Spirit-Filled, Spirit-Led Life
Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature… Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25).
There is certain tension that comes when we have been in the manifest presence of the Spirit of Jesus and then we have to return to the normal routines of daily life. When God moves in a special way in our midst, we wish the exhilaration of that time could last forever, but it does not. In a sense it is easier to be filled with the Holy Spirit than it is to walk in the Holy Spirit, but this is not a reason for discouragement. It is actually a reason to rejoice because God is forcing us to face the question of how we can live life in the Spirit and live with his blessing. How can we live without losing his anointing and his joy?
Learning to walk in the Spirit is a deeper lesson in the life of faith, Christ wants you to know how to live a holy life with a clean heart, how to serve him hour by hour in the routines of life. He will lead you in the small things as he leads in the big things. In fact, the small things may be the keys to the big ones. If he directs you to study or clean or mow the lawn, then that studying, that cleaning, that mowing is as sacramental as a prayer meeting.
However, if he is leading you to a prayer meeting and you are studying, cleaning, or mowing, then you have stepped out of his will, and the sense of his presence will grow dim.
Life must be lived with one hand lifted in praise to God and with the other hand immersed in the necessary activities of daily life. We must learn the delicate lesson of listening to his voice. Here is the place we learn how to live a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, sanctified life.
—Dennis Kinslaw
This Day with the Master
Mountain tops and valleys. They go hand in hand. Do you remember the story in the Gospels where Jesus met with Moses and Elijah? Peter, sensing this was an amazing ‘mountain-top moment’ (which really took place on a mountaintop), offered to build tents for the three. No doubt, Peter thought ‘this is awesome, we should stay here a while!’ Jesus brought an abrupt end to that thought, and they headed back down into the valley … and into His disciples arguing about which of them was most important. In our spiritual lives, mountains spill into valleys. That’s the course we’re on. Our hope is to seize and enjoy those mountain-top highs, but not to cling to them. Rather to let them blow wind in our sails for the next leg of the journey, likely into the muck and mire. But in confidence knowing we’re not alone. Jesus is with us. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics