What does it mean to live life in the Spirit?
Chances are most of us have a difficult time nailing down the exact role the Holy Spirit plays in our lives on a daily basis. Of the three members of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit seems to get the least amount of focus. We spend a lot of time talking about God the Father and God the Son, but we often tend to overlook the Holy Spirit. While most Christians wouldn’t readily admit to ignoring the third person of the Trinity, the truth is most believers would have a hard time pointing to His presence in their lives.
Francis Chan addresses this dilemma in his recent book, “Forgotten God; Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.” He argues that when believers live in the power of the Holy Spirit the evidence in their lives is supernatural. In other words, we should be experiencing the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives on a daily basis and there should be things happening in our lives that cannot be explained apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. Herein lies the problem for most of us. We experience the Holy Spirit at conversion and shortly after, but He has less and less impact in our lives the longer we are Christians. Instead of seeking to live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit, we get wrapped up in the cares of this world and fall into the trap of living the Christian life in our own strength. We measure our success, not by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but by listing all of our accomplishments. Some Christians may even fall into legalism and develop an extensive list of do’s and don’ts. Instead of living life in the power of the Spirit, the Christian life becomes a joyless existence that is all about keeping the rules. Instead of God's grace, our acceptance is measured by the things we do. Life in the Spirit is a life of freedom and joy, as we simply seek to live each day in the Spirit's direction. As Paul points out in Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” As believers we must seek to live each day in the power and presence of the Spirit. Are you living today in the power and the presence of the Spirit? When was the last time you experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Chances are most of us have a difficult time nailing down the exact role the Holy Spirit plays in our lives on a daily basis. Of the three members of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit seems to get the least amount of focus. We spend a lot of time talking about God the Father and God the Son, but we often tend to overlook the Holy Spirit. While most Christians wouldn’t readily admit to ignoring the third person of the Trinity, the truth is most believers would have a hard time pointing to His presence in their lives.
Francis Chan addresses this dilemma in his recent book, “Forgotten God; Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.” He argues that when believers live in the power of the Holy Spirit the evidence in their lives is supernatural. In other words, we should be experiencing the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives on a daily basis and there should be things happening in our lives that cannot be explained apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. Herein lies the problem for most of us. We experience the Holy Spirit at conversion and shortly after, but He has less and less impact in our lives the longer we are Christians. Instead of seeking to live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit, we get wrapped up in the cares of this world and fall into the trap of living the Christian life in our own strength. We measure our success, not by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but by listing all of our accomplishments. Some Christians may even fall into legalism and develop an extensive list of do’s and don’ts. Instead of living life in the power of the Spirit, the Christian life becomes a joyless existence that is all about keeping the rules. Instead of God's grace, our acceptance is measured by the things we do. Life in the Spirit is a life of freedom and joy, as we simply seek to live each day in the Spirit's direction. As Paul points out in Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” As believers we must seek to live each day in the power and presence of the Spirit. Are you living today in the power and the presence of the Spirit? When was the last time you experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?
