Pneuma Life: Holy Spirit in YouSampl

Living in the Holy Spirit's Overflow...

…and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
Acts 2:38-39

We nurture the Holy Spirit’s fruit within us—love, joy, peace, patience—the very character of Jesus Himself, as we allow Him to bring healing and deliverance to our hearts, minds, and personalities (the realm of our soul).

It is the Holy Spirit's work to literally transform us from the inside out. Yet we must never forget it is His doing and not our trying in our own strength. It is all about abiding in the Vine of Christ by simply centering our lives completely around Him, even if it’s little by little (John 15: 1-17). It is our simple yes as we walk with Him in greater intimacy and the power of His Word.

Again, depending upon our various faith traditions, our teachings regarding the gifts of the Spirit, as listed in 1 Corinthians 12:6-11 may vary. However, for our final day of study, let’s breakdown this toolbox of enablements or graces (the Greek word, Charisma) into three categories:

• The Discerning Gifts:
  Word of Wisdom
  Word of Knowledge
  Discerning of Spirits
• The Dynamic Gifts:
  Faith
  Healings
  Miracles
• The Declarative Gifts:
  Prophecy
  Speaking in Tongues
  Interpretation of Tongues

When we dispense a gift of the Spirit, we provide a gift from God to the recipient. Because of the joyful root of charisma, Chara, the intent of these gifts is not to abuse or harm. They are meant to bring healing, hope, wisdom, encouragement, meet a physical need, or demonstrate God’s power—always drawing the recipient closer to Him. No wonder the Apostle Paul writes the treatise on agape, unconditional love smack-dab in the middle of the two chapters about these supernatural gifts! (1 Cor. 13)

We cannot earn these spiritual graces. We cannot wear them as a sign of spirituality. We cannot walk in pride because of them. However, we can be humbly open, available, and expectant that God might want to work through us with the Spirit’s gifts to bless someone else.

In our brief study, we haven’t even begun to fill a thimble with all the Holy Spirit does and who He is. However, let’s be people who walk in the Spirit—leading Pneuma lives in all He has given us as He dwells within us.

What phrase spoke to you from today’s lesson and why?

Was this plan helpful? It was adapted from Pneuma Life: Living in the Holy Spirit’s Overflow. Check it out for a more in-depth study of the Person, work, and gifts of the Holy Spirit.