It’s a Spirit Thing
C. Hayden 4-23-18

The past several Sundays, since Easter, we have been focusing on the Holy Spirit and His reality in our lives.  We often over look the power of the Holy Spirit and His working in us.  This topic is so important that I have even decided to teach on the working of the Spirit to the Seniors in our community at the Heritage of Huntington this week!  Keep me in prayer!  The subject often baffles us and concerns us because of so much fear and disinformation surrounding what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Today I want to bridge the issue by revealing to you what a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit looks like and acts like.  Once we see what type of atmosphere is created by a Spirit-filled person, our fears of having the Holy Spirit take over our lives can be diffused.  We find the results of being Spirit-filled display in the book of Galatians.

Galatians 5:16-17 and Galatians 5:22-23 says this, “16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” AND “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”  Did you catch all of that?  This it what the Spirit looks like in a person:  LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL.  This list is known as the nine fruits of the Spirit.  There can be other signs in a person’s life that give a clue that the Holy Spirit has been given control, but these are the nine listed in God’s Word as the fruit that will come forth from a life given over to the Holy Spirit’s leading.  Does this describe you?  Maybe some but not all?  If we are lacking in any of these fruit, we know that there is more of us that we need to give over to the Holy Spirit fro His review and refinement.

What I would say to every believer today including myself, be filled with the Spirit.  As the scripture states above, “Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

Be blessed even more and have a wonderful week!!

Pastor Chris