Lesson 175 – When the Spirit Is Light

Ephesians 5:8-10

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord."

Light is a wonderful thing, for it drives out darkness, illuminates our way, and makes our path clear. Without light, we're be hopelessly lost with nothing to guide our way, simply stumbling along without purpose.

Paul reminds the church at Ephesus that all believers once lived in darkness. Not that we couldn't see with our eyes, but that we were blinded to spiritual realities. Without Christ, we were hopelessly lost in our sins, with nothing to guide our way to God. But with the coming of the Spirit, we're led to faith in Jesus Christ and now live in the light of Savior.

As a people of the light which is the Spirit, we now live with the reality of God with us. In the Spirit, our way is clear and the Lord work in us, bringing about spiritual fruits.

Just like physical light, the Spirit is all about what it illuminates. In believers, the Spirit reveals our new nature in Christ, showing God's goodness, righteousness and truth in the church.

Sometimes believers are like someone out in the dark when their headlights go out. We can no longer see where we're going and forced to sit and wait on a new source of light. For Christians, that source of light is a restoral of the Spirit to a full position of glory within us. When we grieve the Spirit, the light grows dim. When we rejoice in the Spirit through a life of worship and obedience, God's light shines bright within and through us.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the Spirit which lights my life, driving out the darkness of my sins. May I continuously look to your light to show me how to live in a world of darkness. Amen.

Lesson 174 – When the Spirit Is Grieved

Ephesians 4:30

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

We've seen already that it is the Spirit who seals our salvation. The Holy Spirit is God's earnest towards us, the guarantee of the salvation completed in Christ and being worked out in us lives until our redemption is complete. Here, Paul gives warning that believers are not to be the source of grief of towards this same Spirit.

Over the years, I've heard various explanations as to what it means for a believer to grieve the Spirit. Some say grieving comes when we resisting the Spirit's call on our lives, or when we live in disobedience to the Word, or when we crowd out the Spirit's influence by not seeking daily after God.

While we can't know for sure what it means to grieve the Spirit, a clue comes from the word itself. When we cause grief in someone, regardless from what manner, we cause hurt in some way. To grieve the Spirit means we've caused hurt to our relationship with God. Not that we break this relationship, for it is sealed by the Spirit as a covenant, but that we strain it in some way. Grief causes pain.

Trouble is, we often grieve the Spirit and don't even know it. This happens when we're already living so far apart from the Spirit's touch that we don't even miss the absence of God's power when we've pushed away the Spirit. Unlike in an earthly relationship, we don't see the impact of our actions on God's heart unless we're closely looking for it.

In a marriage relationship, we learn what causes hurt in each other so that we can avoid those actions. Sometimes this is through the school of hard knocks, and other times we learn by intently observing our spouse. I think if we'll look back to times past, we can learn how we've grieved the Spirit. And if we'll intently observe our Lord through the Word, we'll understand the dangers of where we may grieve the Spirit in the future.

And maybe it is time for believers to ask God to tell us the ways we grieve the Spirit so that we can avoid those things as well.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I invite you to impress upon my heart the times I've grieved my relationship with your Spirit. I want to do everything necessary in my life to restore the sweetness of our relationship. Amen.

Lesson 173 – When the Spirit Is One

Ephesians 4:1-6

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

Within the church, we often talk about unity, meaning that we care for each other as much as we care for ourselves, laboring to keep any disagreement from tearing us apart and striving to be a part of each other's lives.

But how often do we stop to consider that unity within the church is a factor of the Spirit's touch? Paul writes of the unity of the Spirit, reminding us that if we are to be one body of Christ, it is only through the one Spirit which abides with us.

Too often, we try to schedule unity within a church. You know, though potlucks, social events, retreats, etc. We somehow think these actions will draw us together in a special way. And sometimes they help, though just as often, they cause us to grow tired of each other or to shy away once we see each other's sinfulness.

Truthfully, the only way to unity in the church is through unity with the Spirit. Only when the church first focuses on its relationship with the resurrected Christ can we possibly begin to live in unity with each other. As we focus on the Spirit, the Lord works supernaturally to overcome our sinful attitudes towards to begin to make us one. Ultimately, we become the church family, standing with each other in an unbreakable relationship.

And it all begins with the Spirit. God won't do something special in his church until we live as one with him in the Spirit.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I invite your Spirit to draw me and the church where I serve into unity with you. As our focus is on you, will you then draw us together as one within the church. Amen.

Lesson 172 – When the Spirit Strengthens the Inner Man

Ephesians 3:14-19

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

I love these verses, for they reveal Paul's heart as a pastor. Nothing thrills a pastor more than when those of his congregation grow in their faith towards Jesus Christ.

In Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus, we learn that this maturing comes as the soul is strengthened by the touch of the Spirit. That is how we must pray, that the Spirit would be at work in the church, strengthening our spirits in faith.

We're pretty good about praying for all sorts of other things. You know, those things weighing heavy on our minds—our struggles, our needs, our wants, our hurts and our difficult situations. We're filled with "our" prayers, and we might even pray for these same needs in others. But what about praying for others to be strengthened in their inner man? Maybe that ought to be the primary intercessory prayer we lift up before the Lord.

This prayer needs to begin our homes, with every parent praying for their children and immediate families, all the way through their lifetimes. Then we need to lift up those of our local congregations in general, and those in our smaller groups in particular. In this way, we all become in a sense pastors in our prayer ministry before the Lord.

The Spirit's touch seems to be empowered to strengthen us in the Lord when we pray specifically for his action in our lives and in others. May we be faithful to those prayers.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your Spirit's strengthening of your church. May I ever be faithful to life up the church to which you've entrusted my ministry and my family before you. Amen.

Lesson 171 – When the Spirit Reveals

Ephesians 3:5-6

"…which in other ages was not made know to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel"

Paul often wrote of the mystery of the gospel of Christ, a mystery now made clear through the Spirit of God. So what was this mystery, but that the mercies of God were not intended solely for the family of Abraham, but to all humanity?

Christianity is wrongly portrayed by those seeking to deny its message as an exclusive faith, discriminating against the beliefs of others and closed-minded in its teachings. The truth is, God was the first to seek diversity in faith and calls all to a belief in Jesus Christ through the Spirit. The mystery Paul says is revealed in the Spirit is that God has made the way of salvation available to everyone.

In response to this universal availability of salvation, the role of the church is to extend God's invitation throughout the world. While the church has been faithful to the message of Christ's love, our unwillingness to truly care for others leaves most thinking we're in some way looking down on them. They can't get past this impression to hear God's invitation.

The key may be not in emphasizing the change that has come upon our lives, since this focuses on us, but in spending more time introducing others to Christ. Our personal testimony of faith might be powerful, but salvation is only of the gospel message, and that focus is on Christ and the cross.

The good news of the gospel is that it is for everyone. No one is excluded, with all invited to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your Spirit's testimony of the gospel. May we be a people who rightly portray the love of Christ and share your invitation to all others. Amen.

Lesson 170 – When the Spirit Builds

Ephesians 2:21-22

"…in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

Through faith in Jesus Christ, believers are made into the church, a living house which is God's dwelling place. No longer does God live in temples made with human hands, but in the hearts and souls of those who believe in Christ. With the Spirit's indwelling, we're being assembled into a holy temple unto our Lord.

Of course, our earthly temples were never sufficient to hold our Lord's glory, and certainly are not the churches we build to our Lord today. The church has never been about the building, but the people who gather together.

In our family, we've always called the place of worship the church-house. My parents understood that the building where we met was not the church, and we passed on this same knowledge to our kids. By calling the church a house, they taught us that the building was only the place where the church sometimes met.

When our church congregation met outside in the field for a sunrise service, we were still the church. When we assembled at the lake for a celebration, we where the church. When we met the park for a picnic, we were likewise the church.

The people of God have always been the church, and it is the Spirit which gives us our identity in Christ. The Spirit hasn't entered into a building program to assemble bricks and mortar as a memorial to the Lord, but instead makes the church out of the hearts of God's people. So wherever we meet, we are the church.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the Spirit's presence to make me a part of your church. May I always love the people you indwell with your Spirit as part of the body in which you have gathered us to be. Amen.

Lesson 169 – When the Spirit Gives Access

Ephesians 2:17-18

"And he came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."

Access describes the special privilege of being able to come into the presence of another, normally a privilege not given to all others. For example, a lobbyist might gain access as to an audience with a politician by giving a large campaign offering. A child automatically has access to his parents because of his position in the family. As believers, we are granted access to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

But our access to God is not limited to just a few, but is available to both Jews and Gentiles alike, those close to God through their heritage of birth in the Jewish nation, and those far away. Access to God is available to everyone throughout the entire world.

By definition, access is a privilege given, with the greater power determining the requirements for access. The Bible tells us that access to God is granted according to only one requirement, that being faith in Jesus Christ.

To have access to a famous musician, one needs a back stage pass. To have access to a corporate executive, you must first get an appointment. To have access into another country, you need a visa. Without these proofs of access, you may not enter in.

Likewise, God has given us a proof of our access to the Father. Our proof of having access to God is the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. With the Spirit's touch upon us, we have access to the Father at all times, day or night.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the access you give me to the Father through your shed blood and the sending of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lesson 168 – When the Spirit Reaps

GALATIANS 6:8

"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

Paul writes of reaping and sowing to describe the fruits of our human existence. In this verse, every person is either classified as one who sows and reaps to the flesh or one who sows and reaps of the Spirit. We are either one who faces corruption and death without Christ, or one who receives new life and an eternity in glory.

Of course, no one likes the idea of being classified. We don't want to be judged, even if by the Holy Creator who rightly knows the affairs of our heart. Instead, we want to be who we want to be, judge for ourselves as to how well we are doing against our own standards, and determine what our rewards will be.

Believers in Jesus Christ are no different. We don't like to face up to the Godly standard of sowing and reaping according to the Holy Spirit.

While a believer's salvation is secure in the Spirit, with our eternity settled by saving faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, we are also directed to live according to the Spirit. God is not interested in having us wait until our time on this earth is completed to bear fruits, but wants us reap a harvest in this life which reflects the everlasting life to come. I think this is because these are the fruits of the Spirit which draw others to faith in Jesus Christ.

Still, many believers aren't really interested in the sowing and reaping of the Spirit. They are caught up in chasing after the flesh, thinking it will somehow bring the blessings God might withhold from them. So they pursue the flesh. In the end, they lose the harvest which the Spirit wanted for their lives.

By definition, sowing and reaping involves labor. The way of the Spirit demands our full allegiance to Jesus Christ. It requires self-sacrifice, lifts up others first, and allows the Spirit to direct our wills. This is a difficult road to choose, but the one which most honors our Lord.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I ask you to sow and reap in my life so I may harvest the fruits which draw others to faith in Christ for your glory. Amen.

Lesson 167 – When the Spirit Sends

Isaiah 48:16

"Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me."

Here we see a prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to God's people. From the beginning of time, Jesus was there. At the end of time, will be there. And in between, the Father and the Spirit have sent Jesus into the world.

God worked to bring about our salvation. All three members of the God-head agreed Jesus would come to this world to die a substitutionary sacrifice to satisfy God's wrath against our sins. While the Father would send the Spirit into the world at Jesus' request, first, the Spirit and Father would send Jesus to the world.

Today, the Spirit also sends every believer into parts of the world to share the love of Christ. Just as the Spirit sent Christ for our salvation, the Spirit is still in the business of sending. While we may not all have a chance to go to a remote part of the world, we all have a circle of influence in which we are sent to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The question is, are we willing to be sent by the Spirit, or are we resting in the blessing of our own salvation, not really caring about the rest of the world? I'm afraid too many believers are so self focused we don't even realize we're also sent by the Spirit. Instead of following the example of our Lord in setting aside our own desires, we are only living for ourselves.

Of course, just as Jesus came on a mission for our salvation, we too need to be on mission for the Lord, setting aside our own glories for the love of others and the glory of our God.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I ask you to remind me in your Spirit each day that you are sending me into your world to share your love. May I be a willing partner with you in bringing salvation to those you are calling as your own. Amen.

Lesson 166 – When the Spirit Walks

GALATIANS 5:25

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

My understanding of walking in the Spirit is to move from a self-controlled to a Spirit-controlled life. While this is one of the easier doctrines to understand, it is likewise one of the most difficult to accomplish on a consistent basis.

Whether we admit it or not, most believers are controlled at times by something other than the Spirit. Maybe we're controlled by the rages of anger and just can't seem to overcome our emotions. Maybe we can't quit thinking about that new car we want to buy, to the point we both wake up and go to sleep dreaming of how it drives. Maybe we can't resist the lure of internet images, feeding our lusts until the need for daily adrenaline is now in control.

And of course, the list goes on and on, though we need to understand that not everything which controls us is immoral in isolation. For example, a job is normally a good thing, but for some, it begins to control the best energies of our day. Same with being a parent, with the demands of that activity stealing all of our time, with none left for God. Even good things become controlling when they keep us from spending time with the Spirit.

I have to wonder if God looks at us and says we're given to idol worship, replacing our love for him with a love for other things. But even if he doesn't call this idol worship, we're surely not pleasing to our Lord when not living as under control of the Spirit.

Maybe it would be a good thing to commit to getting up every morning and asking the Spirit to allow us to walk with the Lord. Just as it took God's power to bring about new life in the Spirit ("If we live in the Spirit"), we also need God's power to help us walk in the Spirit. And just like our salvation, that power only comes by a touch of the Spirit as we surrender ourselves to ask the Lord for his help.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I want to walk in your Spirit every day. I invite you to fill me with the power of your daily presence. Amen.

Lesson 165 – When the Spirit Gives Fruit

GALATIANS 5:22

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

Most believers have looked at this verse at some point to evaluate how it applies to their own level of spiritual maturity. We rightly understand that it is only by the fullness of the Spirit in us that we can consistently display these traits in our lives. When the Spirit's touch is continuously upon us through a life of faith, our very natures are changed so that we reflect God's nature now living in us.

Still, it's not surprising that most of us come up short of these lofty spiritual attributes. After all, our salvation is a process that continues beyond the point of initial faith, with the Scriptures telling us to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." And it is only by submitting to the Spirit's leadership in all aspects of life that we begin to be changed by God's presence.

Just as when two have been married for many years begin to look and act alike, so it is with the believer who is spends time in the presence of the Spirit. While our natures are not yet fully changed, the process of change has begun, and we begin to be like our Lord.

When the Lord comes again, we're promised to be changed in the twinkling of an eye to possess the nature of Christ as the Lord drives the sin out of our hearts.

I so look forward to that day, but in the mean time, I've got no excuse. I need to invite the Spirit to change me through the lessons of faith the Lord would bring to me.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you once again for the Spirit in my life. I invite you to do whatever is necessary to conform me to your image to hasten the fruits of the Spirit in me. Amen.

Lesson 164 – When the Spirit Lusts

GALATIANS 5:16-18

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

This is a surprising thought--that the Spirit lusts. On one hand, we find the flesh and its love of sinful deceptions lusting against the Spirit. On the other, the Spirit lusts against the flesh.

While we can understand lust as applying to sin, how might it also apply to the Spirit's touch in the life of believers?

At the heart of lust is the concept of desire. When we sinfully lust after someone or something, we desire to have them as our own, even when such ownership is against God's will. This is what we see here as lust for the flesh against the Spirit. Sinful lusts stand against God's perfect desire for our lives.

On the other side, the Spirit also lusts; that is, has desires for ownership over your life. This lust is in direct opposition to the lust of the flesh. However, this is not a sinful lust. We've been bought with a price and now belong to Christ, so his desire is only for what is rightfully his. In fact, you could call this a holy and righteous lust.

I am glad my Lord lusts after my life, calling me daily to belong fully to him and to resist sinful lusts in my life. As discussed in the previous lesson, we eagerly wait the time when sinful lusts are defeated and God's desires for us are fully fulfilled.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the lust of your Spirit in my life, calling me daily back to you. Amen.

Lesson 163 – When the Spirit Eagerly Waits

GALATIANS 5:5

"For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."

The heart of every believer tells us that while we have been saved from God's wrath against our sins, our salvation is still to come, and until it does, we struggle daily against sin's power in our lives.

While Christ promises God's power against sin when we turn to him in faith, we still find ourselves in a battle. And when you're involved in a daily struggle against sin, your defenses grow tired. That is why we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. We're sick and tired of sin and can't wait for the time when our salvation is complete and we're made fully righteous.

Paul tells the church at Galatia that the Spirit also eagerly waits for our complete salvation. This is like a parent who purchases an awesome gift for their children and find they are just as excited as the kids for Christmas to roll around. A loving parent likes to give good things to their children, and so does our God. And one day, God will give us the greatest gift of all, a complete righteousness in Christ.

Sometimes we find ourselves giving up in the battle, settling for sin's deceptions instead of waiting for the better gift of righteousness. Don't let that be a constant in your life. Confess your sins and then eagerly wait with the Spirit for God's salvation.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the promise of your gift of righteousness and your Spirit's desire to give us this gift in your time. Amen.

Lesson 162 – When the Spirit Is Persecuted

GALATIANS 4:28-29

"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now."

From the time the Spirit began touching those who belonged to God, those who remained of the flesh became instruments of persecution against God's people. So it was with Ishmael, born of the flesh through Abraham's effort to bring about God's blessing, persecuting Isaac, the one born miraculously of the Spirit in Abraham's old age. Even to this day, we find two nations remaining in conflict with each other.

As believers, we're subject to the unexplainable persecutions of those who do not know the Spirit's touch. I'm convinced that most of those who persecute the church, at least in Western countries, are not even aware of the blatant unfairness of their actions. But we understand they've been blinded by Satan, and are now used as instruments for his glory and as people who stand against the church.

Jesus told his disciples they would have trouble in this world. Sure, that may apply to the common, every day troubles we all face in life, but I suspect Christ also had in mind the persecutions we face from people controlled by the flesh. But be reminded, our battle is not with these people, but is a battle is raging in the heavens, a battle assured to be won one day by Christ.

In the mean time, realize that when you are persecuted by those who do not know Christ, also realize that their stand is not against you, but against the Spirit living within you.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your Spirit's presence to uphold me in the face of persecutions and to be with those who are even now losing their lives in your name. May their reward be great in your kingdom to come. Amen.

Lesson 161 – When the Spirit Cries ‘Abba’

GALATIANS 4:6-7

"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, than an heir of God through Christ."

As believers, the Spirit living within us makes us adopted children of God, and it is this by this same Spirit that a Christian is able to cry out to God as our Father. This is a powerful image of the new relationship believers have with God through Christ. We are now children of God and joint heirs through Christ, rightfully crying out to God as "Abba".

The God we worship is a Father who stands attentive to our needs, listening for our cries through the Spirit, ready to be there for us in our times of trial. For what good is it for a son to call to a father if that father is not listening?

But God is there to hear our cries. From the time of the establishment of the first temple by Solomon, God promised to hear the prayers of his people which are directed towards his name. God hears our cries every time we call out in the Spirit.

Some try to explain 'Abba' as a term of endearment, and it might be, but when tied to the idea of a cry, it becomes the shout of one calling out in pain and helplessness to the one they trust the most. Abba is the word we shout when we're afraid, or at the end of all other options, or when we're most threatened. For when we cry Abba, our God responds.

I think of the joy I've experienced as a parent when our children first called my name. It lifted my heart to hear the call of my child, to know they know me just as I know them. And when they cry out, they have my attention, for love demands my response. So it is with our Abba.

May our lives ever be calling to our Abba through the Spirit, for God desires to hear from us.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the inheritance you give me in your name and the Spirit which now indwells my life so that I can call to our Abba. Thank you for such a wonderful blessing. Amen.

Lesson 160 – When the Spirit Is Poured Out on Our Descendants

ISAIAH 44:2-3

"Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and flood on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring."

The Spirit's touch is promised to Israel's descendants. God would not leave his people in a desolate condition, thirsty and without water, just barely hanging on in life. Salvation was coming.

While thirst and drought are very real conditions, the Scriptures speak here of the thirst that comes upon a people who are not filled with the Spirit. When God's people shun his word, the Spirit leaves us in the desert until we repent and return to God. In a sense, this is the same as our salvation, as we are restored to God in repentance.

Of course, this salvation would come to those thirsting for righteousness with the coming of Jesus. One interpretation is that Christ is the literal fulfillment of references to the blessing on Israel's offspring. Another view is that this prophecy was fulfilled when the descendants of those taken captive from Israel by Babylon were released to return to Jerusalem to experience the blessing of the Lord after 70 years in exile.

Regardless of the interpretation, I believe the promises of God are likely to be passed from generation to generation when God's people are faithful to the Spirit living within us. When our children see our faith in Jesus Christ, they naturally are drawn to our Lord's love.

While this doesn't always happen, it tends to be the rule for those who live daily in the blessings of the Spirit. For those in whose families this doesn't hold true, our only responsibility is to be faithful to God and leave the Spirit's work to the Lord.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the blessing of your Spirit upon the dryness of my life and the promise of your presence with future generations. Amen.

Lesson 159 – When the Spirit Is Given from Faith

GALATIANS 3:13-14

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Just as the Spirit fell upon Jewish believers at the Pentecost celebration in Jerusalem, so would come the Spirit's touch on Gentile believers in a like manner.

With Christ's death, the curse of the law no longer applies to any person, making Jews and Gentiles the same before God, with both needing the salvation offered to us in Christ. And both receive salvation in the same way—through faith in Jesus Christ.

Some argue the Spirit is given only to those who have sufficient faith fpr this blessing, but it should be clear that salvation is only of Christ, and from faith in him we receive the Spirit. There is no filling of the Spirit given as a blessing of our faith. From the moment of salvation, the Spirit is given to all believers as God's gift.

I think God set things up this way so that those of the church would not be tempted to judge each other's faith. No one can look at another believer and claim to be closer to God because of the Spirit's presence. While it is our nature to judge to each other, and this is often the cause of church conflicts, this is not the nature of our God. Instead, the Spirit, Father and Son all live in perfect harmony as the one triune God.

We'd do well as the church to embrace this same harmony in our congregations.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the faith we need for salvation and the Spirit which fills us as a testimony of your work in us. Amen.

Lesson 158 – When the Spirit Perfects

GALATIANS 3:2-5

"This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if it was indeed in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

At Galatia, Paul confronts a troubling teaching spreading through the church, a teaching which still subtly confronts believers today. This teaching claims God is not really pleased with us as his church until we keep the rigorous commandments of the law.

For the church at Galatia, this meant that believers needed to keep the requirements of the Mosaic law, such as circumcision, dietary restrictions, Sabbaths, separation from other peoples. For the church today, we're told what we should wear to church on Sundays, where we should go to school, what music we must listen to. To the church then, and to the church now, Paul offers the same questions. Was it the law or the Spirit which made you right with God?

Here's the bottom line. While God is pleased when we keep his commands, but don't let anyone tell you it is the keeping of these rules which makes our lives right with God. This only comes by the Spirit, and this given to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Still, most of us struggle to shun that nagging feeling we need to do something to make like us, whether through weekly worship, sacrificial service, cheerful giving, or any number of other things rightly taught to us in the Bible and through weekly sermons. While God does want these things in us, these are not the basis for his love. That basis comes from his perfect nature, and is proven in us by the Spirit's touch.

We can better understand this in our families. As parents, we love our offspring unconditionally. Nothing can take away this love from us, and nothing can make it deeper. It is what it is. It is based on our nature and our relationship to our children. Still, we're pleased when our children gladly obey us, or imitate our natures, or accept our word. It gives us honor when they voluntarily submit to our authority.

This is the same as with our Lord. While we can do nothing which influences Christ's love for us, we can make righteous choices which honor our God honor. It is in those things that we need to be obedient. We give our lives in honor to our Lord. But we trust in the Spirit's presence to remind us we are right with God and that God's love is completely given to us.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for allowing me to serve you throughout my life in thankfulness for the salvation you've given through your Spirit. Amen.

Lesson 157 – When the Spirit Delights

ISAIAH 42:1

"Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."

The one on whom God delights is the one on whom he puts his Spirit—even Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesies that the coming Messiah, the Elect One, would be a delight to God's soul. In this delight, God would put his Spirit upon him.

It is this same Spirit which dwells in every believer, showing that we too are the ones on whom God delights. Sure, we know we're not worthy of the Lord's delight, even sometimes fearful that God will somehow wake up and change his mind about us, but God's word is true. The Lord is faithful, and he has decided to delight in us.

The Spirit's touch is all the proof we need of God's choice. We don't need to rely on feelings to tell us the truth. We don't need any other proof by the Spirit which testifies of God's delight.

I've always loved to say aloud this word "delight". It rolls off my tongue, particularly when I stress the first syllable, saying it as "dee-lite". I just can't say it without my face breaking out into a smile. I think the eternal Father also has a smile on his face when he speaks of his delight for the church of Jesus Christ. This is what we were created for, and by faith in Christ we're restored to be the ones on whom God delights.

Just as God sent his Spirit in the form of the dove on Christ at his baptism, and testifying of his delight, so he does for each one of his own. With the Spirit's touch, we've become the delight of our God.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for delighting in me and in your church. Help me to remember this delight all the days of my life Amen.

Lesson 156 – When the Spirit Is Undirected

ISAIAH 40:13

"Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor taught him?"

This is a rhetorical question with an obvious answer. Of course, no one directs the Spirit of the Lord or serves as his counselor. By his nature, there is no god like our God, mighty in all ways, to include his foresight and foreknowledge in all aspects of wisdom. He is all knowing, and his plans are always right.

I like the way the Spirit is linked here as being inseparable from God. When we speak of our own spirits, we are talking about the essence of who we are inwardly. We speak of body and spirit or body and soul. We believe that while the body dies, the spirit is who we are and the spirit exists eternally.

Just like with us, the Spirit is God's essence, inseparable from whom God is. God and the Spirit are one. They are the same.

So what does this tell us, but that the Spirit which lives within the heart of every believer. The Spirit which communes with our spirits, the Spirit which knows the mind of Christ and speaks God's will into our lives, this same Spirit is surely God. However the Spirit is described, whether as of the crucified Christ, or the gift of the Father, or some other term, the Spirit is God in us.

So when the Spirit speaks to our hearts, know that God is speaking. When the Spirit reveals a path for our lives, know that the will of the one who cannot be directed or counseled shows his perfect way. When the Spirit offers God's wisdom, know that there has never been more sure advice.

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor taught him? No one!

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the Spirit which is your essence and which now lives within me. There is no god like you, awesome in all ways, wise beyond all comprehension. Amen.

Lesson 155 – When the Spirit Communes

2 CORINTHIANS 13:14

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen."

Once again, the Scriptures point us to the mystery of the Trinity, God's eternal existence revealed in three forms, living in harmony and submission to each other. As Paul closes this last letter to the church at Corinth, he invokes the names of the Trinity, ending his prayer with a blessing of the communion of the Spirit.

Communion. We use this term to describe the church's ordinance of the Lord's Supper as we break bread and drink from the cup to remember Christ's death for us on the cross. To commune means to bring together, and by this ordinance, we acknowledge it is only in the cross of Calvary that our unholy lives are joined unhindered by sin to God.

But God doesn't just want us to commune with him during a periodic church service. He wants communion with his family at all times. This is done in us through the Spirit's touch.

Just as two who value each others' friendship desire to be together in all things, so does the Lord yearn for time with us. And not only is this his abiding desire, he's made this communion possible through the presence of the Spirit in us.

One of the things that today's technological age has done is make it somewhat easier for husbands and wives to remain in touch across the miles that separate during military deployments. Through the internet, couples see each other weekly, chat through an instant messenger almost daily, and post diaries and pictures of their separate lives on blogs, reaching out across the distance. What a blessing this is, but it pales in the instant communion that is now ours in the Spirit.

Still, in spite of the Lord's presence, we too often forget to even speak to God through the Spirit. We've become so focused on the things of this life us that we don't commune with God at all. I'm sure this breaks our Lord's heart.

It's time for the church of Jesus Christ to yearn for our Lord as much as he yearns for us. If we'll focus on the cross and the Lord's sacrifice to make possible this communion, I'm sure we'll begin to turn our hearts to Christ.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the possibility of communing with you, my God daily. Forgive my life for sometimes ignoring or being unthankful for the price you paid to make a communion with possible in my life. Amen.