Get grounded in the Word!

As we move on thinking about the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, one of the obvious things we must do is get grounded well in the Word of God. That sects 2:42ems simple enough but few really know what the Bible says , and few have ever read and studied their Bibles from cover to cover.



If we want to be on fire for God we must slow down, get our priorities right and read the Word. Acts 2:42 shows us why the early church was on Fire for God:



Acts 2:42

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.



The apostles' doctrine here is the Word of God! Notice is says steadfastly, not once in a great while, but daily. Notice they also gathered together for fellowship which is a picture of the church. Breaking of bread symbolizes the Lord's Supper, and they prayed! All these are keys to being on fire for God through the leading of the Holy Spirit.



How much we are in God's Word will show how strong we are in our faith, I can't emphasis this enough!. Billy Graham said "If he was to start over and was told he only had 3 years of ministry, He would study for two years and preach for one." That shows us the importance of Knowing God's Word!



We can not really know God without knowing His Word. That is part of the problem with Christians today...they say what they think the Bible says instead of WHAT the Bible really says because they are not reading it!



1. Study the Word



2 Timothy 2:15

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.



2. Meditate (think on) the Word.



Psalm 1:2



2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.



3.Pray for understanding of the Word.



Proverbs 2:3



3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,



Psalm 119:18



18 Open my eyes, that I may see

Wondrous things from Your law.



4. Memorize the Word.



Psalm 119:11



11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.



Then apply the Word to your life through the leading of the Holy Spirit:



Colossians 3:16

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.



So my friends, how grounded are you in the Word? Get busy, the Spirit will light your fire if you are digging into the Word!



Tom

Filled with the Spirit!

Continuing our look at the Holy Spirit, today i want to look at being filled with the Spirit. In the old testament the Holy Spirit did not indwell the believer at all times. He would come and go. When Christ ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, He now dwells in those who have called upon Jesus as Lord and Savior. That is great news because our Helper is always with us to guide us in all things....IF we will allow Him too!

What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?

1. To be filled with the Spirit means to be moved along by God. He is our source for motivation. Following the commands of God become a delight not a burden. This is why John could write this:

1 John 5:3

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

2. Being filled brings filling every area of our life under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. We do not pick and choose where we want the Spirit and where we do not...although we do! We are to allow the Spirit in everything we think, say and do, for the is the will of God.

3. Being filled with the Spirit means we are under His control! We have to allow Him to control us not anger, fear, jealousy, or any other trick of the devil! We need to even throw self in there....let the Spirit control us not our own selfish desires!

Galatians 5:16
 Walking in the Spirit
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

So are you under the control of the Spirit right now? Or something else? To be on fire for God, we must allow the Spirit to control us....pray and ask God to help you get under the Spirits control!

Tom

You have unbelievable POWER!

If you are believer and follower of Christ, you have power that is beyond our comprehension through the Holy Spirit! Sadly most of us want to rely on our own weak selves instead of the mighty power of God! When we rely on our selves then we can't make much of a difference for Jesus, but when we rely on the Holy Spirit nothing is impossible!



Look back at the early church. Jesus had gone and they were huddled in fear waiting for some gift that Jesus told them would come:



Acts 1:4



The Holy Spirit Promised

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;



All the disciples needed power beyond themselves to move for God, that power was this promised Holy Spirit.



All of us would like to know when Jesus is coming back but that is not our concern...we have a task at hand, to bring the gospel to others. God gives us all opportunities to do a mighty work for Him! Focus on the task at hand! We need a power beyond ourselves to do this just like the disciples did, we also have it in the Holy Spirit to accomplish all tasks God has for us.



The early church had amazing things take place...many being saved, miracles happening, people being healed, sharing their goods with each other, why isn't this happening today? Because we are not relying on the same power, we are only doing what we can do in our own power!



A.W. Tozer said and I am going to paraphrase that the early church accomplished 90% of what they did through the Holy Spirit and amazing things happened, today the church only accomplishes 10% through the Holy Spirit thus not much is happening! I would have to agree!



We must remember...God can still work through us Christians today just as He did in the early church but we must get back to the basics...God's Word, use the power of the Holy Spirit, and prayer!



The Holy Spirit is not a feeling to be felt as much as it is a power to help us accomplish God's will in believer's lives! God's power is to be used in our daily lives in and outside of the church. Here is what God's Word says about his power:



Acts 1:8

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”



When the followers of God in the early church received the Holy Spirit look at the change it made in them...remember they were hiding before the Spirit but when the Spirit came look at the change:



Acts 4:20



20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”



Nothing or no one could shut them up about Jesus and believe me many tried to stop them! We are to do the same...proclaim the name of Jesus! Share our faith no matter the cost!



The followers of God were transformed and powerful through the Holy spirit, they were on fire!



You have the same power as they did, are you using it?



Tom

How to reignite the fire!

Yesterday we talked about how the Holy Spirit is missing in most churches today which means it is missing in most individual lives. If you are saved He is there but His leading is being ignored and the fire has faded. So what can we do the stoke this fire back up?



1. YOU have to revive that fire!



Read the book of Acts and see the fire they had in the early church. You must open the door to the Holy Spirit so it can work. You must have the daily disciplines of worship which are Bible Study, prayer, and faithful service. Welcome God's direction to your everyday routines!



2. Open your life to others.



The reason for this is so they can be set on fire too! We must develop a unity and a oneness with others in Christ! We have to reach out and disciple others. It is a must! Are you willing to disciple others like Jesus and the early church did? Not only will they learn but you will learn also!



3. You must be prepared to maintain the fire.



The devil and others will do all they can to extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit so be prepared.



2 Timothy 3:12



12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.



Acts 14:22



22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”



It is hard work to follow Jesus...He told us it would be. If you are comfortable in your walk with God then chances are you probably aren't doing much for God...that is what the Bible says!



The revival must start with you! We will go more in depth with these 3 points over the next few days. Hold on God is going to to do a great work in you through the Holy Spirit if you will let Him!



Tom

What is missing in most churches?

Have you ever wondered why our churches are not like what we read about the early church in the Bible? Really it is not hard to figure out. John the Baptist told the early church what would happen when Jesus arrived on the scene:



Matthew 3:11



11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.



Jesus was going to send something very powerful...the Holy Spirit! Which he told the disciples right before He ascended back to heaven:



Acts 1:4-5



4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”



Acts 1:8



8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”



Ten days later the Holy Spirit came and filled 120 believers at Pentecost and they turned the world upside down for Jesus. They went from hiding for fear of loosing their lives to sharing the love of Jesus at any cost including some gruesome deaths! What was the difference? The Holy Spirit filled them and they had a fire for Christ. Today that fire is missing in most churches! We need a revival in our churches and see people as Christ sees people! They need Jesus, they need love, they need acceptance, they need the Word of God!



So how would you rate your church about being on fire for Jesus? Over the next few days we will look at what we can do to rekindle the fire through the Holy Spirit.



Tom

Godly nation?

A few years back some statistics were from a study at Graduate School of the City University of New York:



*9 out of 10 Americans say they have never doubted the existence of God

*9 out of 10 say they still pray

*8 out of 10 believe God still works miracles

*7 out of 10 believe in life after death

*7 out of 8 identify with a Christian denomination



A Gallop poll found a high percentage of Americans believe in life after death and that 60% believe in damnation in hell. 96% believe in God and 60% believe the Bible is the Word of God and should be followed.



Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Until you see statistics like this:



*Over 50% of marriages end in divorce.

*More than a million children a year are affected by divorce.

*60% of children born in the 1990's were living in single parent households.

*69% of Americans believe there are few absolutes, they believe right and wrong depend on the situation!



Something is very wrong here! Few moral absolutes yet believe in the Bible? The Bible is absolutes....God's way! America appears so spiritual in polls but when we look at life, decisions being made, church attendance, government decisions, abortion, prisons, ect, it is very easy to determine we have fallen of the wagon of faithful followers of God.



Isaiah 29:13

Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,



2 Chronicles 7:14

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.



It don't matter who is President, if you are a democrat, republican, independent, if you are white, black, how much money you make or anything else, America will continue to deceive its self and go down hill until we turn to God in everything! The Bible is truth and we must obey and follow what it says!



As a whole we are NOT a godly nation right now but we can be if we repent and turn to God.



Tom

Do all to the glory of God!

I ran across this verse yesterday and wanted to share it with you all:



1 Corinthians 10:31
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.



If we do everything and I mean everything for the glory of God it would help us to walk with Jesus more faithfully. Think about it for a moment...raising your kids for the glory of God, living your marriage out for the glory of God, doing your job for the glory of God, doing your hobbies for the glory of God, going to church for the glory of God, serving Jesus for the glory of God and on and on.



I believe we all would have to make some changes in our lives if we did everything for the glory of God. For example...can you get drunk for the glory of God....No. Can you watch tv or movies that promote ungodly things for the glory of God...no.



Something to chew on again this morning. Brothers and sisters let us live every second for the glory of God!



Tom