A SPIRIT FILLED LIFE IS A DIFFERENT LIFE

  GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS:



A Spirit-filled life in Christ is different than just being a believer in Christ.   Just as there were different levels of followers of Christ during His ministry in this world so there are different levels of the followers of Christ today.  This has never been more obvious than when we read the various by-products of having the Holy Spirits direct involvement in someone's life through the scriptures. In Galatians 5:16-26  It is pretty easy to see if you desire to have the qualities that are listed in verses 22-23 then by no doubt you are being led by the Holy Spirit.  There are some important things to watch for when we feel the Holy Spirit is leading us.  We can believe we are being led by God's Spirit when it is really our own desires that are leading us.  It is important therefore that we know the difference between something being our will and the will of God.  We can see that clearly if we are following God's word as it compares to our own will.

  Paul makes it clear in this Galatian scripture that there are basically two forces at work within us that do constant battle. 1. our nature as human beings toward sin, and 2. The power of God's Holy Spirit within us to be drawn ever closer to God.  These forces within us are not equal because God's Spirit is greatly stronger, but if we dwell on our own wisdom rather than rely on the word to always guide us we will be easily tripped up like it tells us in verses 16,19, and 24. The only way that we can be free from our own brand of evil desires is to allow the Holy Spirit to empower us through the word of God.  There are some other references I can give you that may help to understand this even more:
Romans 8:9 - Ephesians 4:23,24- Colossians 3:3-8.

  If we are going to be led by the Holy Spirit we must allow the Spirit to do His work through us.  These are Spiritual traits of Christ as they come from the Holy Spirit and are automatically produced in our life.  They are spontaneous things and not things that are planned out or practiced to get better at.  In other words, these are things that cannot be faked for very long even by the best of con artists. They are bi-products of Christ's control within our lives.

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  Our goals should be to know Him, love Him, remember Him, and imitate Him.  In doing that we will fulfill the intended purpose of the law; which is to love Good and our neighbors.  In order to really accept Christ as our Savior, we have to nail our own natural and sinful self to the cross, but even then it will not mean that from time to time we won't see that sinful nature try to come back into our lives. because as Christians we still have the capacity to sin, but instead of being in bondage to sin we have been set form of having to live with that sin by asking for and receiving forgiveness.

 I believe that we all need the approval of others from time to time, but for those who go out of their way to gain the approval of others or who seek after position or accolades will soon find themselves at odds with God's Holy Spirit. A true son or daughter of God needs only His approval, and others will no doubt see  God shining His approval through their lives.  May you richly bless God through your life in Him.



THE UNWORTHY SERVANT