Adventure in the Ascent
To the adventure in Him... This phrase has been a rallying cry for me and my circle of friends for years. We were designed for intimate relationship with God. Jesus made this possible through His sacrifice on the Cross. The veil was torn, and we were invited beyond. We were created for a grand adventure in which we come to Him in repentance, maintain intimacy, learn of Him, walk His path, and ascend the hill of the Lord. Let's ascend together and experience the adventure with God. There's more...
Adventure in the Ascent
THE HOLY SPIRIT: Who Is the Holy Spirit? Wait on Him!
“If we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal power or influence, then our thought will constantly be, how can I get hold of and use the Holy Spirit; but if we think of Him in the biblical way as a divine Person, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely tender, then our thought will constantly be, 'How can the Holy Spirit get hold of and use me?'” -R. A. Torrey
↠Back to the early church- Acts recounts the life of the early church (The Way)
↠If you want to to see a clear picture of how something is designed to function, you go back to its origin, back to it’s beginning.
↠We must always return to the Word for instruction, guidance, wisdom, but also to see how the Christian life is to function and operate
↠I want to encourage you to read through the book of Acts in this series
↠The Holy Spirit was pivotal in the life of the early church
↠Jesus gave them instruction to WAIT for the Holy Spirit, their lives were to be Spirit-led, in every aspect. It is imperative, vital, that you do nothing without the Holy Spirit. Spirit-led living was THE way.
↠As you read through Acts and the NT, you see how reliant on the Holy Spirit they were. Listen to the examples given, find your own examples this week.. “Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot.’” “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.”
↠The Holy Spirit was involved in every facet of life, in leading, in decision making, there was a deep dependence on the Holy Spirit for life…we are called to the same!
↠And if the Holy Spirit is the one we depend on, wait on, and are led by, we must know more of Him. (John 14:26) Essential truths regarding the Holy Spirit…
↠The Holy Spirit is God- not a creation of or a lesser “being,” but God
↠One of the most basic evidence of this is how the Holy Spirit is referenced throughout Scripture- “the Spirit of God.” (Gen. 1:26)
↠If you are saved, reborn, it’s not a force, or creation of God that indwells you or something lesser, it is God Himself! (Peter’s reference in Acts 5)
↠The Holy Spirit is not a force or an “it” but a Person.
↠The Holy Spirit is not an indistinct force, power, or thing, but is a Person who has relationships believers & with the Father and the Son. In the Old and New Testament, the Holy Spirit is continually referred to as a He, and in the NT as a person. (Jn. 14:26)
↠What difference will it make in our lives/walk when we know understand that we are not just indwelt by an impersonal force but by the Person of the Holy Spirit.
↠The interesting thing about a Person is that they have the attributes of personality
↠Mind, will, emotions, grieving, insulting (Heb. 10:29)
↠When was the last time that we thought about the fact that our behavior, or our sin, a lack of obedience can cause the Holy Spirit to grieve? Breaching relationship…
↠The Holy Spirit has the capacity for relationship (indwelling) (1 Cor. 13:14)
↠The H.S. has the ability to create love in our hearts (Gal 5:22, Rom. 5:5, 1 Sam. 16, 2 Sam. 7:15) The Holy Spirit is a source and fountain of steadfast love in us! “Waves!”