Allow the Holy Spirit to lead us During my many years of ministry, I have often thought of the Holy Spirit. In my experience, a better understanding of the person can make us more operational for the kingdom of God. It is said that the Holy Spirit continues the ministry of Jesus in our lives. One of its departments is the key to be our guide . He was sent by God the Father to lead us through this life . John 16 : 13 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself, but he will say whatever he hears, and he will shew you things to come . Paul explains how we can live as children of God in daily life: it is being led by the Holy Spirit : Romans 8 : 14 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are son of God. The present continuous is used here : All those are usually led by the Spirit of God are son of God. The term son used here speaks of maturity, it does not apply to a child, but one that has grown. To become children of God , we must be born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus clearly says in the Gospel of John chapter 3 . Once born again, if we want to grow to maturity and be made men , we must constantly be led by the Holy Spirit. The sad truth is that many Christians , yet born again , never fall into this reality. Therefore, they never reach maturity , they never become the kind of Christian that God had made planned. It is therefore essential to study this theme: be led by the Spirit of God. Access to justice The Bible teaches two methods by which we can get justice : law and grace - mutually exclusive . If you want to be justified by law, you can not do it through grace. And if you want to become righteous by grace, then you will not succeed in observing the law . It is of the utmost importance to emphasize, as I have observed that many Christians try to intersperse the law and grace. Seeking to position themselves correctly before God, they rely on a mixture of grace and law. In truth, it is that they really understand neither one nor the other. The law includes a series of rules to follow . If you obey all the rules - and all the time - then you ll be right. Grace, it can not be earned but is received from the hand of God, one way , as described in : Ephesians 2: 8 8 For by grace are ye saved , through faith. And that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. I personally believe that only God was able to design the method of justification by faith. The natural man , left to himself , would never have imagined such a way to achieve justice. To my knowledge, all major religions require people to do something, to be justified. They focus on different requirements, but basically the thought is this: I ll be right if I do such things and do not like others. This means that the Christian faith, if we understand it correctly , is truly unique. No other religion is not even a sketch of this approach to provide justice on the basis of the grace received by faith alone . But when you embrace the grace of God , it gives you the power to live free of the control of sin. Paul speaks to people who have received the grace of God : Romans 6 : 14 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace . Note the mutual exclusion : if you are under the law, you are not under grace , you can not be in both at once. I also note that Paul says sin will have no dominion over you: for ye are not under the law. It follows that if you are under the law, sin has power over you , if you seek justice by observing the law, sin rule over you , if you want to get justice by observing the law, youll never escape the grip of sin . Romans 8 : 14 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are son of God. We are called, as son of God, to live by observing a list of rules ? No, but to be led by the Holy Spirit. This is the only way for us to live as children of God mature . Let us now in : Galatians 5: 18 18 If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Once again, the message is clear . It is being led by the Spirit you become a son of God . And if you are led by the Spirit , then you are not under law . However, for many of those who profess the Christian faith , follow a lot of rules is a kind of crutch. They argue limping and leaning on that crutch. The Lord said, Get rid of your stand and lean on me I found that completely trust the grace of God terrifies people . We all try to hold on to the small list of rules that we observe. This is our stand, but it does not work ! We must become completely dependent on the Holy Spirit. The access to justice and divine holiness path does not travel to through a lot of effort , but by abandonment - abandonment to the Holy Spirit . Finished it with your own fights and said: Holy Spirit , take things in hand . I can not find the solution for this situation - but you you can That does not mean we will not need to exercise our willpower , but we will use another ! way . We will not want to do things for ourselves and be willing to accept to rely on the Holy Spirit. By nature I am an independent person , with strong opinions. When I have a problem, my natural instinct drives me to find the solution by myself, and it took me years to get to not react well . I say now , Lord, what is your solution Often , it is very different from anything I could have imagined ? . The Christian life does not call us we struggle and wrestle on the contrary, it calls us to give up - the Holy Spirit in us . Chapter 7 of Romans, Paul compares the relationship with the Spirit to a wedding. The fruit of your life will not be determined by the amount of effort you produce , but the person you marry . If you are married with your carnal nature, you will produce the works of the flesh , but if - by the Holy Spirit - you are united to the risen Christ , ye shall bring forth in this union, the fruit of the Spirit. Just stay connected In John 15 , Jesus compares our relationship with him to the vine and its branches : John 15 : 1 1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener . The winemaker is the size vines. Jesus continues to speak to His disciples : John 15 : 4-5 4 Abide in me, and I in you . As the branch can not itself bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, neither can you , if you remain in me . 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches . Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. It is not providing great efforts that the branches bear clusters . They are not there to make good resolutions , saying: Now I will produce grapes ! No, they bear fruit simply by remaining united with the body , the vine . Thats life in this walk passes through the branches and through the branches , produces good fruit. Jesus said: I am the vine , ye are the branches . If you remain attached to me - connected - you will bear much fruit . Then he goes and talks about pruning . When a wine vine size , it does severely , and the branches are cut to the trunk . It seems that the poor will never vine fruit ! But the following year , it is covered with clusters, like never before. Some of our most painful struggles can be linked to the fact that we already bear fruit. May currently be the Father just telling you carve . Do not get discouraged ! Do not say: How is it possible that such a thing happening to me? Give you simply ! Lose yourself in the hands of the winemaker . The three persons of the Trinity are active in the fruiting process . The Father is the gardener , Jesus is the vine, and the Holy Spirit is the life that flows from the vine to the branches . In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit , it is not the result of our best efforts, neither the fruit of religion , but the fruit of the Holy Spirit. A map or a guide? To illustrate this, let me share with you a little parable , from my own experience. I have often tried to find favor with God by making efforts. Sometimes I tried to be a little more religious , but I felt so frustrated that I no longer knew where I was ! I then learned is that it is simply part of the process that allows our walk with Jesus to be fingerprint life. This parable deals with a map and a guide. Suppose you are in a place that you had to go to a distant destination , passing through areas that you do not know at all. God gives you two options: you can have either a card or a personal guide. You are able , intelligent, you have insurance. The Lord says to you: What do you want , map or guide? You answer : ! I m good with maps , I take the card Knowing the right direction to take , you are now on the road! The sun is shining , the birds are singing and you have the happy heart. You say, But its really easy, its cake! About three days later, you find yourself in the jungle . Its midnight , its raining ... Not easy ! Worse, you emerge on the edge of a precipice ! You do not know if you are facing north , south , east or west . But a soft voice tells you: Can I help you? . You answer : Oh , I need you, I need you! And the guide to tell you: Give me your hand , Ill get out of here A little later , you re both back on the road, walking side by side. The idea comes to you then : I was really too stupid to panic like that in this jungle! I certainly could get out alone. Can you return to tell your guide, but it is no longer there ! With a shrug , you think , Well, I can do it myself ! And you go on your way . Two days later , you find yourself in a swamp. You get bogged down a little more with each step. You do not know what to do and you say, I can not even ask for help . I did not what to do last time. But you discover, to your surprise, that the Guide is there, next to you again . Let me help you , and walk out together again ! At this time , remember that the card is still in your pocket. So you propose to go out to the guide. Perhaps you would like to use ? . But he replied: Thanks, I know the way , the card is not useful to me . And he adds: In fact, it was me who did it . Map , of course, is the law . It is perfect , every detail is perfectly correct, perfectly suited each geographic element and it is up to you : I do not take the card, I trust my guide . Who is the personal guide? The Holy Spirit , of course! How often is it that this stuff is repeated ? How many times have you still entrust your wisdom and your own wisdom and snubbing the Holy Spirit ? The bride who trusts his guide Chapter 24 of Genesis tells us very picturesque way how Abraham has found a bride for his son Isaac. He sent his servant to his country of origin, Mesopotamia to seek a young woman of her own lineage , which was an essential condition that the culture of the time This story is a parable that is found in the story, Abraham is the Father, Isaac symbolizes the son , Jesus Christ. The chosen bride ( who answered to the name of Rebecca ) appears the Church. There is another main character, the servant who personifies the Holy Spirit. Genesis 24 contains the same portrait of the Holy Spirit . The fact that he did not even name is characteristic of the person. He never draws attention to himself , but he still works for the Father and the Son are glorified. The servant took the start , with the task of selecting the wife, taking with him ten camels laden with different present. In the Middle East , whenever you make a major choice and you establish a relationship, you give a gift . If received , you are accepted as a person . If it is rejected by cons , you are also rejected. This is an absolutely critical step in establishing a relationship. Having lived in this part of the world, I can tell you that camels carry a very large amount of luggage , here the servant made the trip with no less than ten camels ! Sometimes where animals are watered and prayed this prayer : When I ask one of the girls draw water for me, that shall say, Drink , and I will give to drink ! your camels or that you have chosen ( Remember that a camel can drink more than 150 liters of water , this girl had to volunteer to draw more than 1600 liters. ) Rebecca arrives. The servant said to him: Let me drink , I pray thee , and she replied: Absolutely! I will also draw for thy camels . He said: This is it! . Let me add that Rebecca is a model of faith with works, it takes a lot of effort to draw water for ten camels ! Then the servant took it up a beautiful jewel on the front of the girl. At the moment she accepts this now, it designates as the chosen bride . What would have happened if Rebecca had refused the jewel ? She would never have become the wife ! What can we say of a Church that refuses the gifts of the Spirit? It lacks the hallmarks of the wife ! Rebecca had no map . She never went where his guide was driving . She had never seen the man she was to marry , or the latters father either. By cons , it had a guide who knew the way! He knew the father and son also . He was able to provide all the information she needed . We find ourselves in a similar situation. We can not arrive at destination using the map , we need to guide . In this life , we will probably never see the father or the son , or the place that is our final destination. However, if we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, show us the way . It will also be our source of information about the Father and the Son.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:00:20 +0000
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