Spirit #7 – The Christian Journey is about Work and Change

Workings of the Holy Spirit

courtesy Dean Williams 2012

Salvation came to us by grace through faith based on the works of Christ; and now, Christians have an obligation to do our own works because of God’s free gift.

Scripture says we are to “put off” our old self, “renew” the attitude of our minds, and “put on” the new self that God created to be like him (Eph. 4:22-24 NIV). Few churches, however, preach on doing our own works—such as “put off”, “renew”, and “put on”—because few understand that life and incorruption are contained in these verses.

1. The reason we put off our old self is because it is still tied to lustful desires that continue to corrupt our spirit, soul, and body (Eph. 4:22 NIV).

2. The reason we renew the attitude of our minds is to rid ourselves of a mindset whose focus is on death (Heb. 9:27), and to embrace the abundant life Christ came to give us (John 10:10; John 11:26).

3. The reason we put on the new self is because God created the new self to be like him—incorruptible and full of life (2 Peter 1:4).

Jesus did his work and said “It is finished”.

Then he sent his Spirit to work: to change (mĕtamŏrphŏō) us into the Lord’s likeness from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18). But his Spirit doesn’t change all Christians. His Spirit changes only those who contemplate, ponder, and reflect upon—his glory!

Isn’t it time you got to work, Christian?

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Scriptures marked “NIV” are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Other Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spirit #6 – What Does Your Mind’s Disposition Say of You?

Workings of the Holy Spirit

Much of our inability to recognize the workings of the Holy Spirit in us is because we believe for, rather than do, the work of faith which salvation requires (James 2:17). Thus, in order to take what is limited in scope (what we see or believe for) to what is unlimited in reality (what we see or believe for by faith), we are to be:

·Renewed in the spirit (pnĕuma) of your mind  (Eph. 4:23).

·Renewed in the mental-disposition of your mind.

Throughout our Christian journey, we’ve experienced some mean-spiritedness from other Christians, haven’t we? Yet, we’ve also been guilty of the same behavior. Let’s say someone has offended us. We do the “Christian thing” and forgive. Yet, after we walk away, our mind is busy hurling insults at them because we’re still angry and forgiveness did not satisfy our sense of self-rightness.

We’ve made ourselves Christians with incongruous behaviors—hypocrites—because what we’re doing openly do not agree with what we’re doing secretly! And as long as there is no agreement between our outer and inner behaviors, we mute the inner witness that testifies of Christ in us the hope of glory.

Therefore, to renew the mental-disposition of our mind is to make transitions—away from its origins in darkness, through shadow, onward toward light—and the reality found in Christ Jesus (Heb. 2:17 NIV).

To accomplish these transitions, we apply the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23, 24) to the spirit (pnĕuma, mental-disposition) of our mind.

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Scriptures marked “NIV” are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Other Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spirit #5 – When the Spirit Speaks to Children of Faith

Workings of the Holy Spirit 

One day I received a phone call from the leader of our intercessory prayer group. A teenager was missing. The details were vague. Could our family pray?

My young children were with me at the time—ages 5, 10, and 11. They recently received the gift of the Holy Spirit*, so we had yet to discover how the Spirit would manifest to them (1 Cor.12:11 NIV). I asked if they wanted to pray with me for a high school boy that nobody could find.

Eyes closed. Hearts focused. We prayed. After less than five minutes, the youngest shared.

1. She had seen a heart traveling upwards, but the heart couldn’t get past a big wooden block.
2. The oldest had seen a guardrail.
3. The third only had a feeling that his prayer was being blocked.

As I quickly wrote notes for a return call to the church-leader, my phone rang again. They found the boy. He was dead.

Now I understood. The blocked heart, the guardrail, and blocked feeling all meant that our prayers could not save the boy now. Instead, the leader and I prayed for his family.

I withheld the unhappy outcome from my children that day. Instead, I hugged and kissed them and remarked that they had truly heard God.

The Spirit sweetly communicates with children of faith right where they’re at: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child” (1 Cor. 13:11 NKJV).
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*Acts 2:2-4 NIV

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.