Your Relationship with the Spirit of God

Introduction

If you are determined to see personal spiritual growth then there are three relationships that you must cultivate: your relationship with the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the Church of God.

Last week we looked in great detail at our relationship with the Word of God.

You must receive it (preparing your heart and positioning yourself to hear it), you must respond to it in obedience, and you must remain in the Word of God and continue to let it shape and mold you.

Today we are going to look into what our relationship with the Spirit of God should look like according to the Word of God.

When you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you received salvation but you also received the Spirit of God which now indwells every believer.

- Spirit of God dwelleth in you

Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

“...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” ()

Our relationship with the Spirit of God is of utmost importance to our spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit plays a significant role in our development as believers and our response to the role He plays will determine the progress we make in our spiritual growth.

The primary relationship that we ought to have with the Spirit of God is one of yielding to His control.

Yield to His influence (Vs. 16-17)

Paul clearly communicates to the church at Galatia that if they will walk in the Spirit they will no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh.

The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the areas of our life that are under the influence of the flesh and it is our responsibility to yield ourselves to Him in order that we do not yield to the lusts of our flesh.

You and I may have trusted Christ for salvation but this did not immediately eliminate our struggle against our flesh. Even a great Christian like the apostle Paul recognized the reality of the continuing struggle against the flesh.

The only hope that we have in conquering the lusts of our flesh is to yield ourselves to the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God will convict us where we are living contrary to God. We must be willing to respond to His conviction by correcting the areas of our lives that are contrary to what God desires.

Illustration- tug of war- yielding to the Spirit will give us victory over our flesh.

The more we yield to the influence of the Spirit of God the less we will yield to the lusts of our flesh. The lusts of the flesh are a powerful force but the power of the Spirit of God is far superior. The only question is are we willing to yield to the Spirit instead of yielding to the flesh?

Yield to His leadership (Vs. 18)

The Holy Spirit will also lead us. Our response to the Holy Spirit in this area of His ministry in us is to let Him take the lead in our life surrendering ourselves to His control.

We so often want to go our own way, but if we are to experience real spiritual growth we must learn to yield ourselves the the leadership of the Spirit of God in every area of our lives.

Our lives will be lived in such a way as to please God only insomuch as we are continually yielding the the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

We must do our best to be sensitive to His leading and we must be willing to be led by the Spirit even when it contradicts the path we might choose for ourselves.

Illustration- pastoring in NC

The Spirit of God may sometimes lead us in an unexpected direction but we must remain yielded to Him if are to continue to move forward in our walk with the Lord. Example- the apostle Paul and Silas-

The moment we refuse the Spirit of God’s leadership and go our own way we are headed for trouble. &

We cannot trust our own instincts, instead we must rely upon the guiding influence of the Spirit of God. He may guide us by leading is by some truth found in the Word of God, He may guide us by causing some point in the preaching of the Word of God to resonate in our hearts, but we can be certain that if we will remain sensitive He will clearly lead us.

We may imagine today the plan that God has for our lives, but in the end we must trust the Spirit’s guidance and yield ourselves to His leadership in our lives.

Depend on Him for power (Vs. 19-25)

It is the Spirit of God that will empower us, enabling us to live a life that pleases God. There is no possibility that we will live a life that is pleasing in the sight of God in our own power.

We see two contrasting lists: the works of the flesh (behaviors displeasing to God) and the fruit of the Spirit (behavior pleasing to God). The only way that we can possibly manifest the fruits of the Spirit and reject the works of the flesh is by the power of the Spirit of God.

It is He who will give us the strength to overcome sin, it is He who will give us the power to manifest the fruits of the Spirit listed here.

It is the Spirit of God that will empower us to faithfully serve the Lord and to produce spiritual fruit that stands as the evidence of our spiritual growth.

- power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Jesus knew the disciples could not carry out their mission without the help of the power of the Spirit of God. The same is true for you and I. We will never fulfill all of God’s will for our lives until we learn to rely upon the power of the Spirit of God.

Conclusion

The ultimate goal for every believer is to be filled with the Spirit- - filled spirit- this means very simply to be totally and completely yielded/surrendered to His control.

Many great Christians of scripture were filled with Spirit- Jesus full of Holy Ghost- , disciples on the day of Pentecost- , Peter- , Stephen- , Barnabas- , Paul-

If this is to be true of you and I as well we must heed some simple but vital instructions from the scriptures

- grieve not the holy spirit of God- we do so by committing sin in spite of His conviction

- Quench not the Spirit- we do so by refusing to follow His guidance in our lives

Let each of us determine to maintain a right relationship with the Spirit of God in the days ahead that we might progress to maturity in the process of spiritual growth.