Seeking to Mature in Our Life in the Spirit

For a while now, my attention has been captivated by the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I have been particularly intrigued with Jesus' words, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:15)

While I understand that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost (Acts 2), and that we cannot be born again without the Holy Spirit (John 3), there is still a sense in which many churches and Christians are not experiencing what the New Testament describes in relation to the Spirit's ministry. 

My conclusion? Jesus tells us to ask for it.

To help me pray about this, I have created some cards that summarize verses from God's word that indicate what we should expect or experience from the Holy Spirit's ministry in the church. Each card is designed to be printed on a 4x6 file card, so feel free to save them and use for your own prayer cards. 

These are things we ought to expect from the Spirit's ministry. If we are lacking these, Jesus calling us to ask for the Holy Spirit must certainly apply.

On aspect of the Spirit's work is the whole area of spiritual gifts. Here are some things we should expect and ask for, as recorded in I Corinthians 12. 

After Paul clarifies that love is necessary to everything we do in the church, he continues telling us what to expect of the Spirit's work in I Corinthians 14.

Paul's introduction to I Corinthians 14 keeps our focus on both the fruit of the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit. Here is encouragement to pursue both.

As I considered the call to pursue both love and spiritual gifts, I realized that both are indicators of the presence of God in our lives. 

I found it very illuminating that the phrase, "be filled with the Spirit" seemed to be parallel to "let the word of Christ dwell in your richly". 

And, finally, we must keep the ministry of the Spirit in intimate fellowship with the ministry of the word of God. They cannot be separated.

© 2016 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)