You will Receive the Holy Spirit

Joel.2.28 - And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joel.2.29 - And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Luke.24.49 - And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Holy Trinity. Being the third person does not make Him a lesser or lower God in the Godhead as many may thing.  He is co-equal with the Father and the Son. He has equal adoration, worship and glorification with the Father and the Son.

The Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters to re-create the heaven and the earth.

Gen.1.2 - And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

It is the Holy Spirit who sustains the universe and not some science, force or fiction.

Ps.104.30 - Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

 The Holy Spirit continuously renews the face of the earth to sustain humans and everything that is upon the face of the earth. (The Spirit renews the air we breathe, the water and the dry land) 

The Holy Spirit garnishes the heaven,  he is the beautifier of heaven.  The Lord makes the heavens beautiful by His Spirit. 

Job.26.13 - By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens;.......

The Holy Spirit gives life,  for by Him,  man received the breath of life.

Job.33.4 - The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

The Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth.  He brings about the regeneration of heart and makes one a part of the body of Christ. 

John.3.5 - Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

John.3.6 - That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

He brings about the new creation and baptizes someone into the body of Christ. 

1Cor.12.13 - For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the inspirer and interpreter of the Holy scriptures. A lot of people read the Bible without the help of the Holy Spirit.  The only way the interprete the scripture is by the help of the Holy Spirit because He inspired it. 

2Pet.1.21 - For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2Tim.3.16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Many people has so much neglected the Holy Spirit. He is God and is here to help us with our spiritual needs. 

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THE FRUIT OF WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

When a believer walks in the spirit, he produces spiritual fruits that only those who are in Christ can produce. 

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance:  against such there is no law” Galatians  5:22-23. See also, John 15. The fruits of the spirit are as follows;

LOVE: The word “Love” here comes from the Greek word; “agape” and it means the God kind of love or divine love. It has to do with the strong, ardent, tender, compassionate devotion to the well-being of somebody. Every believer is commanded by Christ to walk in love because walking in love is walking in God and walking in God is the spiritual walk of a believer.

JOY: Joy can only be found in the kingdom of God. 

“17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” Romans 14:17. 

Joy is what the spirit filled believers possess not because of the material possessions or worldly influence which they have acquired but because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Joy comes by the presence of the overflowing life of Christ Jesus in the heart of a believer. 

“18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;  but be filled with the Spirit;  19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Ephesians 5:18-19.

To make melody in the heart to the Lord is to be joyful in the spirit, singing spiritual songs, psalms and hymns unto the Lord. The song that comes out of a heart full of joy may not be familiar to the singer because they come of leading by the Holy Spirit. To make melody in the heart is to make spiritual sounds of joy in the spirit to the Lord just as a musician played a stringed instrument with the fingers. Melody in the heart of a believer overflows and manifests with an outward expression of praise and worship.

PEACE: Peace is a state of rest of mind. It is security In the midst of turmoil, strife, temptations and difficulties. Believers who put their trust in Christ Jesus and rests on the help of the Holy Spirit usually have peace of mind. Romans 14:17.

“16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:  but ye know him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” John 14:16-17; 26.

This peace manifests and overflows outwardly helping the believer to be at peace with all men. It is the yielding and the brokenness of a believer that causes the outward flow of peace and joy.

“22 Flee also youthful lusts:  but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive;  but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient” 2 Timothy 2:22; 24.

 LONG SUFFERING: Longsuffering is the divine ability to bear pains, offences, injuries and provocations from people. A walk in the spirit produces longsuffering. It should be natural for every Christian who is living a life of the spirit to produce this virtue called longsuffering. Christ Jesus produced this fruit that even when they Jews mocked him to scorn, spat on him and called him all sorts of name, he did not react.

“4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;  6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned” 2 Corinthians 6:4-6.

“1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” Ephesians 4:1-2.

GENTLENESS:It means to be soft spoken (not harsh), kind and even tempered, cultured and refined, not rude in any form but transformed in Character and conduct. One of the first important virtues that attract people to a Christian is the transformation of character and conducts. Anyone who is in Christ Jesus produces a sweet smelling fragrance makes everyone wants to know what the secret is. Someone who is living a life of the spirit manifests the gentleness of Christ.

“24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient”

2 Timothy 2:24.

“17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” James 3:17.

FAITH: Faith here is absolute confidence in God; It is the substance or conviction of things hoped for and the assurance or evidence of things not seen; Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the absolute dependence and reliance on the word of God. “So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. Romans 10:17. That is why even though things may be rough for a believer, he or she still needs to put his trust in the Lord. The walk of faith is a full surrender, complete yieldedness and obedience to the known truth.

 “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name”. Romans 1:5

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WALKING IN THE SPIRIT (PART TWO)

Those who have given their life to Jesus are those who have the full right and power to walk in the spirit because they are the ones who have experienced the redemption of spirit. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” Colossians 1:14.

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” Ephesians 1:6-7.

This redemption was made possible by the blood of Jesus.

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” Hebrews 9:12-15.

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” Romans 3:24

The old man which is the sinful nature is put to death at the new birth and buried so that we can now live the newness of life.

“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” Colossians 3:9-10

When we walk in the spirit, we produce spiritual fruits which only those who are in Christ Jesus can produce.

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THE WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

 

Walking in the Spirit is knowing what is happening in the realms of the spirit and knowing what to do to be partaker of what is happening. Every believer is expected to have a walk in the spirit because it is the secret of victory over sin and also the practical doctrine of Christian living.

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law”. Galatians 5:16-18

Man is a spirit being which dwells in a body, the body of man is not the real man but the spirit is; the body (flesh) is the house of the spirit. So the spirit we are talking about is the spirit of man guided by the Holy Spirit.  There is a distinction between the spirit of man and the flesh. The spirit of man has a soul which is composed of the reasoning faculties which contact mental things by the things the ear hears, what the eyes see, what the nose perceives, what the mouth speaks and tastes and what the skin feels.

And so, the apostle Paul is telling us not to be led by what we feel, hear, feel, see or perceive because they dwell on the flesh. Rather, we should live in the spirit. We should live by the spirit because it is the candle light of God in man. “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly” Proverb 20:27.

It is true that when man first sinned in the Garden of Eden, the spirit of man experienced a spiritual downfall and was under the usurpation of the devil. This took man away from a spiritual walk with God.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:  (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come” Romans 5:12-14.  

But glory be to God for sending our lord Jesus Christ who has restored us to a position of righteousness in him. “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” Ephesians 1:6.

“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” Romans 5:17.

If you are reading this post and you are not born again, what are you waiting  for? Give your life to Jesus today and be welcomed into the beloved, the gathering of the sons of God, the church which is the body of Christ.    

Prayer; a call to surrender

Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross to set me free from sin and its consequences. You resurrected from the dead to set me free from the grip of the devil. And so Lord, come into my heart and make it your abode. From today, I am yours, help me to serve and follow you. Today, I am saved by your blood. Thank you Jesus for saving me. Amen!!!

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THE PROPHETIC MOVE

Prophecies are made by prophets and prophets are made by prophecies in the mouth of a mighty God. Prophesy is a declaration or proclamation of an event which has already taken place in history or what can still take place or will take place in future. This is the prophecy which Jacob gave concerning Judah;

“Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee” Genesis 49:8.

Although Jacob was speaking prophetically concerning Judah, unknown to him, he connected spiritually to a previous prophecy made by Judah’s mother, Leah in Genesis 29:35

“And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing” Genesis 29:35.

The significant of the name, Judah which denotes praise was already revealed in the prophetic history of this tribe. As at the time when the prophecy was first given, it was a mystery to Leah. She did not grasp what she was saying because she said it out of great excitement. Even as at the time Jacob made the prophetic blessing, it did not happen immediately but was fulfilled ten generations later in the life of David from the tribe of Judah who became the king of Israel.

“Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.  Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” Genesis 49:8-10.

The lion, king of the forest is a fitting symbol of this tribe from which David came from, and the son of David, Shiloh, the true “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” (JESUS) to whom all power in heaven, on earth and under the earth hath been given.

And Jacob said, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise”. Here, Jacob was not referring to the person of Judah, but in the spirit of prophecy, he was talking about the coming of Shiloh and that everyone will bow to him.   

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