Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. – (Galatians 6:8)

We have to make a choice. There are only two choices. One choice leads to doom and the other leads to everlasting life.

We will either live out of our sinful nature or we will live to honor and please the Spirit of God within us. To do the first we need to do nothing — we will live out of our sinful nature by default, no choice or surrender needs to be made. To do the latter, to live to honor and please the Spirit, we must intentionally yield to the Spirit’s influence in our lives and claim the everlasting life promised for us.

The different results of this daily choice are starkly different: decay and death OR everlasting life!

Prayer : O Father, I choose to live to please your Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit is at work in me to bring life in me. I want that life, your everlasting life. So please influence me in every aspect of my life through the work of your Holy Spirit within me. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? – (Galatians 3:2)

Most of us love lists that we can check off and show we’ve completed our tasks or deserve what we get. The Holy Spirit, however, is a gift given to those who believe in Jesus, trusting that his death, burial, and resurrection saves them and sharing with Jesus in these through baptism (1 Cor. 15:1-5; Rom. 6:3-6).

Paul is reminding these folks that no list, not even one given in the law, can bring the Holy Spirit to them. They received the Spirit because they truly believed in Jesus and Jesus poured out this gift upon them (Titus 3:3-7). No wonder Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit as one of God’s greatest gifts (Luke 11:11-13).

The apostle Paul clearly taught that we receive the Holy Spirit the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. First Corinthians 12:13 declares, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Romans 8:9 tells us that if a person does not possess the Holy Spirit, he or she does not belong to Christ: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

Prayer: O Father, thank you for the gift of your Son who died for my sins and was raised from the dead to give me the victory over sin and death. I also thank you, dear Father, for the gift of the Holy Spirit that is your presence that lives in me. May my life be to your glory O God. In the name of Jesus I offer you my deepest thanks! Amen.

Who is Holy Spirit - – - - Holy Spirit Pictures

Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by your observing the law, or by your believing what you heard? - (Galatians 3:5)

God’s Spirit is given and God’s power is displayed in those who believe. We don’t make the Spirit come to us — the Spirit is God’s gift to followers of Jesus. We cannot make God’s power happen in our lives — this power is released through the work of the Holy Spirit in those who believe.

So what is the bottom line? Do we believe or do we try to force God to act by adhering to a set of laws or do we believe in Jesus and trust God will supply what we need?

There are two important points. The first is the Spirit is a gift, given freely.  All that is necessary is for us to allow Him in.  The second point is that He is the Gift of both God, the Father, and God the Son.  Jesus promised that after his departure, He and God, the Father, would send the Holy Spirit, to assist the apostles in their mission to spread the message of God.  The Holy Spirit  is also referred to as the the Advocate or the Spirit of truth.

The gift of the Holy Spirit did not end with the apostles.  God continues to give out the Holy Spirit, as the church grows in Acts.

Prayer: O Father, move among us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe in Jesus and his power to save, redeem, and transform. So we ask for you to move with power among us! In Jesus’ name. Amen.