Chapter One.
The Holy Spirit. &
Our Walk with Jesus.
By John R A Smith.
Books One & Two.
For my Christian Brothers & Sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord & Saviour.
Before you read this book, I apologise in advance for grammatical errors, dyslexia, is a cruel and often unrecognised disability, at least it was for me in my days of my schooling. Yet I have refused to allow it from preventing me from reaching my desired goals, and this book is but one of them.
My recent two-part study on the Holy Spirit was made into short study books, and I openly admit I am no authority on such a subject. Yet I was guided to write and study on this subject and just understood the Holy Spirit was behind this and helping me grow, and through this book you can also grow if you seek God first in all that you do.
I have made mind blowing mistakes in my life. Yes, honestly mind-blowing mistakes, yet God has forgiven my repenting heart and still he reaches out to me aiding and helping me as the fruits of the Spirit grow. At one stage in my confused mind, I honestly thought I was unworthy of even a single drop of his forgiveness or grace. Yet he, God, loved me so much, he not only died for me through Christ Jesus. He purchased me with his blood and rose from the dead and to later ascend to sit at the right hand of God.
God gave me not only a single drop of grace and forgiveness, but an ocean of living water in his grace, mercy and love, and he will do the same for you if you would only but receive, believe, repent and come to him through Christ Jesus, taking him as your Lord and Saviour.
Do we seek such wisdom? True wisdom comes from spending time with God, not computer games, the television or the internet.
Proverbs 15:14, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.” (NLT, second edition).
It is up to us in what we feed on, we can either feed on truth, or simply trash, as whatever we fill our minds with, is simply what will come out from us. Let’s be truthful, garbage is garbage, and garbage in, garbage out. If you want to be wise, then you have got to feed every day on truth, and not trash.
I am starting to learn even in my art and book writing of fictional fantasy novels. (Yes, I know it has taken time possibly longer for me than others) but I am asking myself is this trash, is this what Jesus would want me to write, am I living my life how God wants me. And can I humbly suggest we all ask ourselves similar questions?
I shudder now to think I once wrote novels which were poisonous to the mind, I suppose I could equate them to junk food, rather than write material healthy to the mind and glorifying God and leading others along the right path. There is nothing wrong with good healthy fictional novels, only now the media tends to favour trash full of sex and violence.
Yes, there are plenty of good novels which meet this category, and they are not full of sex and junk and can bring light laughter and guide the mind in a positive way. There are plenty of authors in this world who are also meeting the junk criteria, but I need to remember I am no longer of this world but belong to Jesus.
Things like Pornography even in mild forms is bad for you and as a friend once told me he certainly will not read Fifty Shades of any colour, I smiled at a comment Pastor Rick Warren made about such issues. “Some people are so open-minded their brains fall out.”
And I agree with him if you have found yourself in the position that you can read or write such material then you are losing your way, drifting from God’s path and need to be guided back with love. I was, and I thank God someone loved me enough to guide me back on God’s path.
We need to protect our minds, scripture tells us to put on the helmet of salvation, is writing and reading such material doing that? I think not. We need to keep out such poison and certainly not be writing it for others to read.
You need to be hungry for what is good and healthy to feed on and not waste your time on pointless material which is only a useless filling and of no value in spiritual growth.
I could use Pastor Rick Warrens quote here. (“If you watch TV for hours, your mind is full of empty calories that don’t help your body or your mind”).
I am understanding the more time I spend learning about God and his will, the more fed I become, with healthy nutritious food which my body and mind need to maintain a healthy relationship with God and to enable me to live in his promised Blessing.
Look at Ephesians 3: 1. (NIV).
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
We need to feed on truth and you rarely ever find such truth by focusing our minds on the TV, the internet or computer games. The scriptures aid you in your growth, and the Holy Spirit guides you in your life and draws you nearer to God by becoming more and more like Jesus.
If this is not what you want, then that is your choice, as you do not need to follow the Holy Spirit if that is what you desire, but if you ignore such guidance, then you risk your eternal salvation as we need to do God’s will, to take Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and grow in the fruits of the spirit. The choice is yours as you have free will.
In my thoughts, we need to give God every area of our lives and develop a habit, (As we are creatures of habit) and spend time each day drawing nearer to God in reading the scriptures and studying his Holy Word the Bible through the guidance of and with the Holy Spirit.
This to me is in part wisdom, “Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4b NLT, second edition). We need to become what God wants us to be, can you see that?
Let us begin.
The core message of this study has led me into a deeper understanding of the working of the Holy Spirit and drawn me closer to Jesus.
I pray, this will do the same for you, and that at this special time in your life as you learn to drawn nearer to God and focus on the true meaning of his Grace, Mercy & Love. Of the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ Jesus. That your eyes will be open to the true purpose of the Holy Spirit and that you will come to a more intimate relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Further into this book I wrote from the following: (Hebrews 12:18-29 NIV). “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded. If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken remains.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
When I was first drawn to the above, I was in awe of the power of God. I had sought in prayer for his guidance and felt drawn by the Spirit of God to start this section with these words. God is speaking directly to us and we need to listen.
It is so different, and a vast contrast from that of approaching God on Mount Sinai to when we approach God through Christ Jesus as described on Mount Zion! There is a transformation from fear and apprehension to one of Joy and acceptance to come into God’s presence and accept his invitation.
When we invited Jesus into our lives and made him our Lord and Saviour, we stepped out of the old life, which led to death and came into God’s presence through Christ Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit. We are citizens of heaven the moment the Holy Spirit seals us with God’s promise through the Blood of Jesus.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit is ours to draw us nearer to Christ Jesus making us like him, maturing from children into adults and feeding on God’s living Word. We are a family of believers and One Body with Christ Jesus being the head, his church, and our reward is the heavenly Jerusalem as portrayed in Revelations 21.
How can a person describe the very being of the Holy Spirit when they have never seen such before?
Scriptures describe the very Spirit of God in many ways, like tongues of fire, or a dove descending from heaven, and in the Old Testament like a pillar of Fire.
In all my studies and conversations with various church leaders, I believe the one area that so many are unconsciously ignoring or alternatively seeking is that of the Holy Spirit.
Nothing is impossible with God! Remember that, yet, this will not mean people will not suffer or die, Jesus suffered, he took our sins on himself and took our place so we could become one with him and run the race of life knowing we are his, he Jesus, purchased us with his blood, and the Holy Spirit guides us in our daily walk in life and into Gods will.
I think it was Billy Graham who said the Holy Spirit is so immeasurable while our minds are so limited, and how true that is. In my walk with God, I am growing, yes, possibly slowly, yet the fruits of the Spirit are within and in my desire to draw nearer to Jesus, and each day has led me on a path of scriptural studies fasting and prayers.
And praying to God for me is like talking with my best friend, I have no need to beg God, as I know like a loving father myself, I want to give my children what is best for them. Father God is infinitely more able than I and he knows my every need. And I also have a sure knowledge that in his Holy Scriptures his word is there as a foundation to stand on and back it up. God cannot lie.
And I believe in my heart God wants us to be his friend and to draw near to him, and to spend time talking with him, (Lots and lots of time as my grandchildren say to me in spending time with them) and making him (God) first in our lives, and in all that we do.
I have noticed the workings of the Holy Spirit in my life and others, and from within churches and their leadership, and I have set out to learn more.
The one certain area which is causing confusion in so many is the Holy Spirit, as it saddens me immensely to find some Christians openly confessing the Holy Spirit no longer ministers to the saints in the church.
As such I have prayed asking for guidance or insight into the 3rd person of the Trinity, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And learn of his direction on a global scale, and I only hope that I can do this subject justice and that it can unite our minds and draw us closer in our walk with God.
Jesus, when he ascended to heaven, had instructed his disciples to remain until the Holy Spirit came, where he the Holy spirit baptised those he fell upon, and united the disciples in their ministry. But notice this, something so many Christian writers seem to fail to mention. They were in unity in one mind and focused on Christ Jesus. (In Unity).
All those who received the Holy Spirit on that wonderful day were all of one accord. (In unity) and focused on Jesus. Look at Acts 2: 1-2.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Scripture is to be our guide and the Bible is our reference manual and guide book in life, giving us biblical Holy Spirit inspired instructions and guideline. As a mortal, it is impossible for me to fully understand the infinite plan of God or of his timing and workings. Assuredly different elucidations arise by sincere loving Christians and it is here the Holy Spirit must lead us.
God gave us his Son so we sinners could make a conscious choice, and that knowing Jesus the Son of the living God in flesh took our place by paying the price for our sins. His blood gift was that sacrifice and the sins of the world came on his shoulders separating Jesus from God.
We now come to our risen Lord who ascended into heaven and intercedes for us, God placed Jesus above all names, and all will one day bow the knee before him, yet God has given us to his Son Jesus the Christ and, he Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit.
Jesus set the example, Jesus showed us the way and the free will to choose to give our lives to him, and follow him as a disciple, and to become baptised of water and then the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit leads us into goodness during our life and walk with him, we are forgiven, if but only we would believe and accept it. God loves us so much that he gave us Jesus in the flesh of man to take our place and show us the way to return home.
Salvation from the death of sin, by believing repenting and receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Oh, what a precious gift, yet beyond some people’s understanding.
God provided a way for us to receive his promises, look at (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12). (Look this up it will also encourage your study and help you to learn your way around the scriptures.
God want to give gifts to us and build our faith so we can walk with him in his power but not ours. In Jesus, he gave us forgiveness and in Jesus he gave also the Holy Spirit. The very source of the creation of the heavens, the very Spirit of God who lifted Jesus from the grave, and the same source of power to aid us on our journey in life, in placing God first in all that we do, giving God the first, our fruits and labour.
