Friday, October 16, 2009

The Leadership of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Sprit is a Personality, the third person of the Trinity(1 John 5:7). He is not a feeling, neither is He a thing or a mere influence. The Holy Spirit is the believers seal for the ultimate day of redemption(Ephesians 4:30); He is the believers Helper who abides with us forever(John 14:16); He is the believers Guide and Director masterfully guiding us into all truths and also showing us things to come(John 16:13); He is the believers Comforter in times of trouble, sorrow and pressure(John 16:6-7); He is the Anointing that works signs and wonders through the believer(Acts 1:8); The Holy Spirit is the One that introduces the unbeliever to Jesus Christ the Savior(John 16:8-9); He is our Liberator and the greatest Change Agent of all times(2 Corinthians 3:16-18); He is the Believers Motivation and Inspiration(John 7:38); The Holy Spirit is also the Prayer Generator within the believer(Jude 20). The Holy Spirit is the greatest Resource Person in the world,and He is much more than the aforementioned.

Leadership experts simply define leadership as influence. Great leaders are influential people mobilising people towards a cause. However, not all great leaders are good leaders e.g Hitler. The Holy Spirit is not just a great leader, He is an entirely good one mobilising people towards the worship of the only true God and His son Jesus Christ. The challenge for the christian is to allow more of this wonderful leadership(or influence) of the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming an effective witness of God to his or her world. The underlisted points are crucial in experiencing more of the Holy Spirit:

1. Be mindful of Him always: This is a major key in having the Holy Spirit influence us the more. In worship, be conscious of Him helping you to glorify God better. When you kneel to pray, be mindful that He is there to help you pray. When you at a crossroad, say a quiet prayer to Him. When you are in trouble, consult Him. It is disheartening that many believers live their lifes as orphans when the very reason the Holy Spirit was given is to assist us in this present world. Scripture reference: John 16:7

2. Be filled with the Holy Spirit: It is interesting that the Apostle Paul drew an analogy between drunkenness and being filled with the Spirit. In the USA, when a drunk driver is arrested the first thing the policeman does is to assess the alcoholic content in his system. This is to establish a DUI (Driving Under Influence) charge. Apostle Paul said we should not be drunk with wine, but we should be filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, be under the intoxicating and hilarious influence of the Holy Spirit(Acts 2:11-13). We have to deliberately yield our lives regularly to the Holy Spirit as an alcoholic will yield himself to the next bottle of alcohol (Please read Ephesians 5:18-20 and Romans 6:19).

3. Guard your relationship with Him: Any meaningful relationship particularly among male and female married couples must be guarded and maintained. In other words, both partners should be careful to please each other and not take one another for granted. The Holy Spirit is a gentle personality and can be grieved. Such behaviors like flagrant disobedience, bitterness, anger, malice, coarse jesting, etc reduces the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Scripture reference: Ephesians 4:25-32

CONCLUSION: The unbelieving world cannot receive the Spirit of God (John 14:17). They have a contrary spirit influencing and leading them. What spirit is ruling your life? If it isn't the Spirit of God, repent and accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, and freely receive the Spirit of God that will eventually lead you to eternal life in Christ Jesus

Mountain Moving Faith

“So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you whoever says to this mountain:, Be removed and be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." (Mark 11:22-23).

The above verses is one of the most profound statements of Jesus about faith. Mountain Moving Faith (MMF) is a force that produces change and delivers results. Jesus was saying in essence that with faith you can remove the mountain of sin, barrenness, unproductivity, stagnancy, spiritual blindness and deafness, sickness, poverty, etc. In other words every negativity in our lives can be eradicated with our faith in God.

Below are attributes of Mountain Moving Faith:

1. MMF renames situations and conditions: God in trying to get Abram demonstrate MMF told him to change his name from Abram to Abraham even when he was childless. Abraham means the father of nations. Before Jacob became a nation, he was re-named Israel. MMF is a God kind of faith that calls things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17b).

2. MMF is like a loaded or cocked gun aimed at a target: The Word of God is the bullet that is loaded in the arsenal of the heart of the believer. The mouth of the believer is the trigger that fires the shot aimed at a particular target. The target could be a mountain of stagnancy, sin, barrenness, sickness, child rebellion, etc. MMF is not aimless, pointless and targetless. ( Mark 11:24, Romans 10:10, John 15:7).

3. MMF does not disregard the facts of a situation, it simply do not accept ownership: A fedex mail (that demands signature of the recipient of the mail) is undeliverable until it is signed for and received. Likewise the negative doctor's report may carry your name, but if you continuously deny ownership it will eventually return to sender. Until you sign for a baggage that needs your signature, it is never yours. Stop signing for satanic baggages! MMF declares let God be true but every man a liar (Romans 3 4, Romans 4:19-20.

4. MMF employs the staying power of patience until results are delivered: MMF is a waiter or waitress that waits on God until He performs. MMF knows that once the need is classified as the will of God, it is deliverable! MMF is resolute, stubborn, determined and unwavering. It is ready to wait forever trusting in the faithfulness of God. (Luke 18:1-8, Hebrews 6:12, 1 John 5:14-15, Romans 4:16-23).

5. MMF operates on the wings of divine love: MMF is activated by the love of God in the heart of the born again Christian. The Bible says even demons believe in the power of God (James 2:19), but because they are evil they cannot create good. The human nature is inherently evil, and do not please God. Being born again is accepting the divine love nature in the person of Jesus Christ into one's heart (1 John 5:1-5). Anyone who claims to be a Christian and hates his brother is an enemy of God. To operate MMF effectively, the love of God must be bubbling in one's heart (Galatians 5:6).