Category: The Spirit In Us

Let’s read aloud the following passage, confession and prayer.

Acts 1:9, 2:17-18
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy

The Cape Town Commitment: We Love the Holy Spirit
We love the Holy Spirit within the unity of the Trinity, along with God the Father and God the Son. He is the missionary Spirit sent by the missionary Father and the missionary Son, breathing life and power into God’s missionary Church. We love and pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit because without the witness of the Spirit to Christ, our own witness is futile. Without the convicting work of the Spirit, our preaching is in vain. Without the gifts, guidance and power of the Spirit, our mission is mere human effort. And without the fruit of the Spirit, our unattractive lives cannot reflect the beauty of the gospel.

Prayer: Father, thank you for empowering us to witness Jesus in this world. Fill us with your Spirit to be your witnesses and speak the things of heaven. Increase your Spirit’s activity through us to our campuses and cities. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Fullness” by Elevation Worship (click here).

– KW

Joshua 1:7-8 (NIV)
⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

“Here God is showing exactly what the Lord requires of his people, to live in the blessing and the outcome of these walls coming down, that we are to live in full obedience, simply that, to do exactly what the Lord commands us to do…When it says ‘Be strong and courageous’… it’s in regards to obedience to the Lord. Do not be afraid to obey, do not be afraid to do exactly what the Lord tells you…Lord, we will take the words you gave to Joshua, we will not walk in step with our old emotions, old fears and hurts, our own thoughts and our own ways. Instead, we will walk in step with you, in obedience to the Holy Spirit’s leading and guiding.” (Pastor Gus’ message)

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I respond with a yes right now. As you lead me to obey, it doesn’t matter what I feel, I choose to say yes to what you have said. Give me courage to walk in step with you in this way each moment. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “He Lives In Me” by Sinach (click here).

-KW

 

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)
¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

“..the Holy Spirit leads and guides and touches every area of our lives to bring his truth, his healing, his freedom, his forgiveness, and faith…The Lord will not let us move forward until we come before him and experience his healing, experience his wholeness, experience him changing us, taking us to a place of repentance, saying ‘God, these ways that I’ve lived with, that’s been formed in me, is not who I am nor something I should live in. Lord, I turn in repentance, teach me how to obey.’ The Holy Spirit will not let us remain in the sinful and untransformed mind and emotions – this is the love of our God…The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to cleanse and heal those areas, to transform us into the image of Christ.” (P. Gus’ message)

Prayer: Father, because you love me so much, you won’t let me stay in my old ways, thank you. I welcome in your Holy Spirit’s ministry to show me why I am hitting this wall, to cleanse me from old ways of thinking and doing, to heal me where I am broken and transform me to be more like Jesus. Move me forward in the new ways of your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Holy Spirit” by Jesus Culture (click here).

-KW

 

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)
¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

“A seal was indeed a mark of ownership in the ancient world…Under the old covenant, the priest wore a seal engraved with the phrase, ‘Holy to the LORD’ (Exodus 28:36; 39:30)…In the new covenant era, the one true God has marked all of his people as belonging to himself by means of a seal…The Spirit is also a ‘deposit’ on the future inheritance of believers.” (Arnold, Clinton E., Ephesians, ZEGNT)

Praise the Lord that we can walk in this assurance of belonging to him and of our future with him, no matter what is going on inside of us or outside of us. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit!

Prayer: Father, thank you for this assurance from the Holy Spirit that we belong to you and that our future with you is secure. When doubts or insecurities start to creep in or things feel uncertain, remind us that our salvation comes from you and has been sealed already by your powerful presence.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s respond in worship with “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day)” by Matt Redman (click here).

-KW

John 14:16-17 (NIV)
¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth…you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

“As Jesus is the voice and presence of God, the Spirit is the presence of Father and Son in this world, the one who mediates the divine truths and empowers God’s people. In the next two sections Jesus presents a remarkable truth. Our hope is tied up with the return of Christ and the home in heaven that awaits us. But in actuality there is a coming of Christ that precedes this and involves a home he makes in us through the Holy Spirit. The final promise involves our making a home in heaven; this intermediate promise involves the Triune Godhead making a home in us. So we already enjoy a touch of heaven, an exciting anticipation of what awaits us.” (Grant Osbourne, John Verse by Verse, 338)

What an incredible promise we have received, that the Living God has made his home in us through the Holy Spirit. We can experience the heavenly reality now because God has given us his very Spirit, who is with us and in us.

Prayer: Father, thank you for making your home in me through your Holy Spirit. Thank you that I do know the Spirit of truth, your very presence within me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s respond in worship with “All My Life” by Planetshakers (click here).

– KW