Living life by the Holy Spirit is not an ordinary life. It is not business as usual. It is beyond our imagination and expectations. It doesn’t leave us the same; it brings transformation. The life of the Spirit is different from living the world’s way and to be a Christian is to be countercultural. The Bible makes it clear that there is no middle ground. You either live the way of the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of the light. In this message, we expound on the passages found in Galatians 5 and Colossians 1 to see how we can live differently by the Holy Spirit.

#1. Live A Life Of Contrast (Galatians 5:17) …either Life By The Flesh (Gal. 5:19-21, 1 John 2:16, Gal. 6:7, Jam. 2:14-26), or… Life By The Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23, 1 Cor. 9:11, John 7:38, Matt. 7:16-18, Rev. 12:10-11)

#2. Live A Life Of Conquest (Galatians 5:16-18, and 2 Tim. 4:7, 1 Tim 6:9-13, 1 Cor. 9:25-27, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Cor. 10:3-6, 2 Peter 1:3-4)

#3. Live A Life Of Choice (Galatians 5:16-18, and Rom. 12:2, James 1:5-9, Acts 2:28, Prov. 3:5-6, Luke 9:23, 1 Peter 2:9, Prov. 4:18)

Apply The Word:
Do you fight to live life in your own strength or do you without fail seek to live by the Spirit? Read Gal. 5:19-21 to see what the life of the flesh looks like, and Gal. 5:22-23 to see what the life of the Spirit looks like. Further scriptures are also found in the points above. Colossians 1:9-13 tells how the Spirit helps you live your best life and strengthens, qualifies, and rescues you. Take stock of what needs to change in both the actions you take and evidence you exhibit of a life lived by Spirit or flesh.

Does your walk with the Holy Spirit give you the confidence to live in conquest over whatever you face? Living differently by the Holy Spirit means you have a fight on your hands. You can’t be passive or neutral about this because the flesh and the Spirit are in conflict. Both cannot be in charge; one will rule supreme in your life and you need to understand the flesh and the spirit are at war with each other. But the good news is that we have the victory! Study the scriptures found under points 2 & 3 of this week’s message to see how you can choose right and conquer.

Every Christian can and should be filled with the Holy Spirit. Once you are filled, you can live by the Spirit. But this is not an automatic change – we have to develop our relationship with the Holy Spirit to grow and strengthen it. The Holy Spirit is a person and we need to consciously seek and build that relationship – just as we would with a friend or spouse. In this message, let’s look at some practical points to grow and develop our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Key Points: 1. You need to spend time with the Holy Spirit (Rev. 2:2-4); 2. You need to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:29-31, 1 Thess. 5:19); 3. You need to depend on the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26, Luke 12:11-12); 4. You need to move in response to the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:25)

Apply The Word:
How much time do you spend with the Holy Spirit? How much do you focus on your relationship with Him? We need to set aside time to pray. This is what the disciples did both before and after the day of Pentecost. Prayer and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit are totally connected. Focus on your daily and continual prayer.

Do you remember your first encounter with Jesus? What was the day, month, year? Where were you? What changed in your life after this encounter? If we want to know Jesus and experience His reality through the Holy Spirit, we need to return to our first love (Revelation 2:2-4) where we walk joyfully and wholly by the Spirit.

What is your experience of walking with the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is a person who knows what is good and what is not good. When you are close to the Holy Spirit you will become more aware of God and others. You will develop a greater sensitivity to the Holy presence of God and also what is unholy, to both avoid what is bad and pursue what is good in our thoughts, words, and actions. If we want to walk with Him, we need to literally follow His steps (Galatians 5:25).

You can only live by the Spirit if you have first been born into the dimension of the Holy Spirit. Without His help, you are spiritually dead and therefore incapable of experiencing and responding to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit fills you, everything changes. The early disciples were in no doubt about the radical transformation brought by the Holy Spirit. Let’s look in this week’s teaching at the book of Acts and learn how we can all live by the Spirit.

Further Scripture:
Ephesians 2:4-5, John 20:22, Acts 1:4-5, 8:14-16, 10:44-46, 19:1-6

Key Points:
1. You need to be Born Again through the Holy Spirit (John 3:4-8); 2. You need to be Baptised in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4); 3. You need to Believe to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39)

Apply The Word:
Are you filled by the Holy Spirit? Paul asked in Acts 19:2 “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” We can be a follower of Christ and not yet be filled with the Spirit, but Jesus commanded us to wait for the Holy Spirit, who is our helper as we live for God. If you have not yet received the Holy Spirit, take time (as a group, with your leader, or individually in your devotional time) to pray and seek the great gift of the Holy Spirit. When you seek and wait on God, He will send His Holy Spirit.

What is your experience of walking with the Holy Spirit? Read Acts 2 and see what happened when the Holy Spirit came on the disciples. He came as a violent wind, as fire, and He caused the disciples to speak in tongues. This can be our experience of the Holy Spirit today too. You will know when you’re filled by the Holy Spirit; His fire will bring purity and light to your life to reveal the darkness, and you will speak & operate in a manner which is completely different to the normal or natural way of things. You will be changed for the better when the Holy Spirit baptises you and releases you into a new dimension of living by the spirit. Apply these three points and scriptures and seek daily to Live By The Spirit. Be born again by the Holy Spirit, be baptised with the Holy Spirit, and believe to receive the Holy Spirit.

We can’t live God’s way on our own. We need a helper, a friend, a comforter, a guide. We need to know how we can come close and stay close to Jesus. This is why we need to Live By The Spirit; the Holy Spirit is all of these things. Jesus said that when He returned to heaven the Holy Spirit would be our helper in our daily walk with God and our daily work for God. In this new series, let’s discover how to Live By The Spirit as instructed in 1 Corinthians 3:1 and Galatians 5:25.

Further Scripture:
Galatians 6:1, John 15:26, 1 Samuel 2:21

Key Points:
* We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31)
* We need to stay close to the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thess. 5:19)
* We need to keep in step with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25)

Apply The Word:
What atmosphere do you live in? Do you live in the presence of peace or distress? Do you live in the presence of joy or sadness? Do you live in the presence of love? What happens if you measure your environment by the fruit (Galatians 5:22-23)? All of us live in a real world; a world that is both physical and spiritual. Just as we have to choose what physical environment we dwell in, we have to choose what spiritual environment we live in; either the spirit of darkness or the Holy Spirit, and the spirit of light.

We need to live by the Holy Spirit not just occasionally, momentarily. Not just at a small group, service, or conference. We need to live by the Spirit every moment of every day.

We need to choose today to live in the atmosphere of the Holy Spirit, which we can measure by our experience of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). If we aren’t experiencing that fruit, we need to change our spiritual environment to live by the Spirit. Spend time in prayer asking the Lord to open your eyes to the spiritual environment you live in and fill you completely with the Holy Spirit.

Caleb was the first of the spies to see the potential of the Promised Land and was determined to persevere until he saw the promise fulfilled. In this week’s key scripture, we read how He achieved his goal by staying determined. Like Caleb, we can achieve every God-given goal as we follow the Lord wholeheartedly, as we declare our faith in God, and as we walk determined to fulfil His purpose.

On Sunday 22nd September we covered points 1 & 2 of this message.

Further Scripture:
Genesis 23:19, Matthew 28:19-20, Philippians 3:10-14, Ephesians 6:10-13, Revelation 12:11, 1 Timothy 6:12, Acts 27:22-25, Joshua 21:3–12, 1 Chronicles 6:54–56, 2 Samuel 2:4, Acts 28:14, 2 Timothy 4:18

Key Points:
3. Faith (v12), 4. Fulfilment (v13)

Apply The Word:
Do you keep a spirit of determination to achieve all that God has for you even in the face of opposition? Like Caleb in this week’s passage and the apostle Paul as a New Testament example (2 Corinthians 11), you must keep your faith through difficulties. When the apostle Paul was caught in a prolonged storm at sea and when all hope of being saved had seemingly gone, he spoke confidently to everyone on board. When Caleb was hearing the downcast arguments of the other spies, he stood to declare the land was good. We too need this determined faith that God will help us conquer in every fight that we face. You will conquer in your finances. You will conquer in your family. You will conquer to win people to Christ.

Do you have a focus on the simple purpose God has given you? We can’t lose focus because of the cares of everyday life. We must not get distracted from the vision we have to change the world for Jesus. This means a focus on our daily development as being and making disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20).

Caleb was the first of the spies to see the potential of the Promised Land and was determined to persevere until he saw the promise fulfilled. In this week’s key scripture, we read how He achieved his goal by staying determined. Like Caleb, we can achieve every God-given goal as we follow the Lord wholeheartedly, as we declare our faith in God, and as we walk determined to fulfil His purpose.

Further Scripture:
Genesis 23:19, Matthew 28:19-20, Philippians 3:10-14, Ephesians 6:10-13, Revelation 12:11, 1 Timothy 6:12, Acts 27:22-25, Joshua 21:3–12, 1 Chronicles 6:54–56, 2 Samuel 2:4, Acts 28:14, 2 Timothy 4:18

Key Points:
1. Focus (v12), 2. Forcefulness (v11)

Apply The Word:
Do you keep a spirit of determination to achieve all that God has for you even in the face of opposition? Like Caleb in this week’s passage and the apostle Paul as a New Testament example (2 Corinthians 11), you must keep your faith through difficulties. When the apostle Paul was caught in a prolonged storm at sea and when all hope of being saved had seemingly gone, he spoke confidently to everyone on board. When Caleb was hearing the downcast arguments of the other spies, he stood to declare the land was good. We too need this determined faith that God will help us conquer in every fight that we face. You will conquer in your finances. You will conquer in your family. You will conquer to win people to Christ.

Do you have a focus on the simple purpose God has given you? We can’t lose focus because of the cares of everyday life. We must not get distracted from the vision we have to change the world for Jesus. This means a focus on our daily development as being and making disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20).

There is great power in declaration. To be an overcomer who gets over every obstacle in your way, it’s important to know how to speak positive words, and in particular, the Word of God. To conquer your mountains, you must take care of how you speak. The words of our tongue have great power to deliver, delay, or destroy our destiny. Learn from the life of Caleb in this week’s message how we can declare the promises of God to see our conquest.

Further Scripture:
Joshua 14:6-15, Nehemiah 1:4-7, Acts 4:23-31, Deuteronomy 1:35-36, 2 Peter 1:3, Hebrews 11:26-27, Romans 4:18-21, Isaiah 54:4, 13, 17, Isaiah 57:18

Apply The Word:
What do you declare with your words? When we speak out positive words, and especially the Word of God, we can see great things. Caleb clearly understood the power of declaration. He didn’t just hide words in his heart or mull them over in his mind. He spoke them out so that everyone would know that what was coming out of his mouth was an overflow of a great heart. Read Numbers 14 and see how Caleb declared the Word of God and had determination to claim and hold on to it.

Do you know the promises of God to declare? God makes great promises all through the Bible. He made promises to many individuals including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Daniel, and Paul. Of course, He also made promises to His people; to the Israelites and to the church. Every promise to Abraham for multiplication, for all generations, for a holy nation, and for transformation are promises to us also. God’s promises are eternal and obtainable. The promises are for all believers who are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, our father in faith. Search the scriptures for promises (including those listed above) and declare that these promises are alive and working on your behalf today.

Boldness is a sign of New Testament Christianity. Before the day of Pentecost, the disciples were fearful and lacking in confidence. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they lost their fears and inhibitions and spread the gospel with great boldness. The more we develop our relationship with God, the bolder we will be when we approach Him in prayer. In this message, we unlock this scripture as we learn how to receive answers to prayer by approaching God boldly.

Further Scripture:
Hebrews 4:13, Acts 4:29, Luke 19:5-6, Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9, 3:21

Key Points:
1. No Hesitation (“Let us therefore come…”)
2. No Condemnation (“…boldly to the throne of grace…”)
3. No Limitation (“…that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need…”)

Apply The Word:
Do you enter God’s presence boldly as one who has received an invitation? Read all of the scriptures found above and see how God provides an invitation to enter His presence; He just wants us to accept His invitation. He wants us to approach Him and hear what is in our hearts and on our minds. All we need at any time and in any place is available to us. In return, see how the New Testament Church were filled with confidence to boldly approach Him in prayer.

Maximise this time of prayer & fasting. We need to pray with confidence for ourselves, our families, our church and the nations. In these remaining days of prayer & fasting, come without any hesitation or condemnation and cry out for mercy to our Almighty God. Boldly bring your prayers and petitions before Him and believe for the answer to come.

God has many blessings for His children; material, relational, and spiritual. We need to know how to overcome all obstacles in our way to receive these blessings. The example of Caleb in this week’s passage shows us how we can do this. Caleb’s devotion and commitment to God set Him apart from other people and led to blessings which others had not seen. In this podcast, learn how to pursue the blessings of God yourself.

Further Scripture:
Ephesians 1:3, Numbers 14:21-24, Deuteronomy 1:34-36, Psalm 84:11, Mark 12:28-31, Deuteronomy 6:6, Matthew 19:20-22, Numbers 13:30, Numbers 14:9-10, Leviticus 6:12-13

Apply The Word:
Who do you follow and what do you prioritise? Read the story of Caleb in Numbers 13-14 and see how he lived counter-culturally when all were against him. Today, in a culture that is often hostile to God, we have to decide whether we are going to be a minority influenced by the majority or whether we will be a minority who will influence the majority. We have to decide whether we love God and His culture more than we love to fit in with friends and colleagues. If we love God wholeheartedly, experiencing the pleasure of God as we obey Him will mean more to us than pressure from others. God will honour you as you honour him. God will help you conquer your mountain as you faithfully follow him and stand for him.

Are you following God wholeheartedly? Was there a time you gave more to God than you do today? God is not looking for religious people, He is looking for people who will love and follow Him through every obstacle and in every season. When Jesus was making disciples, he was always looking at the state of their hearts. Read the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:20-22 and see how other things in life can become idols that stop you from following God. Are you prepared to leave what’s familiar and receive some big challenges? Are you prepared to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him? That is what Jesus is looking for.

In this message, we look at Luke 4 to see why this is our time to seize the moment and move to a new level. At the age of 30, Jesus stood to read from Isaiah 61 at His local synagogue. As He did, He declared that the day of salvation is here. Jesus’ ministry has brought hope to the world; hope that today we can move from where we are into all the limitless possibilities that God has for our lives.

Further Scripture:
Isaiah 38:7, Hebrews 10:23, Hebrews 10:36, Hebrews 6:18, Matthew 6:33, Malachi 3:10, Psalm 37:4-5, Leviticus 25:10, Malachi 4:6, Luke 19:42, Romans 13:11-14, 2 Corinthians 6:2

Apply The Word:
Do you walk in the freedom that Jesus has provided? Read the key passage in Luke 4 and see How Jesus has declared that the day of freedom is already here. Depend on God, trust His timing, and allow Him to renew His dream for your life. Choose to live in liberation, restoration, and celebration. God wants to cancel all debts; He has fully paid the price, and it didn’t stop when He ascended to heaven; it is still true today, as we read in 2 Corinthians 6:2; “I tell you now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.”

Are you walking in your purpose? The freedom we have is to be used for the Kingdom of God. Look at your life and consider how you make the most of the opportunities the Lord has provided. Choose to fulfil your purpose as a follower of Christ; to declare the Good News and minister to the poor & hurting. Today is our moment to see God’s promises fulfilled, to enjoy His favour and to focus on the mission He has given us to bring salvation, deliverance and hope to the world.