Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

June 7, 2013 · 8:55 AM

The Snooze Button

If you’re like me, you love the snooze button on your alarm. Somehow I feel like I’m pulling a fast one on my body and I am really getting extra sleep. I have mine set to a maximum of five snoozes. On that one, there is no option to hit snooze anymore. It’s just a red “X” on my screen. I have to get up. I have to get out of bed and get ready for work. There other days where it goes off and I don’t remember hitting snooze or hearing the alarm and I wake up late.

Sometimes we treat the Holy Spirit like a snooze alarm. He comes to warn us of approaching sin or danger and we push Him away. He comes right back telling us to run or change our course, but we don’t listen or we tell Him, “I’ll be all right. Just a few more minutes wont hurt.” Eventually, we quit hearing Him because we’ve become immune to the sound of His voice warning us.

There is a war going on inside each of us. The Holy Spirit is wanting us to live one way and our flesh another. We get to choose who we hit the snooze on. Paul put it this way in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit); then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh.” He asks us in verse 18, “Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit?”

The Holy Spirit is in our lives to point us to living the way God desires for us to live. His desire is to produce the kind of fruit in our lives that comes from living God’s way. Those fruit are listed in verses 22 and 23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Why would we ever want to push the snooze button when it comes to developing these? These are the qualities God desires to bring out in each one of us.

Paul also makes it clear what fruits come when we snooze the Holy Spirit and choose our flesh. In verses 19-21, some of the fruits he lists are: an accumulation of mental and emotional garbage, paranoid loneliness, all consuming yet never satisfied wants, a brutal temper, divided homes and divided lives and the habit of die personalizing everyone into a rival. These are the things that living according to the flesh produces. There is a clear difference between the two.

Understand that fruit is the end product. When the choices are presented, you don’t see the fruit that will bear from your decision. If you were presented with the end product, it would be easy to choose the Holy Spirit every time. That’s why Paul spelled it out this way. He knew we would see the choices before us and not think of what the end result would be. He knew our internal, fleshly desire is to snooze the Holy Spirit. When we look at the fruit that each choice bears, it should make our choice easier. Who are you going to snooze today?

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April 17, 2013 · 8:35 AM

Spiritual Apnea

One of the things you may not know about me is that I have sleep apnea. What happens is that when my body is at rest, the air pressure outside my body is greater than on the inside causing me to not only snore, but also can deprive my brain of oxygen. To fix the problem, I sleep with a CPAP machine and mask that pushes air into me. The machine creates a positive air pressure in me so that the pressure inside is greater than the pressure outside.

You and I walk in a world that is constantly trying to force us and to shape us into its mold. We are pressured from every side to compromise, to give in or up and to conform to its ways. Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It’s a clear command that we are to resist the pressures that are on the outside.

Sometimes the outside pressure is stronger than our inside pressure to resist. When we give in to those pressures, our spirit is deprived of the things it needs to stay strong and healthy. We start to exhibit the side effects of spiritual apnea. We fall asleep spiritually, our prayers cease to have the power they once had, our faith begins to wane. We eventually allow this to be the norm for our spiritual life. There is no growth only maintenance.

The good news is that God has given each of us His Holy Spirit to create a positive pressure in us to combat the external pressures of this world. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” God has given us the power, ability, efficiency and might to combat the pressures that come against us. Just like I have that CPAP machine, if I don’t use it, it’s wont help me create a positive pressure inside. We can be guilty of having the Holy Spirit and not using the power He has given us to have a positive pressure.

II Corinthians 4:7-8 tells us, “This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side, but we are not crushed.” The power and pressure God has given us will not allow us to be crushed by this world. His desire is not to just equalize the pressure between our inside and the world, but to create a greater power and pressure in us that extends into the world. We are not to maintain, but to advance. We are to conquer.

Romans 8 says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. God wants you to walk in victory today. We were not made to be defeated. Quit living like you’ve been defeated today because that’s not who you are in Christ. Change your mindset, access the power of the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in you and go create positive change today in your world. You have the power and ability according to what we read. Now walk in faith believing in the victory God has given you.

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July 3, 2012 · 5:40 PM

Denying Your Flesh

If you are like me, there is a constant struggle to do what I know God wants me to do instead of what I want to do. This battle rages on every day. It is a constant struggle that we all fight. Some days my spirit wins and others my flesh. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where my spirit will win every time, but that doesn’t mean I should give up.

Galatians 5:16 gives us a few ways we can stop gratifying the cravings and desires of the flesh.

1. Walk and live in the Holy Spirit

I like how the Amplified version puts it. It says we are to walk and live habitually in the Spirit. That means that I have to do it consistently. It needs to be an every day practice of doing what the Spirit wants instead of what the flesh wants.

One of the ways we can do this is to fast. Fasting is a great way to deny your flesh and to give in to the desires of the Spirit. Use the time that you would normally eat to pray, read scripture or to help someone in need. By doing that, you weaken the strength your flesh has and strengthen your spirit man.

2. Be responsive to the Holy Spirit

All day long the Holy Spirit speaks to us to do something for someone in our path. We often ignore His voice or we choose not to do whatever it is. Either way, that is a lack of responsiveness to His voice and we are not only robbing ourselves of blessings, but also the person we are choosing not to help.

Being responsive means we need to purposefully decide each day to be open to hearing His voice and to doing what He asks. Each morning, I pray and ask God to open my eyes so that I can see others in need and to give me the courage to step out and obey when I hear His voice.

3. Be controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit

Being controlled is against everything in us. We are independent and want to stay that way. God says that if we want true freedom, we should give up our independence to Him. That means we need to give Him control of our lives and allow Him to guide us.

When we are guided by the Spirit, we will do the things the spirit wants us to do. We will be able to overcome the desires of the flesh that keep us from doing what He wants. We will see others like never before and make a difference in other’s lives like never before.

If you are not satisfied with your ability to do what God asks you or to deny your flesh, then there is room for growth. All of us have an opportunity to grow, but not all of us look for those opportunities where we can. If you truly want to beat your flesh then learn to live and walk habitually in the Spirit, be responsive to Him and then be controlled and guided by Him. In doing this, you will no longer give into the desires of the flesh that keep you from doing what God wants.

Here is a prayer provided by Michael Moak that you can pray to help you.

Dear Lord,

Today I face new challenges and move one step closer towards Your will for my future. And because I’m not You, I know that I have the ability to destroy everything that is good in my life and to allow the weights and pressures of this world to control my actions and emotions. So, I need You today more than yesterday. Jesus. I need Your peace and your presence to sustain me as I endeavor to follow and obey your direction for my life. Show me the path in life that you have constructed and designed for my gifts and talents. And when things get tough, and I know they will often, help me to realize that my own strength and abilities are far too small and ineffective to make the difference that Your single hand can work on my behalf in a fraction of the time. I lean on you today, Lord, for the love and power that only You can give to man. Help me to also rest in the assurance that I don’t have to come up with all the right answers or make every decision perfect. I can trust in the undeserved grace of Your favor to carry me through this day with the happiness, joy, and peace that comes from my relationship with You. Today I face new challenges but You have the already gone before me and are turning them into opportunities for Your glory to work wonders through my life. Thank you Lord for loving me enough to trust me with today! I pray all this in the mighty name of Your son, Jesus Christ. Amen

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