“How can I walk in the Spirit? How can little me do the greater works?”
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WALK OF FAITH
Jesus spoke of His faith in God often. “It’s the Father in Me, He does the works.”
He was totally surrendered to do the will of His Father. (John 6:38)
And, He knew His identity as the Son of God.
Yet even Jesus had to deal with His flesh, His own will, when He was facing the awful and dreadful time of His crucifixion. (Mark 14:35-36, Hebrews 5:7-9) Our Savior knows about all of our weaknesses and is always ready to give “grace and mercy to help in time of need.”
The disobedient are ignorant of the born again life available in Jesus Christ. That is why we pray for them continually.
Separation from the world is needed so that we can minister to the world with the power of the gospel. Your heart, the New Creation Man, has its identity rooted in another system. This is in sharp contrast to what the world is progressing toward. Jesus always sought the Kingdom by looking inward…inward! Supernatural breakthroughs necessary for healing and deliverance come from a more powerful realm where “nothing is impossible” and where all provision for life is resident…in the Spirit.
Jesus was highly developed in His faith in God.
Even at the age of twelve, He was found studying in the Temple being “about His Father’s business.”
He lived His life by walking in the Spirit. How?
He never did anything without first seeing His Father’s will. He never said anything He didn’t hear from His Father first. (John 5:19, 7:16, 8:26, 12:49, 14:10)
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD — THE HOLY SPIRIT
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD — THE WORD
God knows your heart; after all, He lives in you!
God knows when you are seeking Him first, and He knows when other things are beginning to enter in and distract your heart. He is Jealous for your attention and knows how the enemy uses distractions to steal the word out of your heart so you will become powerless. Distract, deceive, and displace to possess. It’s what happened to Adam and Eve in the garden.
That same enemy is still around but should not have any rulership over God’s child unless the love for God is growing cold. The Apostle James spoke sternly to Believers who were going in the wrong direction.
“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:4-8)
HUMILITY IS REQUIRED
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30)
This is the answer to the two questions at the top of our lesson.
Jesus gave us the example to follow. Continual fellowship and total dependence on the Father is how we walk in the Holy Spirit and how we will do the greater works.
We were appointed and anointed to serve God on earth during this sliver of time.
It is a perilous and chaotic time because the world system does not want to depend upon God and Jesus Christ for anything. The world cannot solve all their problems. They need the wisdom of God, the Holy Scriptures, and the power of the Holy Spirit!
They need The Glorious Church … the Kingdom, the wisdom, and the resources of God!
Earth: 2016 and 2017 — THE INVERTED TRIANGLE
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
“All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8 NIV)
When a child is getting ready to be born, it is being sent downward from a large and comfortable place, into the birth canal where it is being pressed into and through a narrow place. Pressure is providing movement. Neither mother nor child is controlling this. Time is in control but ultimately it is God the Creator, Who has a purpose.
I see this event like an inverted triangle. The closer the child gets to its grand entrance into a new world of existence, the tighter and more pressed the situation becomes.
What is life going to be like for The Glorious Church as we get closer to our meeting Jesus in the air? (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
The gospels and the epistles reveal that earth is in for more turbulent times. Fear and worries should not be allowed to consume Believers. Just as there was light in Goshen for the children of Israel who were getting ready to depart their homes in Egypt to go into the Promised Land, we have nothing to fear or worry about. NOTHING!
Why?
God is with us and it is He who determines times and seasons on earth. (Acts 17:26) Times will be good for The Church but distress upon the nations. Old and New Testament scriptures revealed the future long before we were born.
We were called to live in these last days by our Father. His purpose for the last generation is spectacular! Let’s remember who we are, where we are from, and Who we belong to.
“So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 89:12)
Our job is to occupy by prayer and by “boots on the ground,” spreading the gospel of the Kingdom and making disciples. We are citizens and Ambassadors of the Kingdom of God and our Commander in Chief is LORD of the armies of Heaven!
THE HARVEST
During this End Days Harvest all the seeds (prayers and preaching) that have been planted for the gospel in the last two thousand years will mature. They will need to be harvested. For a farmer, harvest time is a lot of work.
But when all of God’s Spirit-filled Believers seek to fulfill their individual assignments every day, the work will be easier and less stressful on the whole Body.
Turbulent Times?
Remember we are in a war, but our enemies are not flesh and blood.
Are you being distracted and pulled away from spending time in the Word?
Remember, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.
Be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. Keep God’s armor on.
Do you remember how Nehemiah and the Jews built the wall around Jerusalem in just 52 days?
“Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.” (Nehemiah 4:17)
Be watchful and pray for those Believers who you fellowship with. (Ephesians 6:18)
“And this is His commandment:
that we should believe
on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ
and love one another,
as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)
Suggested Assignment
Doug Jones was the guest teacher at Keith Moore’s church in Branson recently and gave an excellent lesson on how to hear and be led by the Holy Spirit. How important is that?
http://www.flcmedia.org/FLCBranson/MP4/2016/HD/161118Video.mp4
“Watch therefore,
for you know
neither the day
nor the hour
in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13)
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