able to know God s will or fulfill God's call on their lives. So He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper, Teacher, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Strength, and the Revealer of truth. So, I am compelled to give some clear and concise information about the Holy Spirit that should lead you to develop the relationship with Him that Jesus died, rose, and ascended for us to have. 1
THE HOLY SPIRIT HOLY GHOST Most Christians today understand Jesus the Son, and God the Father as two very distinct Persons within the Godhead; however, there has been much confusion over the identity of the Holy Spirit. The confusion began in some Church teachings and practices in the past, but has been amplified in the outside world to the extent that worldly comedians have garnered material for their off-colored jokes about the Holy Spirit. Interestingly they make jokes about the emotionalism that is sometimes seen in churches, but as you would expect, they don t hang around long enough to hear about the other aspects of the Holy Spirit s operations. It is past time for us to be clear that the primary function of the Holy Spirit is not to simply provide us with an emotional expression or outburst in a Worship service. His function in our lives goes much further than that, and if we do not give ourselves to His complete purpose and function in our lives we will not know the power of Living in God s Plan. So, WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? The Holy Spirit is a part of the Holy Trinity, or The Godhead, also consisting of the Father and Son. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word (ruwach, pronounced roo'-akh) was used when talking about the Spirit. This word literally means WIND, even the wind associated with BREATH! In the New Testament the Greek word (pneuma, pronounced pnyoo'-mah) was used which also means BREATHE or a BREEZE! We can literally think of the Holy Spirit as the "BREATH OF GOD!" The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church in I Corinthians 3:16 saying, Don t you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? The God s Word Translation records it this way, Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? This is a pivotal verse in clarifying just how it is that this Holy Spirit can live inside human bodies. To understand this concept it is necessary to look at the structure of the Holy Temple at Jerusalem. Below is a very simple diagram of the contents of the Holy Temple: In the Jewish temple there were three courts: the outer court, the inner court, and the Holy of Holies. In the Spiritual context our bodies represent the outer court. The inner 2
court is considered to be our mind, our will and our emotions. But inside of us is the Holy of Holies where the Spirit of God dwells. The Holy Spirit dwells inside our spirit. So on the inside of us is the Holy of Holies. This is a message that must register within all of God s Children. Only when this fact is clear in our hearts and minds can we begin to understand how it is possible for us to live within the will of God. 1 Corinthians 3:17 issues a strong statement that should shake all of us at the core. It says, (GWT) If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him because God's temple is holy. You are that holy temple! Now, I don t know how that verse sounds to you, but it sounds to me that if we do not become deliberate in protecting our bodies from sin, which are God s temples, then we will suffer destruction from the inside out. We will not be able to blame our downfall on anyone or anything because the fire of destruction will burn on the inside of us. On the brighter side of this fact is the overwhelming idea that the Holy God who we reverence and worship and who lives in Heaven has also made the Divine decision to live INSIDE OF YOU. I admit that knowing me as I do, it is very difficult to conceive that the one and only Holy God would consider it possible to live inside something like me! Somehow this knowledge is difficult to conceive. David in Psalm 139:1-6 explored this concept and he said, (ISV): Lord, You have examined me; You have known me. You know when I rest and when I am active. You understand what I am thinking when I am distant from you. You scrutinize my life and my rest; You are familiar with all of my ways. Even before I have formed a word with my tongue, You, LORD know it completely! You encircle me from back to front, placing your hand upon me. Knowledge like this is too amazing for me. It is beyond my reach, and I cannot fathom it As difficult as it is to wrap our brain around this concept, we have to digest it because God is the one who said that He would dwell in us as His Temple. So, the question becomes, How then do we clean our Temples? The answer to this question will be disappointing to some people who have become self-reliant. The fact is, there is nothing that we can do on our own to clean our lives. Once we ve accepted Christ as our Savior it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us. We could never clean our own temples, only His Blood can do that. Let me explain: Hebrews 9:22 says, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission." I John 1:7 tells us that "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin." God, has chosen the cleansing agent for our sins. He chose the very best that He had, the blood of His own Son. It is by the precious blood of our Lord, that we are cleansed from all of our sins. Revelation 1:5 says, "To Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." Yes, it is only by the blood of our Lord, that we get our sins washed away. St. John 19:34, "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." Jesus willingly shed His blood for us when He died on the cross of Calvary. 3
I am being deliberately redundant now. A wonderful thing happens when we come in contact with His cleansing Blood. Paul tells us about it in Romans 6:3, What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that God s kindness will increase? That s unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin s influence? Don t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Since Christ shed His blood in His death, when a person is baptized into our Lord's death, it is there that he comes into contact with the blood of Christ and his sins are then washed away. Baptism is the only means of reaching His death where His blood was shed, so we can have forgiveness of sins. How then do we keep our temples cleansed? By walking in Faith and taking God at His word. Check out what He said in 1John 1:9; If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Is that all there is, you might say? Yes, that is it. Really, what more do you need? Let me ask you a simple question. When you take a bath do you spend the rest of the day wondering if the dirt is gone or where it went? No, you don t. So, if you have Faith that soap and water can wash the dirt away, why is it so hard to believe that the Blood of Jesus Christ can wash our sins away? We need to believe He has forgiven us even if we don t see or feel it. Now, that brings me back to The Holy Spirit. We are cleaned and saved by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, but how do we stay clean and saved? That is the work of the Holy Ghost! Now let s explore: Although the word Trinity is not used in Scripture to describe the Godhead, we do know that the Godhead consists of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Now, we also know that God is Omnipotent -Possessing All Power, Omnipresent - At all places at once, and Omniscient - All knowing. We must also know that The Son and The Holy Spirit possess all of the Characteristics that The Father possesses. This means that The Holy Spirit was a part of all things from the very beginning with The Father. It is recorded in Genesis 1:1- In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth There are many scriptural references that show the coexistence of the entities within the Trinity. Here a just a couple: Luke 3:22: And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. 4
Matthew 3:16-17: And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So, there are five important principles that I challenge you to remember: 1. The Holy Spirit is God, but He is a Person, not just a force. 2. The Holy Spirit s mission is to reveal Jesus. Jesus mission is to reveal the Father. The Father s decision was to send Jesus and the Holy Spirit so WE can come to Him. Perfect Harmony. 3. The Holy Spirit has intellect and knowledge. 1 Corinthians 2:9-11; (GWT), But as Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God. After all, who knows everything about a person except that person's own spirit? In the same way, no one has known everything about God except God's Spirit. 4. The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30 (GWT), Don't give God's Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free from the world of sin. 5. The Holy Spirit guides us. Jesus taught in John 16:13, (GWT), When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into the full truth. He won't speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come. He will give me glory, because he will tell you what I say. Everything the Father says is also what I say. That is why I said, 'He will take what I say and tell it to you. These are just a few of the things that the Holy Spirit does to bring us into a relationship with the Father wherein He guides our lives in His paths. But I must caution you that just knowing who the Holy Spirit is and knowing what He does is not enough. Just as God does not force us to acknowledge Him, it is also not the method of the Holy Spirit to force His will upon us. There is significant action required on our part before the leading and guiding power can work in our lives. First: YOU MUST CHOOSE TO WALK THE WALK: Even though the Holy Spirit possesses the same Omnipotence that The Father has, He does not force us to live by that power. He is inside of you waiting for you to recognize Him and choose to walk in His power. 5
The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in, Galatians 5:16, Let me explain further. Live your life as your spiritual nature directs you. Then you will never follow through on what your corrupt nature wants. Many Christian Believers had the experience of being filled with the Spirit but they had failed to recognize the responsibility that was upon them to choose to walk in the Spirit. Because of their failure to do so, Paul shocked them with the news that, 1 Cor. 3:1-3, Brothers and sisters, I couldn't talk to you as spiritual people but as people still influenced by your corrupt nature. You were infants in your faith in Christ. I gave you milk to drink. I didn't give you solid food because you weren't ready for it. Even now you aren't ready for it because you're still influenced by your corrupt nature. When you are jealous and quarrel among yourselves, aren't you influenced by your corrupt nature and living by human standards? Here is the point. It is possible to utilize God s gifts that He gives through the Holy Spirit and yet not walk in the Spirit. This is one of the problems with the Church s attempts to convince the world to become a part of our community. They are able to watch us exercise our tremendous gifts but they also see the contradiction in our personal lives. We can sing, play, shout, preach and display unbelievable talents and gifts and yet we live like the people who are featured in your favorite Reality Show. But, Divine realities cannot become our experience until we release ourselves from the influence of what I call The unreal realities that are in the world, and make the decision to walk in the path that the Holy Spirit desires to lead us on. Far too many Christians spend time and money trying to find someone to give us some sort of insight on what we should do or not do in life. We inquire of friends and pay fortunetellers to tell us what they think we should do. But you and I have a power within us that has all of the answers and knows what paths we should take in life. The secret is not in how much money we can pay, but in our choice to follow the Holy Spirit. Gal 5:16, Live your life as your spiritual nature directs you. Then you will never follow through on what your corrupt nature wants. Second: UNDERSTAND HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US: The first resource that God engages to lead and guide our lives is through The Word. The Bible is the road map that the Holy Spirit uses to lead us in the paths that God wants to direct our lives. God does not want there to be one single day that we live without His guiding hand directing us. So, it is very important for us to know just how He directs us each day. Here again, He can only give us the assurance of His guiding hand through a choice that we must make. That choice is to daily give ourselves to the study of His Holy Word. The operative word here is DAILY! Here is how it works. As you study the Bible daily, the Holy Spirit will sometimes speak to you through certain verses. How many times have you heard Christians say: "I had a problem and didn't know what to do. Then, as I was reading the Bible one day, 6
one verse seemed to stand out from the page. It was exactly what I needed and my problem was solved." As you read and study the Word of God and begin to memorize certain verses, two things will happen. One is, as you READ, the Holy Spirit will grab your attention and cause you to focus on certain verses. He will then lead you into understanding the context and content of that verse or verses. Two, as you STUDY what you previously read, the Holy Spirit will impress upon you the importance of remembering those verses for the purpose of bringing them back to your mind when you are faced with life s situations. The Bible verses that you memorize make it easier for the Holy Spirit to lead you. He will bring them to your mind just when you need them. When you are tempted to do something you shouldn't do, a verse may flash through your mind like a stop signal. An important verse to clarify this process is found in Psalm 119:9, How can a young man cleanse his way? By living in agreement with Thy word. The Holy Spirit will also speak to you through Bible teaching and Anointed Preaching. The beauty of it is that the Teaching/Preaching can be in the Teaching and Preaching in your own Church or even through solid Teaching over television or radio. He can speak through Bible study groups or even through printed literature that accurately presents sound, Biblical principles. But, it is important to always remember that it is through the Holy Spirit that these truths are taught. John 16:13, When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth. He won't speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come. There are many more ways that the Holy Spirit directs our paths toward God s Plan for our lives. But, time and space will not allow me to present much more in this principle. But there is one more way that I cautiously submit as to how the Holy Spirit leads us. Third: THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES: In Acts16, the Apostle Paul and Silas were in Philippi, where they shared the good news of Jesus with a man and his family (Acts 16:16-34), (please read). The whole household believed the message and all members of that family were immediately baptized. It is interesting that the family was saved through the Preaching of the Word, but the real story is in how Paul and Silas got to the home in the first place. It was through very odd circumstances that they find themselves in the position to perform this Ministry. The man of the house was a jailer who had been assigned to guard the two prisoners, Paul and Silas. You see, the two missionaries Paul and Silas got in trouble with the authorities when they cast an evil spirit out of a girl who had been used to make money for her opportunistic masters. Her spiritual freedom took away their source of income, 7
so they grabbed Paul and Silas and accused them before the civic leaders of Philippi. They said: They are teaching the people to do things that are against Roman customs. The officials had the Christians beaten and thrown into prison, where they met the jailer, who had no idea what was about to happen to him and his family. Around midnight, when the two prisoners should have been complaining about their condition and trying to avoid their fate, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God. All of a sudden, a great earthquake shook the prison, knocking the chains off the prisoners. The jailer, supposing that his prisoners had escaped, was about to commit suicide by falling on his sword when Paul shouted: Don t do it! We are all here! In shock, the jailer fell instead at the feet of the Paul and Silas. He then took them to his home, where they proceeded to Preach and convert him and his entire family. Understanding how they got to the man s house we are surely meant to believe that the visit of Paul and Silas to the jailer s home was no mere coincidence. Though not identified explicitly in this passage, the Holy Spirit was directing every aspect of these circumstances. The Spirit got Paul and Silas into the jailer s home by manipulating circumstances, some of which were obviously miraculous, others of which appeared on the surface to be both ordinary and distressing. The Bible is full of stories in which God s guidance comes, not by The Word or vision, but through circumstances. We often don t realize the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit until we look back in retrospect. But, later on, we see how God wove events together to accomplish His will in our lives. Of course, the skeptic would deny that God was involved with such things. They describe the events of life as Mere coincidence! But sometimes the circumstances are so astounding that I find it very hard to believe that anything other than that the Supreme God is guiding events through the presence and power of His Holy Spirit. So, understanding who the Holy Spirit is and how He operates in our lives should get us so much closer to walking confidently in the Plan that God has for us. This confidence does not happen automatically, but only through making a conscious decision to walk in the ways that the Holy Spirit is empowered to guide us into the Plan and Will of God. The old song that we sang in Church back in the day encouraged us to: Walk in the light, beautiful light. Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright. Oh shine all around us by day and by night. Jesus is, Jesus is the light of the world. The way that we walk in the Light which is Jesus Christ is through the guidance of His Precious Holy Spirit! PRACTICE THIS PRINCIPLE! 8