After the blog “In Step with the Spirit”
was published a few weeks ago, I was asked the question, “What can I do to get
in step with the Holy Spirit?”
The list below is only a partial answer to that
question. It is not meant to be inclusive but is more of a conversation starter
than anything. If you have an insight about this question, please send it to me
and the next time I write on the Holy Spirit (and it won’t be that long) I’ll include
your thought and give appropriate credit.
- Ask yourself,
“Do I really want to be in step with the Spirit?”
Many believers basically ignore the Holy Spirit. They
acknowledge that the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit’s presence in their life.
They read the Word, they listen to sermons, and once in a while they have a
strong prayer time but that’s it. They tend to treat the Holy Spirit as if He
is not a part of the Trinity and that whatever value He has to us is not that
important. Those who have adopted this position will never enjoy the full
presence of the Spirit or His leading until they change their attitude toward
Him and toward His involvement in their life.
If this is you then let me encourage you to carefully
study what Jesus said when He introduced the disciples to the Holy Spirit. Here
are some scriptures to begin this study—John 14:15-31; John 15:26; John
16:5-15.
The primary key to being in step with the Spirit is, “Are
you hungry for more of God in your life?” The key to all forward movement, spiritually,
is hunger. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6; also see Proverbs 8:17 and Jeremiah
29:13).
- Are you open
to the Holy Spirit? Have you welcomed Him to lead and guide you? Do you
talk to the Holy Spirit?
Many believers seem to have the mistaken idea that
they are not to talk to the Holy Spirit. They know they are free to talk to God
and to Jesus but for some reason they feel that the Holy Spirit is off
limits—so they never do.
I know the Holy Spirit is in me (1 Corinthians 3:16 and
6:19). I have asked the Holy Spirit to fill me to overflowing with His power
and His presence just like the Apostle Paul said: “I want to be being filled
(continuously) with the Spirit.”
I have made it a practice in my personal prayer time
to daily welcome the Holy Spirit to guide me, to correct me, to reveal (to open
the Word) to me. In other words, I want the Holy Spirit to be fully active in
me and through me. I put no prohibitions on Him—to do so would be an insult to
the Godhead. I honor the Holy Spirit and I hunger for Him to be fully active in
and through me.
- Where are you
in regard to the fruit of the Spirit?
If we are serious about being in step with the Spirit,
we need to be actively cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our life. No one
can suggest that they are walking with the Spirit if there is no evidence of
the fruit of the Spirit.
The development of the fruit of the Spirit is a
progressive work. We may be further ahead in showing forth some of the fruit of
the Spirit than we are in others, and while we wish we could be fully developed
in all at the same time, it’s not a sin if some are showing stronger than
others. But please don’t completely ignore the fruit of the Spirit and don’t
bypass some and give precedence to others.
I think it’s valuable, from time to time, to take a personal
inventory of the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). If you are weak
in some then ask the Spirit to help you and make it a personal practice to work
on those weak areas. You are going to be pleasantly surprised at what happens!
One more thing. I was raised in a classical
Pentecostal church. Many of the people I went to church with believed that
their initial “filling” with the Holy Spirit was the reception of the complete
package and that there was nothing more to be added. Consequently, they sought
nothing more and they got nothing more. I wonder, if that premise were true,
why Paul would tell us that we should continually seek for more of the Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18).
I’m including a link to two short video interviews of
John Piper talking about his desire to be filled with the Spirit. I have great
respect for John Piper and I love to read his books and his sermons. For those
who are interested, here’s the link:
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