Family, Glynis and I are so exciting about seeing many of you in person. We believe that within the next week or so, we will be allowed to physically gather together again. While we are thrilled and can’t wait to see our spiritual family in person, we know that the RC family has grown throughout the pandemic. Because so many of our family members live in other parts of the world, it won’t be possible for everyone to attend the in-person services.
We want to make sure that our global family knows that just because you cannot attend our live, in-person services does not mean that you are not part of our family. We are committed to you, and we promise you that we will do our best to continue to empower YOU to LOVE-CONNECT-SERVE. We are so grateful for our family members who live in other places, and we love you. We want to stay connected to you. We hope to hear from you regularly.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been teaching a sermon series entitled “LIT.” I’m in the process of trying to show you how to “GET LIT,” “STAY LIT,” and “SPREAD IT.” The bottom line for this sermon series is “being filled with the Holy Spirit was never meant to be an event but a lifestyle.” With this in mind, I want to talk about how the “Holy Spirit is God’s Gift to YOU.”
Has anyone ever tried to sell you something, and you thought, why would I buy this item? Have you ever received instruction and thought, why should I follow this person’s instructions? Did you ever ask this question: what benefit does the Holy Spirit bring into my life?
Family, the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to you, and He brings many benefits into your life if you allow Him.
Here are a few benefits that Glynis and I have experienced in our lives personally. These benefits are available to every person:
The Holy Spirit works things out in our favor and makes even the most difficult circumstances stepping stones.
The Holy Spirit gives us daily guidance and direction.
The Holy Spirit fixes problems.
The Holy Spirit fights off the enemy for us.
The Holy Spirit gives us peace.
The Holy Spirit helps us to rise above our problems.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally works in our lives.
The Holy Spirit fills us with power, God’s power, and He enables us to use that power to bring glory to God.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us and through us.
The Holy Spirit shows us things in life and in the Bible.
The Holy Spirit prepares us for and guides us through things that are coming.
The Holy Spirit brings the right people into our lives and helps us spot the wrong ones.
The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and leads us to repentance.
The Holy Spirit teaches us how to love and treat each other properly.
Family, sometimes the greatest barrier to a “Holy Spirit filled life,” is knowledge. But God has given us this incredible gift called the Holy Spirit, who promises to teach us and lead us into truth. The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, encourages us to walk by the Spirit.
A great man of God named F. C. Gibson reminds us that “we are not told to wait for the Spirit, but to walk by the Spirit,” and we’re not told to receive the Spirit, but to be “filled with the Spirit.” The Bible expressly warns us against resisting the Holy Spirit whom we have received, against grieving the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, and against quenching the fire which the Holy Spirit has kindled in our hearts. I believe it is just here that the root cause of so much of the disappointment and defeat in the Christian life is to be found. Somehow, we are limiting the Holy One so that He cannot possess us as He longs to do.
Family, our greatest need in life, is the Holy Spirit and fire. He is available to YOU today! The Bible says in Psalms 68:19, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our Salvation.”
