Hope Corner Church
Continuing our teaching on the Holy Spirit. How can we live a Spirit filled life?
None of us would disagree that the Holy Spirit is important in helping us in our Christian walk, after all, we choose to go to a Pentecostal Church!
But what does that look like? What are our expectations of living a Spirit filled life?
We are going to look at Philip-the deacon, not the apostle and see what a Spirit filled life looked like in his life.
Acts of the Apostles 8:4-40 NLT
1. Appreciate the ordinary. Expect the extraordinary.
We see in verses 4-8 that Philip moved in signs and wonders, but when the angel spoke to him, he was not asked to do the miraculous. It was the words and testimony of Philip that impacted the Ethiopian, not a miracle.
Think of a typical day for you. Where could you allow the Holy Spirit in to make an impact on someone else? What would this look like? What kind of attitude would you need to adopt?
2. Stop waiting for tomorrow, act today!
Philip was asked to go to the road, and he went. He wasn't too busy. It wasn't too inconvenient. It wasn't beneath him or too basic. He just went.
There is nothing wrong with seeking God's will in our life, but does it get in the way of allowing the Holy Spirit to move in our everyday lives? How do you feel about the idea that God's will has nothing to do with what it does for us but what it does to glorify Him?
Can we be guilty of chasing the Holy Spirit for what we get OUT of it instead of what we can do WITH it? How do we keep a check on this?
3. Trust God for the bigger picture.
Philip never saw the Ethiopian again, but it is traditionally believed that this encounter was the start of Christianity in Africa. Philip was concerned with the 1 person that the Holy Spirit told him to talk to, not with the entire continent that would be affected.
Why is it so hard to trust God with the bigger picture?
Tying in with "Thy Kingdom Come," who is the 1, or 5, people that you could be concentrating on? Is it up to us to bring these people to Jesus? What is our responsibility?
Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT
Pray the prayer from Hebrews over each other.
Finish your time to praying:
-for each other, that we will be open to the Holy Spirit in the ordinary.
-for ourselves, that we use the Holy Spirit in us to glorify God, not ourselves.
-for our 5 people that we want to see moved by God in these next few weeks.
There is a 5 day Bible plan attached. You can create a group with your contacts on YouVersion where you can discuss what you are reading and hold each other accountable. Give it a go!
