The Holy Spirit

Being pentecostal, it is sometimes easy to focus on the manifestations of the Holy Spirit forgetting that the real secret to being filled with the Spirit is to simply let Him live through me. Jesus said He was going to send the Spirit when He left. He even went so far to say it is "BETTER if I go away", why? Because when Jesus was on the earth He could only be with people. But now through the Spirit, He is actually inside of us!

Think about it! We don't have to endure the pressure of trying to live a holy life that is unattainable, but we really have a shot at being successful at living a life pleasing to God because His Spirit lives in me. I don't have to try anf follow Jesus as a role model but I just have to let Him live through me! Doesn't that seem easier than trying to copy what He would do. Through the Spirit I can actually live it!

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me... (Galatians 2:20 NKJV)

Now that's Pentecostal!

Forgetting what is behind...reaching forward

Sunday, I spoke from Philippians 3:13 (Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead) It really is important to the successful believer that we put the past behind and reach ahead. I have observed over the course of 20 years of ministry that the best predictor of how successful someone will be in their faith is the abiblity to leave things behind and move on to what lies ahead.

Trapped in the past - I find that many of the problems that beleivers and for that matter churches struggle with are partly due to the grip they have on past events. Usually unresolved issues or the absence of confrontation births the inability to move on. People trapped in the past keep trying to fix or do-over these past incidents only to be disappointed with the results of such an endeavor.

What is obvious to me is that God wants us to be forward in our thinking, not stuck in the past. When you think about it the at the heart of christianity is the concept of looking forward towards eternity.