Left On Read, Part 1

Mark #3
A disciple is one who responds to the Holy Spirit.

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Billy Graham
“Everywhere I go I find that God’s people lack something. They are hungry for something. Their Christian experience is not all that they expected and they often have recurring defeat in their lives. Christians today are hungry for spiritual fulfillment. The most desperate need of the nation today is that men and women who profess Jesus be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

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The Seven Marks
1. Finds their identity in Jesus
2. Pursues the lifestyle of Jesus
3. Responds to the Spirit
4. Engages in Biblical Community
5. Serves Others
6. Proclaims Jesus
7. Makes Disciples

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Michael Green
“Many adherents of all denominations have been in the same state…the Holy Spirit could be discounted. Christianity [is] a matter of churchgoing, of soldiering on and trying to do one’s best, and of believing in the existence of God and the historical life and death of Jesus…the Holy Spirit has been a disturbing influence. Let him therefore be paid lip service, but for all practical purposes be shut up in the Bible where He can do no harm.”

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Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

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Ruakh
Hebrew word meaning breath, wind, and/or Spirit.

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Christopher Wright
“We are not just being told that it was a bit windy back at the beginning. Rather we are being told that the powerful Spirit of God was hovering, poised for action. The word of God, which comes next in the action, is the result of the personal presence of God.”

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Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

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John 20:21-22
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

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Romans 8:1-2
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

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Romans 8:9-11
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

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1. Trust Him

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2. Praise Him

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The Awareness of the Spirit of God

1. Set a reminder on your watch or phone to praise your heavenly Father for the Spirit of God that not only sustains you physically, but also spiritually.

2. Take a walk and as you take in all that He has created, praise Him and the work of the Spirit in creating all things.

3. As you notice or feel the wind, communicate with the Spirit inside you praising Him for both the visible and invisible movement in your life.

4. As you clean your house this week or put away Christmas decorations to bring your house back into order, celebrate and praise the Spirit for how He brings life and light to a chaotic and dark world.