Life In The Spirit!

“15 If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” John 14:15-17 (NLT)

by Alexandra Copeland

There was a time in our faith where we could be comfortable with things as they were, and count on them remaining that way for a while. Many of us never thought for one minute that anything would ever significantly change. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, most of us didn’t realize that this decision would introduce us to life on a whole other level. Forever acclimating to the dynamics of this journey forward in Christ, we learn that not only do we have expectations of him, but he has expectations of us. He tells us in Luke 12:48 (NLT), “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return.” You may not necessarily see this as good news, but God guarantees that it’s the best news we could receive. 

Someone once said, “We came to God as we were, but He never intended that we should remain that way.” When we first come to Him, Heavenly Father accepts us the way that we are. We were born into sin, and through Jesus Christ, we are saved from continuing in a life of sin. We can choose life in him instead of going down the path of death and darkness. As we journey forward in Christ, we need to get to know God in a very intimate and personal way. We accomplish this by reading and studying His Word. There are so many avenues today that will give us access to the bible. We can read it on the internet, on our phones and tablets, and we also hear it preached and taught to us in our respective Christian communities. So we really have no excuse. 

One of the greatest things that we will discover as we study God’s Word is that He predestined us. He’s given us a purpose to fulfill in life, and He has also laid a path before us that will lead us to that purpose. All of us should be extremely interested in finding out God’s Will and purpose for our lives, because we will discover very quickly that walking outside of His purpose will lead us down a dark path; our lives will feel very much out of synch. We might attempt to get ahead, but nothing works out the way we think it is going to. God isn’t punishing us. He has designed the universe to open up opportunities and blessings to us when our first priority is to seek Him and His Will. 

Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek God and His righteousness first. So before making decisions and choices in life, the first step that any of us should take is to ask God, because He’s our Creator. He knows what is best for us. He is such a loving Heavenly Father, and we can go to Him with anything that is on our hearts. We can ask Him any question and He will answer us. 

God speaks to us, and He does so most often through the Spirit that indwells us. The Holy Spirit is our friend, comforter, advocate, teacher and guide. He guides us into all truth. (John 16:13) He helps us to navigate through life successfully. He teaches us about Jesus Christ, and most importantly, the Holy Spirit that indwells us helps us to grow closer to God. This isn’t an abstract reality. It’s a very tangible and concrete dynamic. The Spirit that indwells us is not an ‘it’. He is more real than you and I. He’s a person, and he lives inside of us. Talk about supernatural, this is off the scale. 

Jesus Christ told the disciples in John 14:15-17 (NLT), “15 If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” Jesus Christ is our blessed Lord. He is our Big Brother, because through him we became God’s children. He walked this earth and brought glory to our Heavenly Father through his life, ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection.

Our King, Jesus Christ, restored the connection to God that was severed by Adam’s act of disobedience. It was God’s intention all along that we would be His spiritual sons and daughters. He sent His only begotten son to the earth to not only restore the connection between us and Him, but to also demonstrate for us the Will and Heart of the Father. Jesus Christ showed us by his example the kind of life that God always intended us to live. We are not to be afraid and walk in insecurity, doubt, and fear. We are to have a wholehearted confidence in God, and to employ our lives to be a blessing.

In John 14:12-14 (NLT), Jesus Christ said, “¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. ¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” Christ has empowered us to do the very same works that he did. As a matter of fact, he said that we would even do greater works than him. There was no internet for Jesus Christ to reach millions of people in a matter of minutes, but this is available to us today. We have extraordinary resources in our day and time, and we should want to use them to further the mission of Christ.

God blesses us with much so that we will in turn bless others, but often we miss those opportunities to be a blessing. We clog the funnel with selfishness, not realizing that releasing the blessings we receive opens greater opportunity for us to be blessed ourselves. Other times, we will head down a path that we think is the most expedient for our own lives, and it’s not what God had in mind for us; it doesn’t help us to fulfill and further our purpose. These are just small ways that we sometimes veer off the path.

A greater commitment to spiritual growth and more time in prayer is the perfect medicine for this. Sometimes, it’s just a slight movement that takes us off course. We need to hear from the Spirit, and shouldn’t make any moves until we do. As we begin to pray quietly, meditate on God, and speak the name of Jesus Christ over and over again, we will place ourselves back in alignment with God’s Will. You and I are not able to explain it, but God does a most perfect work within us through the Spirit when we put everything aside and focus only on Him.

This is life in the spirit! And it is beyond extraordinary. This is why our number one goal in life should be to grow in the Spirit, so that we mature in our understanding of God and what He requires of us. God’s Word is the fuel for our faith, and as we are obedient to His Word, the results and blessings from our faith will increase. We will gain greater awareness of how Heavenly Father moves. So make every effort to increase your efforts to mature in Christ. Lean on God for everything in life, and have confidence that He’s working in you through the Holy Spirit. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.