Are you relying on the Holy Spirit or not?
10/8/2008
When we have faith in God, we are relying on His Spirit, so we have God’s power to live the Christian life. Yet when we choose to have faith in ourselves, we aren’t relying on His Spirit, so we are suppressing God’s power in our life. Now to be honest, some things we do by relying on ourselves look pretty terrific from a human perspective. Yet Isaiah 64:6 informs us that our works are like the stench of old blood or death to God. Kinda sobering terminology, isn’t it?
By reading the book of Galatians we can hear how the Galatians weren’t living by faith in God (even though they had been saved by faith in Jesus Christ), but by faith in their own works, leaving the Spirit out. When we are trusting in our own works, we can look spiritual to others, yet are useless to God. Ouch!
The Holy Spirit gives us the power, strength, and even the desire to do God’s will. However we have a responsibility! This responsibility is to choose moment by moment who you will put your trust in or rely on, either God’s Spirit or yourself. Whoever you choose will control you! The key to choosing what the Spirit wants is getting to know God and His Word, so you can know His voice in your mind. This will enable you to truly listen to Him! Who do you rely on or trust in – yourself, who will produce dead works, or God’s Spirit, who will produce fruitful eternal works for God? Read Galatians 2:20;5:16-26.
Because of His Spirit, Gini