Here is the reality for a believer in Jesus Christ.
If you have come to faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then God Almighty has indeed saved you. If you have confessed your sins and repented of your former way of living according the ways of the world, then God has forgiven you and cleansed you and imparted to you His Holy Spirit. This is the gospel. This is true.
Furthermore, if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, then His Spirit is within you. This is a promise from God’s word, and this is a reality.
But why then do we find ourselves in times and seasons of life where we are not fully obedient to all that God has spoken or why do believers find themselves exhibiting characteristics, traits and behaviors that are not of the Holy Spirit who abides within?
The question, indeed the challenge every day is whether or not we will obey every word that has been spoken to us by God Himself and is fulfilled by His indwelling Spirit. Will we remember that He is not a God who is far off, but rather one who is near. And not only is He near but He is within the very hearts of His children. Will we believe and obey God’s words?
If we are impatient or unkind, lacking grace or mercy, or in any other way living like the world, the enemy or the carnal self, the reality is that we are not living according the power and the promise of the indwelling Spirit.
Does this mean that God’s promises have not come true? Does this mean that God’s assurances that He is making us new and that He is putting His love and law in our heart and lives coming to naught? NO! Rather it is we who are out of step with the Holy Spirit. The power is present, but we are not tapping into it. The promise is true but we are not acting on it. We must repent. We must confess. We must give God everything so that we can begin to live in the fullness of the Spirit of God. When we totally consecrate ourselves everyday, then God is able to do what we formerly thought impossible: change us!
So this week, today, this moment, if you are feeling weak, selfish or wordly: don’t live there. Stop. Pray. Confess. Turn away from these things. And then ask the Lord for help by His indwelling Spirit and live as if He is working: HE IS! He is answering your cries for help. He is providing the kindness you have asked for. He is supplying the gentleness and patience that you need. God Himself is pouring out His faith, mercy, joy, peace and love that you know you need. Even if you haven’t asked, God is still reaching out to you with hands full of every supply you need. That is His prevenient grace (the grace that goes before our asking). If you have asked, His hands are not only extended with the blessings that you need but His hands are literally pouring forth the supply you are so desperately in need of. Will you receive it? Will you accept His free, gracious and bountiful gifts to you?
How do you receive these gifts? How do you accept them? Simple: just walk, talk, act, react as if your prayers are already answered. Treat your neighbor with the patience you have asked for. Treat your enemy with the kindness you have asked for. Speak to people with the kindness you have asked God for. And trust me, in the middle of you living as if you have already received God’s bountiful supply, you will realize that indeed He has and is perpetually pouring out all that His children need for life and godliness.
Believer. Beloved. Child of God. Please receive the help and keep in step with the Spirit of God that is at work in your very heart.
Pastor Michael Johnson 