God's Spirit Will Help You Overcome Sin

Romans 8:9-14 (NLT)
⁹But 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 are not Christians at all.) ¹⁰Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. ¹¹The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you.

¹²So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. ¹³For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

This powerful passageof scripture contains some critical truths we need to know about letting the Holy Spirit lead our lives. Remember, once you became a Christian, God gave you his Holy Spirit to help you live out your faith, guide your steps, empower your witness and as this passage attests, overcome sin. Look at four key points the apostle Paule make here:

You Are Controlled By a New Nature
Your old, sinful nature will still try to get a hand on the steering wheel. But now your new nature is in the driver's seat, and your old nature has become like an annoying backseat driver. You can either give in to your old nature's nagging and bad directions or you can ignore it and let the Holy Spirit direct your path.

Even Though You Will Face Physical Death, You Will Not Face Spiritual Death
As a believer, physical death is simply a transition to eternal life in heaven. You have been spared from spiritual death, which leads to everlasting toment and hell (see Revelation 21:8) This important fact should reassure you whn the devil tries to throw doubts your way.

The Same Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the Dead Resides in You
Did you catch that? The Holy Spirit, who had the power to raise Jesus from the dead, now lives in you! If that is indeed true - and God's Word says it is - just think of the supernatural power you now have in your life to resist sin!

We Do Not Have to Give In to Our Sinful Nature and Urges
Paul wasn't talking about New Year's resolution here. If we try to live a morally upright, godly life in our own strength, we will fail - and fail miserably. But, if we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us, we will be overcomers.

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

God's Spirit Will Empower Your Witness

Acts 1:8 (NLT)
⁸But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

One of the greatest things the Holy Spirit wants to do in the life of the believer is empower his or her witness. The word for power in this verse comes from the Greek word dunamis, from which we get the words dynamite, dynamic and dynamo.  God didn't give us the power of the Holy Spirit to feel something, but to accomplish something.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit's power acts like dynamite in our lives, blasting us with zeal, jolting us out of complancency, and motivating us to greater spiritual growth. At other times God's Spirit is like a dynamic, generating power that will help us live from day to day at a level we could not achieve on our own. We need to remember the encouraging words the apostle Paul gave to young Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.

Are you timid in your witness for Christ? Is it hard for you to speak up for what you believe? Then you need to tap in to that power he has made available to you through his Spirit. God's Holy Spirit will give you an added dimension of boldness, power and persuasiveness in your witness that you have never experienced before.

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

God's Spirit Will Guide You

John 16:13-15 (NLT)
¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. ¹⁴He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever he receives from me.

The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian is multidimentional. We are told that, among other things, the Holy Spirit "join with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children" (Roman 8:16). In this passage, we see that the Holy Spirit serves as a teacher and a guide.

The Holy Spirit Will Help Us Understand the Bible
Before you became a Christian, understanding the Bible may have been like walking around with blinders on. But those blinders you once havd were taken off, so to speak, when the Holy Spirit came into your heart. The Holy Spirit teaches you the truth of the Scripture, helping you grasp hard-to-understand passages.

The Holy Spirit Will Reveal More and More about God and Jesus
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that one of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ. The moment you invited Jesus into your heart, God's Spirit began to help you grasp the awesome, praiseworthy attributes of Jesus. Those who do not have a personal relationship with Christ cannot understand the full glory of God, because they do not have the Holy Spirit's assistance.

The Holy Spirit wants to be actively involved in your life, helping you grow in the knowledge of God and his Word so that you can better understand God's will for your life. Everytime you open the Bible, pray for the Holy Spirit to show you how the passages you read can apply to your life.

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Ps Greg Laurie

Who Is The Holy Spirit?

John 3:5-6 (NLT)
⁵Jesus replied, "The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.

The Holy Spirit is the most mysterious member of the Trinity, which includes God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Spirit (or the Holy Spirit). Many struggle with the idea of God being three persons, yet one. Quite honestly, we will never fully grasp the concept this side of heaven.

Some, however, have wrongly thought of the Holy Spirit as more of an "it" than a "he". That is probably due in part to biblical descriptions of him as being like the wind or coming upon Jesus in the form of a dove, among other comparisons.

Yet these descriptions must be balanced with the descriptions of the other members of the Trinity. For instance, Jesus referred to himself as "the bread of life" and "the good shepherd." In the same way, God the Father is referred to as "a refuge" and "a consuming fire." Does this mean that Jesus is a loaf of bread or a sheep farmer, or that the Father is a pile of rocks or a blast furnace? Of course not! These are simply metaphors used in Scripture to help communicate God's character.

Likewise, the unique descriptions attributed to the Holy Spirit do not imply that the Holy Spirit is merely some "force" or "power." Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth ....He will tell you about the future" (John 16:13). Note the use of the pronoun he. The Holy Spirit has a distinct personality and he also has specific work that he wants to do in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

Explore what the Bible says about him.

How The Holy Spirit Works With The Father And The Son
Who The Holy Spirit Helps
Why God Gives Us The Holy Spirit
How The Holy Spirit Works In Out Life
Why Christians Need the Holy Spirit
Our Peace Continues As We Follow The Holy Spirit

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Ps Greg Laurie

Our Peace Continues As We Follow The Holy Spirit

Romans 8:5-8 (NLT)
⁵Those 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.
⁶If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.
⁷For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will.
⁸That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

Even if you are a Christian, you still struggle with your sinful nature. However, if you allow God's Holy Spirit to control your life, that struggle will be much less intense. For, as this passage says, you will want to live to please God.

If you follow your old evil desires, you "can never please God" (Romans 8:8). Your life - whether you realize it or not - will be empty. But if you live the Spirit-controlled life, you will experience "life and peace" (Romans 8:6).

To enter into the Spirit-controlled life, follow the advice of the apostle Paul, "Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:2-3).

Colossians 3:1-3 (NLT)
¹Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power.
²Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.
³For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

How The Holy Spirit Works With The Father And The Son

1 Peter 1:2 (NLT)
²God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood. May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.

The Holy Spirit has the distinct honour of being one of the three members of the Trinity - the other two members being God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. This particular verse shows how the Holy Spirit works with the Father and the Son in the life of a believer:

1. The Father chooses us and makes us His children.
2. Jesus redeems us, having died for us while we were still sinners.
3. The Holy Spirit draws us to the Lord and continues to work in our lives to make us pleasing to God.

As you can see, all three members of the Trinity work in concert to bring us into a relationship with God. For that reason, we see that the Holy Spirit is indeed an integral part of what has been called "the Godhead."

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

Who The Holy Spirit Helps

Read
Acts 2:1-41 (NLT)

The Holy Spirit has been given to all belivers to deepen their spiritual walk and to enable them to make an impact upon their world for Jesus Christ. This passage illustrates three aspects of the Holy Spirit's unique work in the lives of belivers.

The Holy Spirit Fills All Belivers
In the Old Testamen, the Holy Spirit was given only to a select few to perform specific tasks. This chapter indicates a change in the pattern. the Holy Spirit was poured out on all the believrs in the house that day (v4), and he was present in each of their lives from that day forward. This outpouring of the Holy Spirt was used by God to establish the church - and to spread the message of the gospel to everyone everywhere (v39).

The Holy Spirit Draws Attention to the Saviour
Notice that Peter did not focus on the unique happening that had just taken place but turned the crowd's attention to the message of Jesus Christ and their need for repentance. Likewise, the Holy Spirit does not draw attention to himself but to the Saviour. And when he fills your life, he will increase your ability to share the gospel with others.

The Holy Spirit Inspired Peter's Message
Peter's sermon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, led many in the crowd to a point of decision: "What should we do?" (v37). The people were not attracted to Peter but to his message. The Holy Spirit worked powerfully that day, and three thousand people responded to the message.

The Holy Spirit is promised to all who repent and receive Jesus Christ into their lives. Many people fail to understand who the Holy Spirit is and what dimension of power is available to them through him. It may help to examine what took place after the disciples received the filling of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised (Acts 1:8).

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Ps Greg Laurie

Why Christians Need The Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26 (NLT)

16 So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. 18 But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20 idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.

This text lays out four important reasons we need to let the Holy Spirit have full control of our lives as belivers:

1. The Holy Spirit Helps to Conquer Our Sin Nature. The Holy Spirit will help us make the right decisions if we listen to his advice.
2. The Holy Spirit Makes It Easier to Follow God's Guidelines. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live by God's guidelines. If we listen to and follow the Holy Spirit's promptings, then we won't have to force ourselves to obey the Lord - we will want to obey him.
3. The Holy Spirit will Produce Godly Qualites in Our Lives. When we live by the Holy Spirit, he develops godly qualities (known as the fruits of the Spirit) in our lives.
4. The Holy Spirit Encourages Us to Seek God's Approval above Man's. We will seek God's glory above our own when we follow the Holy Spirit's leading.

In essence, the Holy Spirit enables Christians to live lives that are pleasing to God - something that is impossible to do on our own.  He makes following Christ a joy rather than a duty.

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

How The Holy Spirit Works In Our Lives

John 14:15-17 (NLT)

15"If you love me, obey my commandments.
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor (Advocate/Comforter/Encourager), who will never leave you.
17He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

The Bible uses three different Greek prepositions in the New Testament to describe the different ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives. The verses above shows two of these ways and a third can be found elsewhere in Scripture.

1. He Works with Us as Non-believers (para).
   Prior to our conversion to faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and reveals Christ as the answer.

Jon 16:8 (NLT) And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

Some might dismiss his prodding as that of one’s conscience. Yet it is the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to our terminally sinful condition, exposing our need to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ.
2. He Comes into Our Lives When We Turn to Christ (en).
   Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and invite him into our lives, the Holy Spirit comes and sets up residence, so to speak. First, he starts the process of salvation in our heart.

John 3:5 (NLT) Jesus replied, "The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”

Secondly, he assures us that we have done the right thing.

Romans 8:16 (NLT) For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children.

Now he can begin changing us from the inside out and develop the new nature within us.
3. He Will Come upon Us to Empower Us as Believers (epi).
   Jesus describes the dynamic empowering of the Holy Spirit upon our lives in...

Luke 24:49 (NLT) And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.

This is what the early Christians experienced in Acts chapter-2, and it dramatically emboldened their witness for Jesus Christ. This power is available to believers today. Scripture says of the giving of his Spirit.

Acts 2:39 (NLT) This promise is to you and to your children, and even to the Gentiles --all who have been called by the Lord our God.

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

Why God Gives Us The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13-14

13 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

You might say that the Holy Spirit is our "identifying mark" as a Christian. In this text we see three specific reasons God gives us his Holy Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit is a Promise. Once again, scripture reminds us that God has promised to send the Holy Spirit to all those who have heard the good news of the gospel and trusted Christ as Savior.
2. The Holy Spirit is a Seal. The Holy Spirit serves as a mark of ownership, showing that we belong to God.
3. The Holy Spirit is a Guarantee. The Holy Spirit also represents God's pledge to bring us to our final spiritual inheritance. This work could also be translated as a "first installment" or "deposit" signifying that his sealing in our lives is a foretaste of much more to come!

God gives us the Holy Spirit not only to enable us to live out the Christian life but to prove that we are precious in his sight.

New Believer's Bible
Ps Greg Laurie

GOD Most Want To Give, Gift

Luke 11:13 (NLT)
13If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."

Luke 11:1-13 is where the Lord teaches the disciples how to pray. It is where the Lord's Prayer is found. It is also where the A.S.K. principle is; Ask, Seek and Knock. Ask whatever you want, in His name and our Lord will answer and provide, in His loving ways in response to your prayers. But of all the things that you may ask, do you know what our Heavenly Father desire most to give you?

13 ......, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."

The Holy Spirit! Have you ever wondered why? If not, consider then these verses. You may have already heard and read these verses, but when put together, it gives a perspective that I found very encouraging, empowered, that I am not alone and a certain sense of revelation and insight into how he chooses to work in my life ....in our lives.

The Person, Holy Spirit

John 14:16-17 (NLT)
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you.
17He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

John 14:26 (NLT)
26But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative--and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit--he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you.

The Holy Spirit is also known as the Comforter, Helper and Teacher.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:22 (NLT)
22But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

In fact, Galatians 5:16-26 is about Living by the Spirits Power, is worth your reading. The transformation in our lives through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Notice that the verse say "fruit" and not "fruits". All of the above attributes are segments of the one fruit and they come to you in one package. You get it all!

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:11 (NLT)
11He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

1 Corinthians 12:8-11 (NLT)
8To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another he gives the gift of special knowledge.
9The Spirit gives special faith to another, and to someone else he gives the power to heal the sick.
10He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and to another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages (tongues), and another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.
11It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

1 Corinthians 12:27-28 (NLT)
28Here is a list of some of the members that God has placed in the body of Christ:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who can get others to work together,
those who speak in unknown languages.

It is through these gifts that the power of the Holy Spirit flows.
So what then is the importance of the Holy Spirit to you?

Galatians 6:8 (NLT)
8Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

John 10:10 (NLT)
10The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.

Your lives will then be the living stones (1 Peter 2:5) of His church, the light of the world (Matt 5:11), an imitator of God (Ephesian 5:1), a chosen people, a kingdom of priests, so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).