Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 1

Messages for November 2015: Our Month of the Holy Spirit

 John 14:18, 26; John 16:13; 1Cor.12:7

Message for Sunday 8^th November, 2015

Theme: Understanding the Gift and Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 1

Introduction: Last week, we commenced this month’s theme with looking at who the Holy Spirit is and what His mission is on earth. We were able to establish from the word of God that He is God and the first of the Godhead introduced to us in the Bible. We also saw that His mission could be interpreted as reestablishing God’s original purpose for making man which was to have a family for Himself who would replenish the earth with His plan for the earth by multiplying the Garden of Eden all around the world according to the prototype God showed him in the beginning thus subduing the world and exercising dominion over it. However, man could not do this without God and unknown to him at the time, there was a dangerous slimy enemy in the earth known as Satan the devil who through the serpent lured the first man from God’s purpose through sin. Man was thus disconnected from God and all efforts to get back to God on his own proved to be to no avail until God reestablished the link by coming in the person of God the Son: Jesus Christ to take away our sin and make it possible for us to be able to relate with God as he originally intended. Since then, all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ are given access to God and can receive a new spirit that becomes the house where the Holy Spirit resides in on earth.

What is required in this relationship?

1.     Understand that God now dwells in man through the new birth experience. This means the closest person to us now is God the Holy Spirit. This therefore shows us that any man who wants to cultivate a relationship with God must first be born again. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord, the Holy Spirit births a new spirit within you where He would reside and from where He would fulfill His ministry to you and through you. See John 3:3-7, 16; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Heb.10:15-22; 2Cor.5:17-21; 1Cor.3:16 & 6:19-20.

2.       In every relationship, communication is vital for the parties to be able to understand each other and relate appropriately. God knows and understands us more than we even know ourselves because He created and made us and like the perfect manufacturer He is, He has our entire lives mapped out in His plan. If we seek Him, He’ll reveal it to us [Jer.1:4-5; 29:11-13 & 33:3]. See Gen.1:26-28; Ps.100:3; Isa.43:7; John 1:3 and Col.1:16. On the other hand, we had lost the glory of knowing and walking with God to sin. Therefore, we must work out our salvation by meeting the demands of spirituality so that God who is Spirit can reveal Himself to us because all that can be known of God is only possible by His revelation to us. What He does not show us would be hidden to us because the secret things belong to Him but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever [Deu.29:29; Philippians 2:12-13]. God has solved this problem by offering us the infilling with His Spirit. When we are filled with His Spirit, we have ease of access into the world of God’s Spirit by His language. Let us understand that the importance of language in communication cannot be overemphasized because it is the foundation for communicating. This explains why unity cannot be actualized without a common language. When God wanted to break the unity among men because they were using it against their purpose, He confused their language. Now for us to come into oneness with God, we have to speak His language in tongues and His word revealed to us now packaged in the bible. See [Gen.11:1-9; Mark 16:17; Isa.28:11; John 4:23-24; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 38-39; 1Cor.14:2, 14].

3.       We must get to know and understand God through His word because the Holy Spirit would only reason with us on the platform of the scriptures. See Isa.1:18; 43:25-25; Romans 12:2; Ps.1:1-3; Joshua 1:8. Knowing God through His word is actualized by reading, meditating on and doing His word. If we only read and cram the word, the best we would get out of it is quoting the scriptures like parrots without benefiting from the life it generates. But when we read, meditate on and do the word, we would be able to access the Spirit and life of the word and be instrumental in bringing it to others. We would not only receive the light of life, we would become lights indeed to the world. Let us not forget that God’s desire for us is to bear much fruit. This is the only way we can maintain sustained relevance with God. See Jas.1:22-25; 1Tim.4:14-16; John 1:1-5; 6:63; 15:8; Ps.119:130; Matthew 5:14-16.

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!