Why Dont I Feel Spiritual Power Or Vitality In My Life
I know Im repeating myself, but I need to stress this point. You and I dont feel a lack of vigor or spiritual power because we dont have enough of the Spirit. Again, dont think in terms of quantity. Think in terms of a relationship.
Some Christians describe this distinction by saying believers have all of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit may not have all of them.
Consider this analogy. Whose marriage is going to be strongera couple who only speak to each other once a month, or spouses who daily interact and communicate?
Similarly, who do you think will be more empowered by the Spirit? Someone who is daily reading Gods Word and talking to him through prayer? Or someone who is only occasionally doing so?
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What It Means To Be Holy
The New Testament Recovery Version has a very helpful note on the word holy. Lets read the first part:
Holy means not only sanctified, unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common. Only God is different, distinct, from all things. Hence, He is holy holiness is His nature. He chose us that we should be holy.
To be holy means were sanctified, that is, separated unto God. It also means were different and distinct from everything common.
But only God is distinct and different from everything and everyone else. Only God is holy holiness is His very nature.
Everything has a particular inherent quality, which is its nature. For instance, the nature of a car is mostly metal. What is Gods nature? Gods nature, His being, is holy. His holy nature makes Him unique, different, and distinct from everything else in this universe.
And God chose us to be like Him, to be holy as He is holy. This tells us that to be holy is not something related to outward behavior, but to inward nature.
Understanding the meaning of holy helps us realize that adopting outward behaviorssuch as dressing, acting, or talking in a certain wayor isolating ourselves from society doesnt make us holy. We can do these things and still not be holy.
In fact, people can behave in an outwardly pious way without actually being saved. Regardless of how they behave, they certainly arent holy, since they havent been born again with the life and nature of God.
How Can I Be Filled By The Spirit
Perhaps you were unsatisfied with your answers to those questions. But lets not stay stuck there! We want to be filled with the Spirit, right? Lets discover how.
Although the Holy Spirit will fill us, were commanded to be filled, so that he might fill us up. Here are ways that the Bible gives us for how to be filled with the Spirit and experience more of his leading in our lives:
- Read the Bible: The more we read Gods Word, which was inspired by the Spirit , the more we will be transformed by him. As we read the Bible, we become acquainted with God and fill our minds with his thoughts.
- Pray More: The more we speak to God through prayer, the more our thinking is transformed so that we can discern Gods good, pleasing and perfect will . Prayer is also a way of submitting to the Lord, giving him our anxieties, desires, and plans .
- Confess & Repent of Sin:Regular confession of sin in our lives and striving to live holy lives pleasing to God are ways that we learn to submit to the Spirits leading and maintain close fellowship with him .
- Serve Others and Be A Member of a Local Church: Gods Spirit indwells all Gods people. If we want to be filled by the Spirit, we should spend time with other Spirit-filled people in worship and church ministry. In ministry, we see the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit . These are exercised for the good of others as we build each other up in Christian maturity .
Bibles.net Editor
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What Is Our Responsibility
What about Galatians 6:9, Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. What do we reap if we hold fast to hope of the gospel? We gather a harvest we did not sow we reap the assurance of salvation according to what Christ sowed for us. They will receive fruit from labor they didnt do and from gardens they didnt tend or plant.
Yet, Christians must work out salvation with fear and trembling. Brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. Is this a warning that we wont be saved if we fail to do take up the calling?
Salvation is not our work we are saved by Christ through His salvific work. He sends us to spread the Gospel, but only after equipping us both with inclination and ability to act according to His plan. We trust Christ to equip with everything good for doing his will.
To work out, katergazomai in the Greek, means bring to decisive finality, work down to the end-point. According to Jon Bloom, though we are saved by Gods unconditional electing grace through the gift of faith, the works we do prove that our faith is real. Works are evidence of election. Works are the mark which a watching world sees, not the mark God looks for on the day we enter eternity.
What Does It Mean To Drift
Powerful as nautical engine is, it can only do so much up against the natural forces of the wind. The wind is invisible, yet capable of inflicting change on whatever surrounds or is caught up in it. A boat which finds itself adrift in a storm or a powerful wind will surely find peril, unless able to anchor and ride out the rough seas.
No captain wishes to drift at that hour! But a fisherman drifts purposefully, because he knows in that space of water his line is breezing by schools of fish. Sometimes, he may anchor to linger longer over a hot fishing spot. The way we drift in life depends on Who we are ultimately anchored in, and our ability to listen to His wisdom and react dependently upon Him when storms break unexpectedly.
Drift is a driving movement or force impulse. Of navigation the component of the movement that is due to the force of wind and currents. Jesus used the wind in His example in the verse above to describe the effect of the Holy Spirit on Christ followers a concept completely upending the track of the Pharisees at that time.
Jesus prayed for His disciples, and for us today, before He left earth to join His Father in heaven. His prayer for believers is this:
NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible. Copyright 2021 by Zondervan.
NIV Study Bible, Copyright 1985, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2011 by Zondervan.
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The Hebrew Word For Holiness
If you think God is concerned with His holiness in the Old Testament, consider the fact that holy is mentioned 431 times, not counting the word holiness. The Hebrew word for holy is qodesh which means apartness, sacredness, or separateness showing that God is altogether holy, sacred, set apart or separate from His creation. The idea is that God is totally different from us as He is spirit and desires those who worship Him do so in spirit and in truth .
What Does The Bible Say About Baptism Of The Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost in Jesus Day I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than Ihe shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire . This verse in Matthew makes it clear that there is something to be received other than the baptism of the Holy Ghostthe fire of the Spirit.
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Striving For Holiness In Your Own Life
Threats To Your Holiness
God is perfect he lacks nothing. God is holy he is set apart and wholly separate from sin. As with many of Gods attributes, he desires to communicate perfection and holiness to his creation. So he did.
Lucifer, an angel of Gods, did not get enough of Gods perfection and holiness. He wanted it all. He rebelled against God and lost all of what God gave him. He became Gods nemesis renamed Satan. Ever since, Satan wishes for holinesss ruin. He elicited the fall of Adam and Eve, depriving them of holiness. He continues on his rampage against holiness. He wants our help he wants co-conspirators. And humanity is altogether too quick to comply, but thats our nature.
Gods enemy employs five methods to ruin holiness: relativism, tolerance, contextualization, liberty and legalism.
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Short Bible Study: The Meaning Of Holy In The Bible
What does holy mean in the Bible? Holy in the Bible is a word that describes the identity and nature of God. In the Old Testament kodesh is the word in Hebrew that describes the holy presence of God. It means apart, , sacred.
In the Old Testament book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 6:1-8, Isaiah gives an account of the holy presence of God as he encounters God in his calling to be a prophet of Israel. Here is how Isaiah 6:1-8 reads,
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory. The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips yet my eyes have seen the Lord, the King of hosts! Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: See, now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I send me!
What Is Holiness: It Is A Lifestyle
What does the word holiness mean to you? Often times as Christians when we hear the word holiness, we paint a picture of a certain group of people belonging to a certain type of church, wearing certain types of clothes and talking a certain way.
When I was growing up and heard the word holiness, a picture was painted in my mind. A picture of older women who wore white dresses and cotton stockings. I am not saying that these people were not holy, but as I matured in Christ, I came to learn that holiness has nothing to do with wardrobe or appearance, but it does have everything to do with lifestyle.
Christ reminds us to be holy for He is holy. What does this mean? Clearly, this is a direct command for us to model our lives after the example that has been set before us since the foundation of the world.
Holiness is simply separation. Not separation from the world, but separation from the way the world acts. In an effort to live a holy live, it means that we should be deliberate in being distinct from those who do not know Christ. Our God is different from all so-called other Gods, therefore we must live according to His will and give Him glory.
It was Gods original plan for his creation to be like Him. Because our father Adam fell, we must now strive to live a life that God intended for us to live from the beginning of time.
Scripture of the Day: You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. – Leviticus 20:26
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Archaeological And Historical Research
Biblical archaeology is the archaeology that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures . It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes biblical maximalism which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered to be the opposite of biblical minimalism which considers the Bible to be a purely post-exilic composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to biblical minimalism, the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the Hellenistic and Roman eras, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the 6th century BCE Babylonian captivity have a basis in history.
The Command To Be Holy
The Bible teaches us, from both the Old Testament and the New, to be holy, just as God is holy, but how can we do that since were fallen creatures and our nature is anything but holy ? Part of that growth toward holiness is not being conformed to this world and is an ongoing lifetime process called sanctification or to be set apart for holy use. The Apostle Peter writes, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy as you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ . Peter appears to be quoting the Old Testament which says You shall be holy, for I am holy . Since we are called to be holy as God is holy, although not to the same extent of course, we should put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander . The church is a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light so we should live a life of holiness, at least as much as is possible with us.
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What Does It Mean To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit
Maybe you feel like me at times: inadequate in my Christian faith. I look around and see other people who appear to have greater spiritual maturity. Theyre more productive, more exuberant, more on fire for God. Some even appear to be emotionally giddy about their faith.
As I compare myself to others, doubt creeps in. Am I missing something that these other Christians have?
While we should all expect our Christian lives to have ups and downstimes of spiritual strength and spiritual fatiguethe Bible tells us that every one of Jesus followers will experience the Holy Spirits leading and power.
For those who dont regularly experience the Holy Spirits power, perhaps its because they dont understand the Bibles teaching on being filled with the Spirit.
As we take a closer look at what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we hope you will learn about how believers relate to the Holy Spirit, and how to more regularly experience the Spirits filling.
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