How to Keep in Step with the Holy Spirit
“The Holy Spirit illuminates the minds of people, makes us yearn for God, and takes spiritual truth and makes it understandable to us.” – Billy Graham
1. Call your prayer partner for your 10-minute prayer call. If you are having trouble connecting, keep trying! Done:______
2. It’s time to meet with your Beloved, your Savior and the Lover of your soul! Pray and ask Him to speak to you about what it means to Keep in Step with the Holy Spirit and for the help to do so more and more each day.
3. Read Galatians 5:16-26. Write verse 25 in your journal.
How to Keep in Step With the Holy Spirit
Do you ever have trouble living the Christian life? We all have times which test our faith but the way to overcome is to continue to stay as close to Jesus as possible. He is our life. His Holy Spirit which dwells inside of us gives us the power we need to live the triumphant life God has for us.
So much of the goodness in our lives comes from keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Trouble comes when we go ahead or lag behind. When we become Christians, God gives us the precious Holy Spirit as a deposit of the life which is to come when we are in fellowship with our blessed Savior in heaven. This is the broken place, there all will be perfect. Here we have sorrow and suffering, there all will be whole.
Living in the power of the Holy spirit while we are on this earth is the very best way to live within the confines of the brokenness and the beauty. The very presence and filling of the Holy Spirit are what is needed to be whole in this world.
The Holy Spirit is where we get our strength and our power! Just like we receive the energy for our bodies from the food we eat, we receive the energy for living the victorious Christian life from the Spirit of God!
Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that the same God who created everything in this world and universe lives inside of YOU! Isn’t that amazing? If this is true, why is it that we don’t live the life God has for us?
And how do you know if you are keeping in step with the Spirit?
Do you worry about tomorrow? Do you have deep regrets about the past? Are you showing fruits of living by the Spirit?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.
I think sometimes we don’t live by the Spirit as much because the cares and worries of this world choke the fruit right out of us. We can even feel disconnected from God. Sometimes life gets hard, but we should be relying on God ESPECIALLY during these times!
God is with us in the hard times just as much as He is in the easy times. He never leaves us. The fruits of the spirit are a beautiful by-product of living in the power of the Holy Spirit. When we are connected and aware of His presence, He fills us with joy. This is where noticing God’s goodness comes in. When we are thankful, things become easier and more peaceful because we see what we have. The focus becomes on what we have, and NOT on what we don’t have.
Pray with me today: “Holy Spirit, please open my eyes the ways which you work in my life. Help me to stay in step with you and not lag behind or go ahead. I want to notice your daily presence in my life and to learn to hear your voice. Speak to me through your word daily, and make me aware of all of the ways you show your loving-kindness to me. Give me a thankful heart. In Jesus name, Amen.”
4. Questions to Ponder: Write the answers to these questions in your journal:
- How about you? Do you worry about tomorrow or feel deep regrets about the past? Are you showing fruits of living by the Spirit?
- Pray and ask God to show you any areas of your life which you are not keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you to surrender anything that is holding you back from the life God has for you, and pray for His help and power to walk with Him.
5. Faith-Filled Idea: Try these ideas to help you to stay in step with the Holy Spirit!
- Spend time with God. This is how we refuel! When we spend time with God, we get His perspective on our lives and how He wants us to live. Be sure to ask for wisdom for your day!
- Worship! There are countless scriptures which talk about the benefits of worship. When we worship God, it opens the doors to the working of the Holy Spirit. Try turning on some worship music during your time with God and keep it on all day long. This little habit will transform your life!
- Ask God to help you to see into the hearts of your husband, children and friends and those you encounter during your day. Pray for God’s perspective on everything and to help you to love others well!
- Give God control of your day, your schedule and your friendships. Pray each day and commit your cell phone, (ask God to control who calls and texts) your appointment book, even your front door to God. When we trust God with these areas of our life, it makes it harder to feel lonely and isolated. If God wants you to receive a phone call or go to lunch, He will schedule it for you!
- Commit your finances to God. Ask Him to help you to be wise and frugal with His money. Pray for a generous heart that loves to bless others.
- Notice God! Purposely build checkpoints into your day to stop and remember the goodness of God. Did a friend call to say you’ve been on her mind? How about the hug from your toddler when he said he loves his mommy? What about finding the coupon on the floor at Target that was exactly what you needed, or the beautiful moment you and your husband spent gazing at the sunset before dinner? All of these are God’s little ways to show you He loves you! Get into the habit of stopping and telling God that you noticed His great love for you today. When we are thankful and notice even the smallest details of God’s love and care, it makes us all so much happier and fills us with joy!
The Holy Spirit is With Me All the Time – I am Never Alone
“Man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to His humanity.” ~Major Ian Thomas
1. Find a cozy place, grab your Bible, journal, and pen. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit for help, to give you understanding as you fellowship with him and learn today.
2. Read Psalm 139:1-24. Read slowly, meditate, and ask God to illuminate the scriptures as you think on and mull over these verses.
The Holy Sprit is With Me All the Time – I am Never Alone
Lately, God has been ministering to me about the Holy Spirit, how He is constantly in and with me. God is omnipresent, which means He is everywhere all the time. David, who wrote Psalm 139 had an incredible understanding of this concept. It is a beautiful truth, yet difficult for us as humans to understand.
An experience I had several months ago reminded me of God’s presence being practically available to us at any given time. While I was in town running errands, a bad snowstorm developed, making it almost impossible for me to return home. I was about 10 minutes from our house, when the cars ahead of me began to slip and slide on the snow and ice as they were trying to get up the hill presently in front of us. A few cars could no longer advance because of the slippery roads, and stopped right in the center, completely stuck. I could feel panic begin to rise up inside of me. The tires on my minivan were not winterized and I knew I could easily slip if I tried to pass them. Also, what if a car came from the other direction as I passed on the wrong side? About ten minutes went by as I waited for the vehicles ahead of me to somehow get free, but they were unable.
As I prayed, watched and waited, I felt God was gently saying, “Do not fear. I will help you.” It made it easier to believe for supernatural assistance because I understood God was with me.
It was simple. God gave me the courage to slowly speed up, easily pass the cars and climb all the way to the top without any trouble at all! It may seem like a small miracle but it was huge for me. The knowledge of Jesus being with me in my car helped me to trust him when the circumstances seemed impossible.
God wants to work miracles in our everyday lives. He is with us ALL the time. He does not come and go, WE do! Although we are not always aware of it or sometimes forget, this is always true.
An awareness of the Presence of God helps us to walk in the Spirit.
It’s easy to feel God when everything is peaceful, and going well. His presence is real, life is cool, in control, and easy. However, when we’re in the daily grind of life, it often feels like He is far away. Yet the truth is, nothing has changed. He is still as close as He was before!
Moms, it is true. When your child is being ugly and refuses to obey, God is still there. He feels your disappointment and is crying with you. Ask him to help you. When you’re overwhelmed because of sickness or health issues, you aren’t alone. Ask Jesus to make you whole and pray for guidence. When exhaustion sets in, you are weary of cleaning, making meals and doing mountains of laundry while endlessly serving your family, He is ready to make things easier. Realign yourself with the truth He is ever present. Surrender and ask Him to give you strength, to teach you how to lovingly serve. While you are making pancakes for breakfast, ask Jesus to bless and make them delicious, to feed your children’s hearts as well as their bodies. Bring Him into what you are doing, and let the awareness of His Presence work miracles in your everyday difficult affairs!
Feelings of separation may come when no-one in the world understands, yet God is always present and understands. We can ask for the impossible. He is looking into our eyes with compassion because he knows everything. When We face financial debt, discouragement and despair, He’s also in the middle of the crisis, ready to assist! Listen, God’s faithful Presence will help us walk through the difficult times. The miracle happens when we are aware he is near and willing to help. We can trust Him, step by step. He will provide a way to miraculously reach the other side!
3. Questions to ponder: Write the answers to these questions in your journal.
– Do I actually believe God is always with me, that I am never alone?
– What does God’s omnipresence mean? How does that affect me personally?
– Do I fully understand God cares about the daily affairs of my life and wants to be a part of it?
– How can I be more aware and remind myself of God’s presence every day?
4. Faith-filled idea:
I truly believe thankfulness is a vital key to becoming more aware of God’s presence in our lives. When we are grateful, our minds shift heavenward to God. Think of all the blessings in your life and write them down. Make it a practice to remember the good things God has blessed you with and continually give him praise!
Faith Lived Out: A Cross-Shaped Life
“Faith does not make things easy, it makes them possible.” (Paraphrase of Luke 1:37)
1. Good Morning my friend! Jesus wants to reveal Himself to you today. Pray and ask Him to speak truth to your heart as you study His Word!
2. Grab your Bible and read Matthew 16:24-26. Write verse twenty-five in your journal.
Faith Lived Out: A Cross-Shaped Life
My dear friend, we all want ease in our lives, don’t we? The vision of absence of difficulty is different for everyone of course, but really it’s what our flesh longs for. We are able to quote encouraging Scripture and credit our blessings to the grace of God. However, the possibility of picking up our cross and following Jesus into rough waters can be terrifying.
Our cross can come in many forms: a devastating diagnosis, challenging family member, depression or discouragement, financial struggle, unmet expectations, heartache over our children, or loss of a loved one. All of which are situations we wouldn’t choose if given the opportunity. I’ll admit that serving God in the hard places, selflessly loving difficult people, and praising Him in the midst of the world’s brokenness are fairly low on my list of desires. I want my life to look like “me”- my plans, my personality, living out my strengths, accommodating for my weaknesses, my hopes, my dreams.
What about you? We sing worship songs on Sunday proclaiming “Jesus is enough for me,” but then leave the sanctuary with just “me” in the forefront of our mind. Is Jesus really enough? Do we have enough faith to withstand the burden of the cross He has called us to shoulder?
Hebrews 12:2 speaks beautiful refreshment to my spirit. “Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith.” We don’t need to muster our own strength to live a faith-filled life. In Ephesians 2:8, we find that like salvation, our faith is an amazing gift from God! Faith is a result of the Holy Spirit’s grace at work in our life! Our faith will continue to blossom as we become increasingly sensitive to the Holy Spirit, hearing God’s words spoken to our hearts.
Often, we try to fit Jesus into our life. We squeeze a bit of Him in here and there when it is comfortable or agreeable to us. We wrap problems up with the grace of Jesus when they appear to be resolving in the way we wish. However, I truly think God is asking us to live a faith that is different, sweet sister. He has called us to fit our lives into Him and His ways instead of fitting Him into ours. His desire is for us to live a cross-shaped life, instead of a life bearing the image of us.
How do we live out a life formed by the cross of Jesus? When we fit our lives into His desires, into the shape of the cross He has asked us to carry, our mindset changes from “no, I could never…” to “Yes, God could do that even through me.” We truly begin to portray Galatians 2:20, in which “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Our faith begins to look like Him.
The most beautiful outcome of living a life shaped by the cross and being led by the whispering of the Holy Spirit is that it ultimately results in something amazing. The cross is not the end. When we are led by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to our own desires, glory is what is in store for each of us. We are embarking on a life filled with His beauty and grace, both on this earth and through eternity.
3. Questions to Ponder: Write the answers to these questions in your journal.
1. In what ways have you said no to the small whispers of the Holy Spirit in your life?
2. Name a couple areas in which you could pick up your cross and follow Him this week?
4. Faith Filled Idea
Pray that you would hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you and would feel him directing you to the path of Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you to identify your cross which He has asked you to carry. Bearing the cross of Jesus, whether it is in your personal relationships, serving your husband and children, or praising God in the daily mundane, will lead to eventual joy and growth in your relationship with Him.
My friend, it is absolutely worth it to live a life shaped by Jesus. Pray every day for more of Him in your life and less of you. As John said in regard to his relationship with the Lord: “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)