A huge paradigm shift is taking place in “the Church.” Nothing less than a Holy Spirit-led reformation is underway and it is happening in the hearts and minds of untold thousands of the children of God whom He is calling out to directly.

Those who will answer are the salt and light of the Earth in our time. They are the catalysts through which many will be converted by their testimony through the Spirit and the blood of Jesus. This is occurring even now before many in positions of traditional church authority even realize what is going on.

What is happening is something as men have not known since Jesus and early ekklesia. It is a movement that is challenging what many church leaders and biblical scholars think about what God is doing in the world today.

The Word of the Lord – which endures forever – is again being fulfilled today as it was in Isaiah’s time:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  – Isaiah 43:18-19

In the wilderness and wasteland that is our world today, the Lord is indeed making a way and making provision for those with a true heart to follow Him.

Revelation is coming directly from the Holy Spirit without regard to existing denominational systems or church dogma. God is speaking to people’s hearts directly, upsetting the apple cart of religious “practice as usual” with messages and encouragement that are entirely consistent with His character and His Word.

The status quo is being challenged by those with a heart to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit and renewal is being birthed directly in believers who are seeking after what only God can impart. In the midst of all the trouble and turmoil in the world today, unimaginable, inescapable, positive divine change is coming to the world. You see the “light” is exposing the darkness, but the result will not be what so many are expecting.

The Holy Spirit is critical to your life because the fullness of God is only revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit. You will not perceive spiritual truth with your natural eyes, hear spiritual truth with your ears or even speak it with your tongue. Only those in whom the Spirit abides can truly understand and accept Him.

“…God has revealed them to us through His Spirit…  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God... These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches… the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” - 1 Corinthians 2: 10-14

It is not with superior intellect or superlative theology that we discern the things of God. To merely human faculties, spiritual matters are seen as irrational and silly. To the world, the whole concept of God's love and redemption through His Son is a "stumbling block" that cannot be overcome. It is only through the Holy Spirit that God's mysteries are rightly revealed and perceived.

The Holy Spirit is critical to your life to teach, instruct, and guide you directly. This is a greater blessing than I can convey.

Invite the Holy Spirit to teach you the ways of the Lord just as David requested: 

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  – Psalms 25:4-5  (NIV)

This is a blessing that God still honors in our day and age. I know this from firsthand experience, but don’t take my word for it. You can put your trust in the fact that Christ promised that God would: 

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. - John 14:26 (NIV)

This was further elaborated on by the Apostle Paul in a letter to the church at Corinth:

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. — 1 Corinthians 2:14

Only through the Holy Spirit are God’s Word and His truths revealed. The Lord’s divine vastness is not discerned by human understanding

So, this is really, really important. If you take only one thing from me ever, if there’s just one thing I ever say that you remember, let it be this: The Holy Spirit will always be your best instructor in the ways of the Lord in your life and how His Word applies to your life.

The Holy Spirit is critical to your life because

·  it is the Holy Spirit entwined with your human spirit who testifies and confirms that you are God’s child (Romans 8:16);

·  it is the Spirit who transforms your heart and mind bringing you into alignment with the Lord (2 Corinthians 3;18 );

·  it is the indwelling Spirit which produces its fruit in you — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — (Galatians 5:22). These traits flow from you and I as the result of the transformative power of the Spirit of God abiding in us

·  it is the Spirit within you that will guide and direct you in every aspect of your life (Galatians 5:25, Romans 8:5-6).

The reason for being born again through the Holy Spirit so that you can come to know God the Father for yourself. It is the Holy Spirit working within you which transforms you into the very image of His Son.

Your religion, denomination, or theology won’t transform you. It is the Spirit of God that transforms you into the new man or new creation. The Holy Spirit enables and empowers you to bear the fruit of the spirit.

Do you want to have love, joy, and peace in your life? Do you want to be a patient, kind, and good person all the time? Do you want to exercise faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control towards others? It’s not about behavior modification, it’s spiritual transformation. Almost all of us can fake these things for a period of time, but if our hearts aren’t changed, it doesn’t matter to God.

Life is about cultivating a deep relationship with God on a spiritual level. And it is through this intimate, deeply personal, one-on-one, spiritual relationship that He speaks, guides and directs you.

“How many of God's blessings have you missed out on?”

Human nature is to believe something because we see it. In God's order however, in the Kingdom of Heaven, you will see when you believe. That makes no logical sense, but God is Spirit (John 4:24) and as Isaiah 55:8 reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

As a child of God, you are abundantly blessed in a multitude of different areas. For instance, there is no reason for any child of God to live in fear, worry, or stress. The Lord has provided too much for you to live that way. Jesus promises that in Him we can be at rest and know peace in any situation. He said, “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

Have you received the blessing of overcoming the world? Why not? I’m not saying that God will make all of your problems disappear and turn your life into the proverbial bed of roses. That's simply not true.

But He will open your eyes and heart and mind to His presence and the provision He makes available for you to overcome and rise above circumstance. He shoulders the weight of the burden so you don't have to carry it!

You can spend hours searching throughout the Bible for blessings the Lord has already has bestowed on you. How many of them are you missing?

God loves you. We’ve all heard those three words at so many times before that we likely take them for granted, although they are words that should never be uttered in mere repetition or without conviction. They are words that should never ring hollow.

God’s love is a concept beyond your ability to measure. Even if you have accepted the gift of salvation, sometimes it can be difficult to grasp the idea that you have a Heavenly Father truly loves you wholly, completely, and unconditionally.

God has little interest in being a casual acquaintance. He desires an intimate relationship with you and He has made incredible provision that you might have just that.

You matter more to God with a significance that you cannot begin to comprehend until you develop intimacy with Him. That’s why it's sad that so many Christians are struggling so much in their lives, overwhelmed by adverse circumstances and difficult issues.

The real problem is that they haven't learned to fully tap into the peace, promise, and provision of God because they haven't developed intimacy with Him

Don’t let that be you.

God's blessings and promises are abundant, but many won't accept or receive them – not because they aren't there – but because they can't see or perceive them. There are many things that only an intimate relationship with God can open your awareness to.

For many people, the strength of God in their personal lives is very small. While they have accepted Jesus, they are living lives in powerlessness and misery. They may have salvation, but they don't understand and aren’t realizing all the blessings that He has given to bring victory to their lives now.

They are only living up to a fraction of their spiritual and divine potential. They have enough faith to be saved, but little else. They have yielded to what God has done for them in the past, but they refuse to wield the power and promise that God has provided for them in the present.

Consequently, the problems they face are always bigger (in their eyes) than their God.

The problem stems from not knowing who God really is and who they are in Him. A true comprehension of God only comes through a personal relationship with Him, through the intimacy that He actually wants and designed you for.

The fact is, you were created to have intimacy with God, to develop and nurture a profoundly close, one-on-one relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that Jesus sent to guide, direct, and teach you all things. It is the Spirit of God and intertwines with your spirit to testify that you are His child (Romans 8:16).

When you become “intimate” with God you will discover, by the very nature of the relationship, that it becomes impossible for you not to trust Him more and more. You begin to see Jesus in all things, know His voice, be fully embraced by His love and enveloped by grace so overflowing that you cannot help but extend it to all the world.

Your level of intimacy with God will determine the flow of Heaven's resources. The biggest challenges and problems you face diminish in size and impact compared to the might and significance of the Lord who abides with you. Your weaknesses showcase His strengths.

The bigger God is, the smaller your problems become.

As believers, especially in western society, we tend to act and operate out of a broken paradigm with regard to our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We place our emphasis on what we know about God over getting to know God personally. We have substituted the warm, personal relationship He designed us for with cold-blooded religion.

Head knowledge may help us modify our outward behavior, but it has no ability to transform or mold us into the new man or new creation that we are in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5: 17). Only direct experience and encounter with God can transform and raise you up to the level He wants for you.

To be a new creation and abide in Christ, it is not enough to have knowledge of Him. It is to be in intimate relationship with Him. Only in direct relationship can you learn to trust Him completely.

As believers, we tend to think that our responsibility is to reform ourselves, but the old man is dead in Christ. The old that has passed away, is no more than a vestiges and echo of who you were. When you try and reform yourself, you are only animating a rotten corpse. You’re only turning yourself into a zombie.

Even as far back in time as Isaiah, he recognized that every righteous act we might do was nothing more filthy rags, bloody polluted menstruous cloths. There is nothing of the old worth saving or holding onto. That is why being in Christ is so important. In Him we are an entirely new creation, the old is gone. ( 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Don’t live as a zombie. Stop trying to reform your old self and let it die. Step into the new creation you are in Christ. And if you aren’t sure how, pray and ask the Lord to guide you directly. He will light your path, give you eyes to see, and be your strength.

If I want God's presence, I have to respond to Him. If I want stress and anxiety, I merely need to react to circumstance, and situations and people.

Response to the Lord, to the Holy Spirit, creates confidence and trust in Him. Reaction outside of Christ creates separation, doubt, and stress. He has taught me that I need to lean into the presence of God, rather than into situational circumstance.

What does that mean for the things I face and encounter everyday? Jesus is the “stance” in my circumstance. I know that it's impossible to be in a situation that God hasn't already planned for.

When you abide in Christ and are in alignment with the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven becomes more powerful to you than the world around you. You learn to see every life situation from God's perspective. It’s a very peaceful place to be.

The fact is, Kingdom peace cannot be understood in human logic. You can’t work it out in your head or strive towards it, it can only be received. Peace is not the absence of adverse circumstances or conflict. It is the presence of Christ, the very Prince of Peace.

Peace is a relational practice not a situational outcome. It’s the state of being at divine rest and undisturbed. It is the lifestyle of being ever present with Jesus. He is our peace.

Ask to receive Christ’s peace today, then go and share it with someone else. The peace that Jesus gives is far more viral than you might ever imagine.

I believe it was Graham Cooke who said, “A Christian is someone who has been overwhelmed by the majesty of God’s affection, by His empowering presence, and by His total willingness to make you exceptional as a person. He is making you like Him.”

What God wants for you is about being, not doing. There is a vast difference between “working” to abide in God as opposed to “striving” to earn His favor.

We must first peacefully allow ourselves to be, for abiding in Him is about “being.” The “doing” comes after when your faith in God's power is in alignment with your trust in His nature. Only then is your “doing” not wasted or in vain. Otherwise, you're just wasting effort striving under your own power.

It’s a mistake, albeit a very common one, to try and earn what He gives us freely. I’ve said it before, “Salvation isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting block of your relationship with God.” Salvation is free, but your spiritual growth will cost you.

That growth requires breaking old habits and shedding false ideas that disconnect us from our awareness of God’s abiding presence. It’s far more important that we practice and discipline ourselves to stay focused on Him regardless of circumstances we face and observe in our lives.

This usually requires a change in our expectations of Him. Unfortunately, as inhabitants of this world, we have been trained to speculate and react to negative situations rather than respond to heaven’s positive possibilities.

According to Genesis 1:26, God's primary purpose is for us to be formed in His image. His ways are above our ways (Isaiah 55:9) which means our perceptions, mindsets, and emotions are being transformed so that we might speak and act as He would.

Jesus told us that He only did what the Father did (John 5:19), but that is something too few Christians seem to understand.