Month: July 2013

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– actively pursuing and walking with the Holy Spirit
– having a strong relationship with Him involves walking in the Holy Spirit and producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit
– walking in the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16-26 NLT)
  – sanctification is dinstinguished from justification (Gal. 2:15-16)
  – difference between justification and sanctification
    – justification – freed from the penalty of sin (just as if we had never sinned)
    – sanctification – freed fro mthe power of sin
    – justification – Christ for us
    – sanctification – Holy Spirit in us
    – justification – God declares that we are righteous
    – sanctification – we actually become righteous
    – justification – is a once for all event
    – sanctification – is an ongoing process
    – salvation includes justification and sanctification (Gal. 5:16)
  – as we are walking and doing life, Holy Spirit wants to lead us
    – the Bible regularly describes our life with God as a walk (Gen. 6:9,Ps. 23:4)
    – walking is by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)
  – how does change happen? being led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18), live in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25)
  – how do we fill ourselves up? negative. do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) positive. practice spiritual disciplines
  – ways for us to allow the Holy Spirit to be present in our lives: reading the bible (John 14:15-16), praying, worship (Ps. 84:4), hearing God’s voice (John 16:13), connecting with other Christians (Heb. 10:24-25)
– producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit
  – fruit is needed to strengthen our inner life: love (John 15:13), joy (Rom. 14:17), peace (Rom. 15:13)
  – fruit is needed for our relationships with others: patience (James 1:3-4), kindness (Titus 3:1-7), goodness (Rom. 2:4-5)
  – fruit is needed for a truly successful life: faithfulness – dependability, trustworthiness (Deut. 4:40), gentleness (Gal. 6:1), self-control (Gal. 5:22-23)
– common themes associated with the fruit of the Holy Spirit
  – fruit starts with God, is seen by Jesus and works through us by Holy Spirit
  – fruit is impossible in our own strength – it is developedd and grown by Holy Spirit
  fruit developed in us shows spiritual maturity
– prayer of blessing – 2 Peter 1:2

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– the Holy Spirit is a promise (John 14:15-18; 16:5-15)
  – the receiving of the promise (John 20:19-23)
  – Jesus breathed on the disciples (Gen. 2:7, 1 Cor. 15:45)
– a baptism of the Holy Spirit – for the new testament believers, the Holy Spirit was a fact of experience. For many Christians today, it is a fact of doctrine. (Acts 1:4-5,Luke 3:16)
– our connection with the Holy Spirit
  – with (John 4:16-17), in (1 Cor. 6:19), upon (Acts 1:8)
– new testament historical cases
  – the apostle Peter (Acts 2:1-4)
  – new believers in Samaria (Acts 8:14-17)
  – a new convert named Paul (Acts 9:17)
  – Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:44-45)
  – the disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19:6)
– conclusions
  – the baptism of the Holy Spirit was an experience separate from salvation
  – a person can receive the Holy Spirit baptism the moment one believes
  – the baptism of the Holy Spirit was the normal experience for new testament believers
– do all christians partake of the Holy Spirit?
  – the apostle Paul points to the universal experience of all christians as being , “baptized in one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13, Rom. 8:9)
  – while there is a beginning in the Holy Spirit which is the initial experience of Christ in response to repentance and faith, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is intended to be the continual state of the Christian (Gal. 3:2, 5:25)
  – the apostle Paul encourages us to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18)
– filled – it’s a directive. “Being filled” is a responsibility that rests upon all believers.
  – it’s plural and there for a universal directive
  – let the Holy Spirit fill you – being filled requires a believer’s yielding to the work of the Spirit
  – the present tense implies a present and continuous appropriation of this filling

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For the Silent ministry:
– human trafficking is modern day slave trading. There are three times as many slaves today than there were at the height of the trans-atlantic slave industry
– there’s 2 forms of human trafficking – labor trafficking and sex trafficking
– 2 children per minute are trafficked for sexual exploitation around the world and it happens right here in America – not just in other countries. The average age of a child to be sold into slavery is 13.
– ministries of For the Silent
  – whatchmen project – their outreach program
  – burning bush – worship program nights
  – church trainings
  – “I have a voice” prevention and empowerment program – a 10 week program for girls getting out of juvenile detention
– word for today is ” Just Show Up”
– just show up to His presence (Exodus 3) showing up to God’s presence every day.
– just show up to the battlefield (1 Sam. 13-14) God caused panic to ensue in the Philistine army after Jonathan and his armor bearer went forward and killed 20 men.

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Rom. 8:1-2 – Two laws are mentioned here:
1. the law of sin and death – the body aging is part of the law of death
  – this law works in your body and also in yoru soul
2. the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus  – what die Jesus do?
  – Jesus comes and breaks the power of sin,k He paid the ransom. To who? He paid it to the slave owner – darkness
  – death even outlasts the devil – “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” 1 Cor. 15:26
  – when Jesus died, He took our sins, walked into death, and took hold of the authority of death
  – David says, “You shall not leave my soul in death” Ps. 16:10,
  – Jesus says that the gates of death shall not prevail over His church in Matt. 16:18
  – as a christian, you have already been transferred from death to life and not even death can separate you from Jesus
– don’t wait until you’re dead to change your future, do it now while you still can – while you’re alive
– when Jesus knocks at your door, don’t try to clean up before letting Him in, let Him in first and let Him help you clean
– as a Christian, you’re not just going to heaven when you die, you’re already transformed and passed from death to life