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shocked by following the Spirit

Have you ever been shocked by following the Spirit of God?  I have, and it happens pretty often.  It is not being shocked always cause I am wrong or when God does some miracle.  It is mostly when the Spirit shows me how sweet it is to follow Him.  

In those times I remember that obeying God is the real sign of success.  The Spirit speaks to my heart and effects what my hands do, where my feet take me and what my mind thinks.  All of that shows up in how I deal with the people around me.  I have been shocked by following the Spirit.

Here is some of that evidence:

Galatians 5:25 (NLT) --- Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.

God intends for us to follow the Spirit.

John 16:13 (NLT) --- When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

God intends for us to listen to the Spirit.  And what he shares is truth.

John 14:26 (NASB) --- But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

God intends for us to know the Spirit because the Spirit is a person just like Jesus.

Romans 5:5 (NLT) --- And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) --- But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

God says that people will know you are following the Spirit as the evidence is seen in your life and in mine.  That evidence is love.  It is God's kind of love.

Far too many Christians are tied up in anger and bitterness, sin and revenge, bad relationships and wrong motives, and more.  What shocked me most today is when God began to talk to me about some of how I think.  That thinking is wasted, wrong and just worthless if not led by the Spirit.  No, I am not talking about lust filled thoughts or thoughts of wanting to hurt someone.  These are thoughts of doing things my way instead of Gods way, thoughts of helping people in the way I think and not how God says.  In other words, in everything we do often we have a tendency to do things our way and not the Spirit's way.  That is not shocking.  Or is it?

I was shocked by following the Spirit.  But wait.  I was also freed, encouraged, charged up, excited, and lifted to follow the Spirit even more.  Another thing I have noticed is that following the Spirit makes any fear leave my life and confidence take it's place.  Confidence in God not self.  

My prayer is that we will be shocked by following the Spirit.

Comments

Unknown said…
Good stuff! Keep it up man!
December 6, 2009 at 9:49:00 AM EST
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