We are never Christians because of what we’re doing, and what we don’t do. Our relationship with God is never based on the observance of special days or seasons. Neither does our observance of the rules and the laws of the Old Testament, including men’s made rules and regulations with their denominational traditions make us better Christians.
It’s only on the basis of our recognition of the finished work of His Son (Jesus Christ) on the cross at Calvary, that we can truly lay the solid foundation for a fruitful relationship with our Father God.
And the way to start living that fruitful Christian life in our relationship with the Father, is through our ability to develop an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.
The Holy Spirit dwells in us for the purpose of making our Christian life and walk fruitful and exciting. The Christian life with the Holy Spirit is never for one day or a moment boring. It’s only those who are not in fellowship with Him, who will see Him as being boring. He is not boring at all!
And anyone who doesn’t know that God is living in him by the presence of the Holy Spirit within him, will apparently find it difficult to live the Christian life.
That’s why many do see Christianity as being boring, instead of being exciting. They obviously don’t have any relationship with the Holy Spirit. And they can’t have any fellowship with Him for as long as their attitude towards Him is not right.
Such people are often falling into temptation and eventually into sin against God. They are backslidden away from the new life in Christ Jesus. It’s actually the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, that makes our relationship with the Lord God real to us.
The Bible says:
“By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
I John 4:13 NKJV
There is therefore no shortcut to Heaven. Every child of God needs to be sure with all certainty that God is living in him.
This assurance of our salvation gives us the boldness to approach, the Throne of God’s grace and mercy at all times. We are able to approach God and talk with Him directly, about anything that we want on the basis of the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross.
However, just because one is a Christian doesn’t mean that he is in constant communication with Him. You are still living in your earthly body, just as you are still vulnerable to the influences of the world around you.
You however do have the choice not to succumb to the influences of the world, because you are aware that such influences, will eventually affect your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Let God’s Word build you up!
God had designed an escape pathway from the wickedness of this world for us through His written Word (the Holy Bible). If you are consistently reading and studying your Bible every day, you will discover the supernatural shield of God’s protection that has been made available for you.
You obviously cannot grow in your relationship with God, if you’re not committed to reading and studying your Bible on a regular basis. It’s just as every parent will normally feed the children daily with food, so as to nurture them into adulthood.
In the same manner our Heavenly Father feeds us through His written Word, until we are spiritually matured in His presence. The Holy Spirit will be unable to find something to work with in your life, if you are not feeding yourself with God’s word every day. And if He can’t find anything on the basis of God’s word in your life, you won’t be able to cultivate any relationship with Him.
The Lord God wants all of His children to grow up and become spiritually matured. There are a lot of evil deeds going on around us every day. That is why no one can ever afford not to be growing up spiritually as a child of God in this world.
Your ability to resist the devil and the temptation of this world will help in developing your spiritual muscles. The more you’re resisting the devil and his temptations, the stronger you will become spiritually.
And the Holy Spirit is living within us to help us in our resistance against the devil. Therefore, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, we do have a pathway into spiritual maturity.
The scripture says:
“For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Romans 8:14 AMP
Our ability to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis is very crucial to our spiritual growth. Those who are not yielding to the Spirit of God are obviously yielding to the world and the flesh within them.
Yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit demands, that we are fully committed to the final authority of God’s written word in our lives. A Christian who is not fully committed to the final authority of God’s word in his life, will find it difficult to yield to the Holy Spirit.
It’s even more interesting that the original Greek version of this same scripture text in the Bible says: “for those who are being continually led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
In other words, it’s those who are continually being led by the Spirit of God, that are actually the sons of God. If you’re not continually being led by Him, you can’t really be calling yourself a Christian; because as this scripture text says, you’re not.
You are a son of God because you are continually yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your relationship with God. These are those who are not allowing anything in this world to restrain them, from yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
The Christian who does this continually is spiritually matured. He has trained his heart, mind and body to respond with speed to the nudges of the Holy Spirit, in fulfilling the will of the Father.
The Passion Translation of the same scripture text above says:
“The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 8:14 TPT
Being led by the Holy Spirit is a sign of spiritual maturity. When the impulses of the Holy Spirit are leading us into the will of the Father, those impulses will always be confirmed to us by the written word of God, to our hearts in authenticating what He is saying to us. God’s written word on the tablets of our hearts will always affirm the voice of the Holy Spirit to us.
That’s why a Christian takes the time daily to read and study the scriptures. In this way he can be prepared to act in accordance with the will of God, in every situation that he is being confronted with daily.
Those who have no comprehension about what the Holy scriptures is saying will always struggle, to respond to the impulses of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They have not trained themselves with “the solid meat” of God’s word, but are still feeding on the “milk” of His written word in their daily walk with the Lord (Hebrews 5:13-14).
There are several Spirit filled Christians who are speaking in other tongues, but who are still spiritual babies, because they’ve not trained themselves, to be yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
There are others who are actually being led by their feelings, because they are still struggling to identify their rightful places in Christ Jesus, so as to be able to recognize the voice of their inner man. They are therefore unable to separate the voice of the Holy Spirit from the voice of their flesh.
They may be reading and studying God’s word, but they are not allowing God’s word to become the final authority in their lives. God’s word is not being allowed by them to help them, in separating the voice of the Spirit of God from the voice of their flesh.
The Bible says:
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
God’s word within our hearts separates the voice of the Spirit from that of the soul, so that we can be able to truly discern the intents of the heart. This is how we are often being led in recognizing the will of God. In this way we can be quick to respond to the impulses of the Spirit of God in our lives.
A Self-crucified life is alive in Christ Jesus
A Christian who is not yet crucified with Christ Jesus will be led by his feeling and the desires of his flesh. God’s word is not alive in him, because he is not yet crucified to the worldly desires which are dominating him.
Christianity therefore becomes a mechanical obedience to the rules and the regulations, of the Church to him. And no matter how much he is praying, he cannot be directed and led by the Spirit of God, because he is unable to yield to the Holy Spirit.
As the scripture says:
“But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.”
Galatians 5:18 NLT
We are therefore not under any obligation to the law and it’s legalistic codes of conduct, if indeed we are being led by the Spirit of God. Men made rules and regulations in Churches do have the ability, to hinder the spiritual growth of Church members:
“For the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”
Hebrews 7:19 NKJV
The better hope through which we draw near to God is Christ Jesus. And the only law, rule or regulation that Jesus has commanded us to obey, is His commandment to us as Christians to love one another (John 13:34).
There is a spiritual veil of Church rules and regulations that are impeding, the ability of certain Christians from yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are already available within the Body of Christ worldwide; but the members of each Body cannot yield to these gifts, because of their churches or denominational rules and regulations.
The scripture says again that:
“Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
II Corinthians 3:16-17 NKJV
As soon as the veil of the denominational doctrine is removed from the lives of these believers in Christ, God’s people will eventually be set loose to start yielding to the moves of the Holy Spirit in their midst. This is how the impulse of the Holy Spirit comes with the manifestation of His gifts to bless God’s people.
Church growth is often being hindered by the rules and regulations of men with their traditions. That’s why the gifts of the Holy Ghost are not being manifested in certain congregations. People cannot get saved, healed and delivered, because of the rules and regulations of men which are in the way of the move of God (Ezekiel 34:4).
It’s when the Lordship of Christ Jesus is being allowed to supersede denominational doctrines, that the spiritual veil can be finally removed.
The Holy Spirit will always lead us through the written word of God, that has been sowed in our lives as seeds. If a Christian is not sowing the seed of God’s word on a daily basis into his life, there is nothing in such a Christian’s life that the Holy Spirit can work with for his spiritual growth.
You cannot grow up spiritually just because you are attending Church services and meetings. You may even attend every conference, seminars and other Church events; but your mere presence there cannot transform you into the image of Christ.
You will have to be making deliberate efforts by yourself to sow the seed of God’s word, from those events into your personal life, so that you can become who you were destined to become by your Father in Heaven.
The Apostle Paul said:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NKJV
The pathway to spiritual maturity thereafter begins with the process of self-crucifixion with Christ Jesus.
This however cannot happen until a Christian begins to identify with Him in His death, burial and resurrection. If we are dead with Him, we will be made alive with Him; so that we can begin to live the new life with Him, while reigning with Him on this earth (2 Timothy 2:11-13).
Until a Christian is free from the law of sin and death, as well as from this evil world with the deception in it, he cannot truly be led by the Spirit of the Lord.
And while being free from the control and manipulation of this evil world with the sins and deception within it, he must be prepared also to be free from himself. Otherwise, he will continue to struggle in being led by the Spirit of the Lord God, who lives in him.
These three things will hinder the ability of any Christian to develop an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit – habitual sinful lifestyle pattern, the evil of this world and self-glorification.
It is up to us to separate ourselves from these three things, so that the life of Christ may become evident in us with the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Of these three, majority of Christians today are struggling with self-glorification. They are struggling to get free from themselves and their self-egos. Self-glorification is rooted in the pride of life and haughtiness. And these two things are not pleasing to our Father in Heaven.
The Bible says:
“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 16:18 NKJV
A haughty and prideful Christian is on the way to falling into the temptation to sin. And the pride of life will eventually separate him from the life of the Spirit in Christ Jesus.
Humility before God is God’s remedy for those who are suffering as a result of this:
“A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.”
Proverbs 29:23 NKJV
Jesus gave a perfect example to us in following to humble ourselves. The scriptures say concerning Him:
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,”
Philippians 2:8-9 NKJV
Jesus was obedient to God’s written word and the voice of God’s Spirit, even to the point of death on the cross. Total and complete obedience to God in this way brought Him glorification by the Father.
Our Heavenly Father cannot turn His eyes away from those, who are totally and completely submissive to the final authority, of His written word and the voice of His Spirit in their lives. They are the ones who will not shrink back from dying in the face of persecution, for what His word says to them (Revelation 12:11).
Just as Stephen saw the glory of the Lord God while he was being stoned to death by his persecutors, they will see God’s glory being manifested in their lives also, through the things that they have been through in the process of self-crucifixion with Christ Jesus (Acts 7:55).
Some have gone away from following the examples of Jesus Christ, to follow in the ways of this evil world, because of the pride of life in them. And it will ultimately lead them into destruction, just as the scriptures says above.
The Apostle Paul gave us an example of one individual, who had allowed the pride of life to lead him away from the new life in Christ Jesus.
He had warned and informed Timothy about him:
“For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.”
II Timothy 4:10 NKJV
Demas had left the lifestyle of faith that he was living with Paul, so as to start living his Christian life with the mentality of the Babylonian system. This evidently was a compromised and polluted form of Christianity, which some are practicing also today.
Paul had to warn Timothy about this brother in Christ, so that others who knew him would be careful in their dealings with him. Paul had to do this to prevent this type of compromised and polluted form of Christianity, from spreading to other parts of the world where he had planted churches,
And there are a lot of Christians today who are living like Demas. They love the pleasures of this world more than they do love God.
The devil has entrapped them with the deceitfulness of this world. They are listening more to the voices of evil from this world, more than to the voice of the Holy Spirit within them and through the scriptures.
The more they are listening to the voices of the evil in the world, the more they are compromising their faith by living in obedience to what the world is teaching them. This is why their spiritual ear has been deafened to hear from the Holy Spirit.
Are you like this brother in Christ that was mentioned here by the Apostle Paul? Is the world daily enticing you away from your first love for Christ Jesus?
There are many ways that the devil is pulling God’s children away from following Jesus these days. Watch out for the temptation to sin, the deception of the world and anything in your life, that is not giving glory to Jesus.
If you are a self-centered person, you are plainly on the wrong track. You are walking in the same path, that led Demas astray from yielding to the Holy Spirit.
And it’s going to make you a Christian who is being led by the social norms and your personal feelings, instead of faith in Christ Jesus and God’s word. You will be compromised in the way you are practicing your Christianity.
But you can escape this trap of the evil one today, by making the personal decision to stay on track with your daily Bible reading and studies. If you do have the time for the things of this world, surely you do have the time for the word of God also.
It will transform you into a better Christian and open your heart to the voice of the Holy Spirit, in leading and guiding you every day of your life.
Your spiritual journey with the Holy Ghost is about to begin. And it’s a journey that will take you into eternity with the Father in Heaven.
So therefore, start enjoying this spiritual journey with the Holy Spirit, while you:
“Keep in mind that we who belong to Jesus Christ have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self-life was put to death on the cross and crucified with Messiah. If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives. So may we never be arrogant, or look down on another, for each of us is an original. We must forsake all jealousy that diminishes the value of others.”
Galatians 5:24-26 TPT
And most importantly keep yourself in God’s love with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Shalom!
