First and Foremost

The Most important question you will every answer is, “Do I belong to Jesus Christ?”

Stephen J. Cole, a contributor to Bible.Org, wrote regarding this passage: “ If you belong to Christ, all of God’s promises are “yes” for you in Him (). If you belong to Christ, you are reconciled to God, your sins are all forgiven, you can enjoy fellowship with Him every day, and you know that if you were to die today, you would be with the Lord in the glory of heaven forever.”

The Message Chapter 8

But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!

Each of the three levels we discussed begin with one assumption: You are no longer in control of your life; God controls it because you belong to God, through Jesus Christ.

If you have just begun the spiritual journey, if you have adequate spiritual experience to be an effective servant of God or if you are spiritually mature and leading in some area of the body of Christ, The Holy Spirit is in control.

We will study this passage as a foundation to each level of spiritual sensitivity. I will refer to each level as Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3.

We will study this passage as a foundation to each level of spiritual sensitivity.

The Day it all changes

When I confessed Christ as Savior. I realized I was chosen to know God and live aware of his presence.

What did I know? I knew I was living contrary to the One I was always aware of, but never acknowledged. I knew I needed to change my life.

Stage 1. Lifestyle changes as the result of inward change. (sex, drugs, other habits, and relationships)

Stage 2. Stop Fighting with the Holy Spirit. (Bad things were on the inside because of the sinful nature. I saw clearly what was at the root of my heart and soul: Selfishness, Anger, Fear, Covetousness)

Stage 3. The difference between the anointing and Surrender. (As one well acquainted with the things of God, I know when God is using me; the question now is who am I when I am not doing ministry? Is there a grace resting upon the servant when she is not serving? I now my private walk is more important than my public walk.