While I was on my spiritual journey — from Catholic to Prodigal, then to Progressive and finally to becoming a born-again Christian believer — God wanted to connect with me, however, I didn’t know how to connect and stay connected to God. I wasn’t walking in faith and victory. Why? Besides my years a prodigal — not going to any church — the churches I did attend never taught SALVATION! They never taught about the power of the Holy Spirit, which we receive from God when we repent of our sins and invite Jesus into our hearts and we are born again. I was deprived of the Gospel. I was deprived of a true relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Today, I want to borrow again from an excellent Bible study plan that I discovered in the free, YouVersion Bible App, this time from Uncommen.org.
Getting and Staying Connected to God
Staying connected to God is the only way we can walk in faith and victory. That means we must stay close to the One in the Trinity who abides (lives) in us and is on the earth today. His name is the Holy Spirit! Keep in mind there are things we must overcome to stay connected. God promises the power to overcome.
- THE WORLD – Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life; (1 John 2:16-17). To abide forever, we must do His will, not merely believe it! Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. To overcome the world takes faith and faith comes when we hear the Word quickened by the Holy Spirit. Be faithful in prayer and reading your Bible. It sounds like a Sunday school answer, but it is quite literally the application for every verse in the Bible; spend more time with your creator.
- THE FLESH – Our flesh (or sinful nature) actually wars against our spirit in us who is attempting to listen and follow Him. Left to our desires, we want the wrong things according to Romans 8. The Holy Spirit gives us the grace to say “no” to our flesh and “yes” to obey the spirit. As sinful beings, we can’t say yes on our own. We will always choose the wrong direction without His guidance, and that’s one of the reasons we need to lean on God so heavily.
- THE DEVIL – We are opposed by the Devil who does not want us to succeed. We aren’t to give him a foothold in our lives. Ultimately, the fight rages beyond us, and we can’t stand on our own. There is no way we can defeat the Devil without the Holy Spirit’s wisdom.
- Staying connected to the Holy Spirit is the only way we can live as a Christian in this world and have victory.
- Staying connected to the Holy Spirit is the only way we can walk in holiness; or power.
- Staying connected to the Holy Spirit is the only way we can fulfill our purpose on the earth.
- Staying connected to the Holy Spirit is the only way we can have access to all that God HAS.
Everything Starts with the Spirit of God!
Here are some quotes from several other studies I’ve done on the power of the Holy Spirit (All in the free Bible app)….
“The Holy Spirit impacts your mind, your mind impacts your emotions, your emotions impact your choices, your choices impact your actions, and your actions impact your destiny.”
Pastor Paul Goulet of the International Church of Las Vegas
“The Holy Spirit helps us not to react to people’s adverse comments or actions but to pause and respond in God’s way. When the Holy Spirit fills us, He will help us with processing negative feelings when we are criticized, attacked, undermined, and overlooked. Our human tendency is to fight back, to defend our name, and to get involved in battles that are not ours to fight. That’s called reaction. Without the Holy Spirit, we react to the pain caused by our enemies. With the Holy Spirit, we respond the way that pleases God in the midst of that hurt.”
Vladimir Savchuk, https://www.vladimirsavchuk.com/
We just covered that in our lesson on 1 Corinthians 13.
“Romans 8:1-17 is one of the great passages on life in the Spirit, and by way of contrast, the word “flesh” (or “sinful nature”) occurs eight times in verses 3-8. Here, the term refers to the sinful, self-focused, self-dependent tendencies that we all have. These tendencies are innate to the human condition and inherently opposed to the Spirit. Living by the flesh means living for one’s self rather than living for Christ.”
Jeff Wells, https://www.woodsedge.org/
Let’s look at that passage…Paul wrote…
Romans 8:1-17
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Romans 8:1-17 NLT
Here’s a full study on the Book of Romans…
There is no way you can remain in fellowship with the Holy Spirit without a humble, penitent heart. Sin breaks the heart of God; therefore, sin must break yours. You must have a repentant heart or you fail God.
Do you want to receive the Power of the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to surrender your WHOLE LIFE to Jesus? Then…
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
