LIVING BY THE SPIRIT

FOLLOWING THE WINDS OF THE SPIRIT

Periodically someone finds my articles on the Messianic Vision website ( www.sidroth.org ) and writes with a question or two. This gentleman wrote with several.  Having already determined through emails with this man that he has sincerely sought the Lord and is born again, I'm assuming these issues are ones of discipleship. Sensing from the Lord that others have similar questions, I have added to my response to him below.  Here’s what he wrote and then my expanded answer.

Please also see Speaking in tongues and prophesy to more of his questions in the article below this one.

His Questions: When a person receives the Lord spirit how are they different than regular person. Can the spirit go away and come back or stay there forever?  Can the person that received the Lord’s spirit live a normal life on this earth? We live in a sinful world -  how are we to communicate with people in business, worker and so on? Can an individual talk to God directly and communicate with Him? How can we spend time with the Lord when we have a lot of things on our mind? Do you receive the blessing and the spirit at the same time? I still have not been able to receive the Lord's spirit and feel it in my body and my soul.  

My Answers:  First of all, if you didn’t already have the Spirit of God at work in your life, I doubt you would be looking for answers to these kinds of questions in order to be closer to Him. When you want more of God, it’s really Him drawing you to Himself. I suspect the reason you are troubled by these questions, is that you have not had the chance to be properly taught many of these areas of life in the Spirit. I thought about entitling these two articles, “Things your church didn’t teach you but should have if this information is new to you.”  Discipleship is not always a high priority in our churches, especially to equip new believers with the whole picture of what we have in God.  

For a sense of the whole picture of what your salvation really entails, you are welcome to check out my Meeting Jesus ~ Knowing God discipleship e-book on this blog. 

When a person receives the Spirit through accepting that Yeshua paid the price for their sins and welcomes Him into their lives as Lord, they now have the very nature of God living within them. Isn't that amazing?!  It's really the way God had created Adam and Eve in the first place, to be one with God through His Spirit which Adam, as the first human, received when God breathed life into Him and he became a “living soul.” Breath and Spirit are the same word in Hebrew - Ruach. That kind of “living” means having the Spirit of God within him. Other creatures (animals, etc.) were created to live in the natural, but God's breath breathed into Adam made him "alive" with the Holy Spirit of God, able to interact with God at the highest level. Imagine the intelligence and power they must have had!  

When we accept Yeshua's death on the cross for our own sins, we are restored back to the relationship with God that Adam and Eve had before they sinned. Yeshua said in John 17 in His farewell prayer at the last Passover supper, that he was giving to His disciples the glory which God had given to Him (John 17:22). That means He was giving His disciples, which includes those of us who are His disciples today, who follow Him, the Spirit of God. When we have His Spirit, we begin to think different, act different, speak differently, and the things we now desire are godly, while ungodly things begin to lose their hold and interest for us. We may not feel anything different, or we may. But feelings are not the measure, our actions are as our character is affected. We begin to live "by the Spirit," aware of God in our lives where we were not before. 

Living a normal life: We actually live a more normal life than people who do not have Yeshua in their lives.  We can be free from fear because we know God is caring for us; we can make wise decisions because we have the leading of the Spirit; we can be healthier because He is our healer; we can have more peace in our lives and more sound mindedness because, “He has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). We are assured of an eternity with God so we have no fear of death.   We do not have to fear poverty or lack, because God has promised to meet our every need. We have a sense of satisfaction in our lives because we do what we do unto or for Him. We have forgiven those who have hurt us or disappointed us so we do not carry any bitterness or anger or resentment.  And if we have any cause for grief or sorrow, He has taken it on the cross so we can release it to Him and His Spirit will bring comfort to us.  We can love when others cannot. We can be free when others are bound  in so many ways.  Yes, we live normal lives. We are so free sometimes that others who are not free may resent our freedom and tell us there’s something wrong with us, but it is they who are not normal. Normal is to live the way God intended us to live, with Him in peace and joy. 

A person living in awareness of God in their lives is likely to be so grateful to Him for His goodness to them and their desire to please God (not to earn His favor, but just because we want to make Him smile, and don’t want anything to come between us and Him), they are not likely to be drawn away by things that would cause the Spirit to withdraw their sense of His presence.  Even King David cried out to God when he sinned, “Take not your Spirit from me.”   Yeshua said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."  That can be counted on to be true throughout the life of a person who is His. He never lies. He is always faithful to His word.  That does not mean that someone does not have the freedom to deliberately walk away from Him if, for some misplaced reason, they choose to reject God and opt, by an act of their will, for something they know is clearly against God.  I’m not talking about a sin we get caught in and hate. I'm talking about rejecting God or choosing to do something you know is not His will, valuing the thing higher than Him, or without caring what He thinks.  I cannot think of a more unwise choice.

We must live by what we know is right in God’s eyes, even when it is not regarded as right to others. Sometimes that’s a difficult choice to make. The fear of man is a trap, but reverence and obedience to God is life and peace.  Our consciences tell us what is good and profitable in the ways of God.  Trust Him to lead you. Ask Him daily to give you wisdom for each day.  Many of us have gotten ourselves into difficult situations, big or small, because we didn’t heed the gentle warning of our conscience, which is God’s gift of wisdom to us.  When you sense something is not clear or right, ask him right where you are,  “Lord, what’s wrong? What do I need to know? Give me wisdom.”  What comes to your mind is likely what He is wanting to show you. He will always protect you if you look to Him.  That’s not to say things don’t happen in our lives that are difficult, or take a while to iron out. They do not necessarily mean that we have failed somewhere to know right from wrong. We live in a fallen and sinful world and “stuff happens.”  We learn from every incident to be more like Him in our choices – and our responses.  As a person whose sins have been erased by the shed blood of Yeshua, God does not look at us as sinners anymore. He looks at us as His beloved children whom He is teaching to grow up to be like Yeshua. He’s promised to do that. We cooperate with obedience but only God can make us God-like. 

Speaking With God.   Of course, you can speak to God. I speak WITH, not just to, Him every day, throughout the day. You have been restored to God through Yeshua's death and resurrection (HalleluYah!) so you have access to God. He will also speak to you if you listen. We must all learn how to listen to God. I started by reading Scripture and writing down what it meant to me or what I thought God was saying. I would write down questions about what I thought the verse or passage was saying, or what it meant to me personally.  Then I would ask, (I still do it even today), "Lord, is there something you wish to tell me about this?"  And when something came to mind, I would write it down in my journal. I soon realized it was as if God was answering me in my thoughts.  Often, going back and reading your earlier journal entries will give you insight you need for today on something you wrote down a while back. This is a good way to begin to learn to hear Him. But most of all – listen! 

Keep in mind that the Bible tells us to test the spirits. Not every spirit is the HOLY Spirit. There are some unholy spirits out there. Be sure that what you are hearing lines up with what the Bible says and that your spirit bears witness with peace and not confusion to what you are ‘hearing.’  Dismiss it if it doesn’t. 

To get back to the question, yes you can speak to God, and you can expect Him to respond because He already said so: "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). You can come confidently, though always with utmost respect. Speak what you wish and just as importantly, listen to what He's saying.  You are unlikely to hear an audible voice - that's rare - but you will receive an impression or a thought that is His way of speaking to your heart.  Most of all, read your Bible!  Know the Word and you will know what He's saying to you because you will come to know, as you read more and more, what the ways of the Lord are and the way He thinks.  

Thinking With God.   What about spending time with God when your mind is full of things? THINK WITH GOD!  Invite Him in on your thoughts. I realized as a new believer that God was already able to hear me think, He knows everything, so why not "think to God," to make my thinking a part of my relationship with Him. So whatever I'm thinking about, I talk to Him about in my thoughts.  Just like if you shared your thoughts with someone you live with. After all, you do live with Him!   Don't separate Him from the everyday parts of your life.  Allow Him to be in ALL of your life. Enjoy Him even in your smallest thought. You can think to Him, or talk to Him. It doesn't matter. He's there with you.  You can enjoy His presence in your life and deepen your love for him by His constant companionship when you include Him.

I’m not sure what this gentleman mean by "receiving the blessing."  Yeshua Himself in your life is the greatest blessing.  He comes into your life when you ask Him to and are sorry for sin, and that you have lived your life apart from Him before. When you ask Him to be Lord of your life - it's like getting married. You are saying "I do want to live the rest of my life with You." Be assured that He took you up on it and has come into your life. There is no higher blessing than to be one with the King of the Universe, joined to Him by His Spirit. 

At any rate, do not fret. God will bring clarity to you as you keep seeking Him. Just do so in rest that He loves you and will bring you to the place of understanding all things in time.

Don't try and fix the parts of you that aren’t lined up with God or receiving God as you think you should.  Yes, repent from sin. but keep in mind that repentance in the Bible doesn't mean saying you're sorry; it means turning away from the sin and turning toward God. Its an about-face; a determination to abandon the sin.  You may need His help to do it, and He's there to help you. Lean on Him for His help.  Really, only God can change us, only He can do that fixing!  Turn over to Him to make the changes in your that you're wanting. I do it all the time: "God, make me more like Yeshua.  Lord, take away every part of me that is not pleasing to You or profitable for me, naturally, spiritually, financially, relationally.....  Be Lord of my life in every way and teach me all You want me to know about You. .... Make me aware of where you are all around me in my life...."  These are the kinds of things I pray.  Live from the awareness of YESHUA WITHIN you, not from the Adam within your natural self.  Adam will never get you to heaven or to the peace of God.

The Lord has already given you His Spirit. Yes, we wait always for more of Him, but as you have already opened your heart to Him, be assured He is already there with you and in you - forever.  Assume He's there. Stop waiting and start living in Him!  It's that easy.  Some people miss it because it IS that easy. He has already done all the hard part for us.