The Holy Spirit - s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com · Discovering the Holy Spirit in my life By Joy-elizabeth Lawrence 15the Word of the Lord Hearing from the Holy Spirit By tammy Melchien

©2010 Christianity Today International www.Kyria.com

The HolySpiritUnderstanding his prominent and powerful role in your life

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The Holy SpiritUnderstanding his prominent and powerful role in your life

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Click on an article you’d l ike to read:

3 IntroductIon The Father, the Son, and . . . By Kelli B. trujillo

6 Leader’s GuIde How to use “The Holy Spirit” for a group study

7 that Present BIrd Discovering the Holy Spirit in my life By Joy-elizabeth Lawrence

15 the Word of the Lord Hearing from the Holy Spirit By tammy Melchien

20 exPerIencInG God’s Presents The Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to do God’s work. By J.I. Packer

25 a fruItfuL suMMer What God taught me when I tried to teach my kids about the fruit of the Spirit By allison Yates Gaskins

32 true (and faLse) transforMatIon The Spirit’s work—and our part—in spiritual maturation By John ortberg

44 fLavored or fILLed? If I had an ingredients list on my life, I wondered where God’s Spirit would be listed. By erin Bunting

50 addItIonaL resources Books and Bible studies to help you further

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Introduction

The Father, the Son, and . . .

For awhile I was guilty of heresy—I just didn’t know it.

If you’d asked me, I’d certainly tell you that I firmly believed in the Trinity; I believed in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God in three persons. But in my everyday life, the way I thought about the Holy Spirit was getting a bit . . . blurry. Rather than relating to the Spirit as a distinct “person” of the Trinity, I’d inadvertently begun to view the Spirit more like a “form” of Christ or God the Father. I thought of the Spirit rather vaguely as the Father’s or Christ’s spiritual presence here on earth. This wasn’t a belief I held with any clarity—it was simply my modus operandi. It was the way my everyday faith worked out: I prayed to God the Father, I asked Jesus to be with me and learned from his teachings, and I pretty much ignored the vague and mysterious Holy Spirit.

By Kelli B. trujillo

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4©2010 Christianity Today International www.Kyria.com

The Holy Spirit The Father, the Son, and . . .

And you can see how this happened, right? Because in evangelicalism we often fall into two camps when in comes to the Holy Spirit. Some churches are way into the Holy Spirit; based on the way these believers talk and worship, it can sometimes seem like the Holy Spirit got a promotion and is now top-dog in the Trinity, of much greater importance that Jesus or God the Father. And in the other camp (the camp in which I live), the role and importance of the Holy Spirit can sometimes be so underplayed that the Spirit seems more like the Father’s and Jesus’ administrative assistant rather than co-C.E.O.

I didn’t realize my own beliefs about the Holy Spirit were getting so off-balance until I read a Christianity today article about 1990’s Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin and her controversial rejection of traditional Trinitarian theology. Shamblin had begun to teach about a hierarchy in which the Holy Spirit was subordinate to and thus apparently less important than God the Father (as was Jesus the Son). Her beliefs smacked of the early heresy Arianism (named after Arius who first espoused the ideas), which lessened the “God-ness” of Christ and the Spirit. As I read the article and evaluated what was wrong with Shamblin’s teachings, I began to see with clarity the error of my own ways. Yes, in the mysterious unity of the Triune God, the Spirit is the presence of God the Father and God the Son. But the Spirit is also distinct in his own right and should play a vital role in my life and faith.

What’s your relationship with the Holy Spirit like? Is the Spirit central to your growing, daily life as a Christ-follower? Or do you, too, struggle with inadvertently

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The Holy Spirit The Father, the Son, and . . .

relegating the Holy Spirit to second-class status in comparison to the Father and the Son? How can the Holy Spirit become more than a theological idea in your life? How can you really live in the power that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would give us (Acts 1:8)? In the following articles, you’ll discover key biblical insights into the prominent and powerful role God intends for the Holy Spirit to play in the life of every believer. As you dive deep into Scripture and respond to the Reflect questions, you’ll explore how the Spirit lives within you, speaks to you, gifts and empowers you, transforms you, and fills you.

I confess: in many ways, the work of the Holy Spirit is still mysterious to me. But I’m ever growing more aware of the Spirit’s role in my life and more attentive to the Spirit’s leading. My hope is that through your time reading this download and exploring God’s Word, you, too, will come to know the third person of the Trinity and his powerful work in your life in a brand new way.

Grace,

Kelli B. TrujilloManaging Editor, Kyria downloads,Christianity Today International

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“The Holy Spirit” can be used for individual or group study. If you intend to lead a group study, some simple suggestions follow.

1. Make enough copies for everyone in the group to have her own guide.

2. Depending on the time you have dedicated to the study, you might consider distributing the guides before your group meets so everyone has a chance to read the material. Some articles are quite long and could take a while to get through.

3. Alternately, you might consider reading the articles together as a group—out loud—and plan on meeting multiple times.

4. Make sure your group agrees to complete confidentiality. This is essential to getting women to open up.

5. When working through the Reflect questions, be willing to make yourself vulnerable. It’s important for women to know that others share their experiences. Make honesty and openness a priority in your group.

6. End the session in prayer.

Leader’s Guide

How to use“The Holy Spirit” for a group study

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I attribute two things to keeping me faithful in college: Madeleine L’Engle and the Holy Spirit. At the time, if you would have asked me why I was still a Christian, I would have probably just attributed my continued belief to my friend Madeleine (as I liked to call her). The Holy Spirit was, to me, a mystery. I believed that God created and sustained, that Jesus saved and redeemed, but the Holy Spirit . . . I wasn’t sure. I posted a quote from a Japanese gentleman L’Engle cited in A Circle of Quiet on the outside of my dorm room: “Honorable Father, very good. Honorable Son, very good. Honorable Bird, I do not understand at all.”

Discovering the Holy Spirit in my life By Joy-elizabeth Lawrence

ThatPresent Bird

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The Holy Spirit That Present Bird

I agreed with this unnamed Japanese gentleman. Although I’d grown up in an evangelical household and church, and attended a Pentecostal college for a year, the Holy Spirit seemed elusive to me. Issues of the Holy Spirit were relegated to the controversies over speaking in tongues—whatever conclusion your practical theology and experience led you to—and, of course, the fruit of the Spirit sung to a short children’s melody. But my last year in college, I took the sign off my door. I decided it was no longer true for me—that I was beginning to understand the Holy Spirit just a little bit. And it wasn’t because I’d had an experience with tongues of fire and a rushing wind sound; it was because, somehow, amidst my collegiate confusion regarding who I was and who God wanted me to be, I’d begun to feel direction that I could attribute to no one but the Holy Spirit—not even my friend Madeleine.

The Holy Spirit in ScriptureIn the Hebrew Scriptures, we hear a little about God’s Spirit, mentioned as early as the second verse of Genesis: “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” This hovering was in the beginning, before God created anything. Later, the phrase “Spirit of God” is used in the context of prophetic words (Genesis 41; Numbers 24; 1 Samuel 10, 11, 19; 2 Chronicles 14–15), artistic skills (Exodus 31; 35), and prophetic visions (Ezekiel 11).

In the New Testament, we read about how we can be led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14) and how the Spirit can live in us (Romans 8:9). As I’ve understood more and more about the Japanese gentleman’s bird, I’ve re-interpreted how faith was described to me when I was a child. I’m like

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many Christians who first heard the gospel from her parents and accepted Christ at a very young age. At that time, the language about conversion usually involved the phrase, “invite Jesus into one’s heart.” But upon a closer look at Scripture, it seems that what this language really means is that it is the third person of the Trinity who lives in us. Romans 8:9 reads, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

Looking back on my life, I realize that it was God’s Spirit drawing me to him as I sat on the back of that boat on the Potomac River, reflecting about my life just several months before I took down the bird quote; that it was the Spirit (not only my Christian parents) who taught me to pray and to remember God’s presence in all that I do; that it was the Spirit, not fate or chance, who led me to my close friends and my husband; that it was the Spirit who helped me choose a college, apply for my job, and recover after two lost pregnancies in one year. So I have learned, that as I am God’s daughter, and as I belong to Christ and follow his example, the Holy Spirit lives in me and leads me.

In John’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to the disciples. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16–17, NIV). In the King James version of the Bible, the word paraclete, which is translated “counselor” in the NIV reads “comforter.”

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The literal Greek translation means “one called alongside,” which both counselors (the legal and psychological variety) and comforters do. However, in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (InterVarsity), we read that “The point is made both in Jesus’ promise of ‘another Paraclete of the same kind’ . . . —supremely himself and the Father—so too the Paraclete will witness to and reveal especially the glorified Son.” In other words, relationally, the Holy Spirit picked up where Jesus left off after he ascended.

Another ParacleteIf I were a disciple of Jesus during his time on earth, then, what sort of relationship would I have had with him? Hopefully, I would have allowed him to teach me, since he is considered by many to be the Great Teacher through his use of story and example.

Jesus told the disciples, too, how the Holy Spirit would teach them. For instance, in Luke 12:11–12 Jesus says, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” And again, in John 14:26, Jesus tells his disciples, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Here we see Jesus passing the teaching baton from himself to the Holy Spirit.

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Are you ever in a situation in which you don’t know what to say? Most often, I’m not. As a writer and performer, words usually come easily to me. However, sometimes when I’m overcome with negative emotions, I say a lot, but it’s the wrong lot, and too often I’ve said words I regret. Other times, if I have the opportunity to share my faith, I find that the words slow down and halt. In these times, I have prayed that the Holy Spirit would give me the words to speak, since either my words are the wrong words or I don’t have any of my own. “Holy Spirit,” I’ll mutter under my breath or in my head if I’m engaged in conversation right there, “Give me the right words; show me what to say.” It is a prayer I should pray more often. Holy Spirit powerIn the New Testament, there is also an association between the Holy Spirit and power. We read stories about how the Holy Spirit comes upon someone and they are filled with or given power (Luke 1:35, Acts 10:38, 1 Thessalonians 1:5). In Acts 1:8, before his ascension, Jesus tells the disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit gives us power to be Christ’s witnesses.

The Holy Spirit also gives us the power to be hopeful. In Romans 15:13, Paul writes a blessing: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually think of hope as something that requires power. Maybe it requires naiveté or optimism, but power? Christian hope, however, does

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require power, because it is not a sentimental hope. In N.T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope, he reminds the reader, “Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible, a worldview in which the rich, the powerful, and the unscrupulous do not after all have the last word.” This type of hope isn’t like hoping that it won’t rain on your outing to the beach—it’s hoping that the principalities and powers aren’t that powerful after all. Without the Holy Spirit, this is a pretty impossible hope.

Holy Spirit presenceAbout four months ago, my husband and I welcomed our first-born daughter into the world, and I began to understand the Holy Spirit again, in a new way. Like many parents, I’m guessing, my imagination goes wild and I fear for my daughter’s well-being, sometimes even when she’s fast asleep in her crib. However, I’ve taken a lot of solace and hope in the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. I pray every time I leave her that God will keep her, that the Holy Spirit will reveal God to her, that she will be comforted by the Holy Spirit in her heart and mind, and that the Holy Spirit will draw her to the love of God.

We have this children’s record that I listened to in the 1970’s, and that I now play for my daughter, that reminds me of the presence and comfort of God through the Holy Spirit. “Safe am I,” the old 1938 song goes, “Safe am I, in the hollow of His hands.” The Holy Spirit makes God’s presence real to us.

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I wrote a prayer-poem in college, about the same time I took the bird quote down. It quotes Genesis 1:2 as an epigraph. I pray that God will continue to work in me this way, that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach me, give me words, provide hope, and reveal God’s presence to my daughter and me.

Hover over in meWind and Breeze,Fire, Dove—Inside my blood and breathLet others know where andHow you are.

Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence is a writer, actor, and staff member at Calvin College. A contributor to Kyria.com and GiftedforLeadership.com, she blogs at joyelizabethlawrence.wordpress.com This article was created for Kyria.com in August 2010.

Reflect£ How would you characterize your awareness of and interaction with the Holy Spirit throughout the course of your life? How has it changed over time?

£ How important is the Holy Spirit in your life today? How does your attentiveness to the Spirit compare with your focus on Jesus or on God the Father? Explain.

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£ Take a moment to read and study Jesus’ description of the Holy Spirit’s role in believers’ lives in John 14:15–27 as well as the apostle Paul’s teaching on this same subject in Romans 8:5–16, 26–28. Make note of key phrases, ideas, and verbs associated with the Holy Spirit, then share your observations.

£ Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence writes that she’s come to a new understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role in her life; rather than thinking in terms of a relationship with Jesus, per se, she’s grown to see it more as interaction with the Holy Spirit. What do you think about this idea? Do you think it’s true that our common evangelical lingo about “asking Jesus into one’s heart” or having a “relationship with Jesus” may cause us to overlook or misunderstand the key role of the Spirit in a Christian’s life? Explain.

£ Take a moment to reflect on your own life—God’s Spirit has been involved in your life even when you haven’t been aware of it! Reflect on some key moments in which God’s Spirit guided you, drew you, led you, taught you, spoke to you, or spoke through you. Share some of your experiences.

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Eleven women huddled on the paint-chipped picnic benches of a state park about an hour away from their homes. It was a beautiful day, and we all looked with anticipation on the 24 hours that would follow. Once a year I take our Children’s Ministry staff away on an overnight planning retreat to prepare for the coming ministry year. They were ready to have fun, brainstorm ministry initiatives, and receive the leadership training they knew I would include as part of the retreat. But were they ready to hear from God?

Hearing from the Holy SpiritBy tammy Melchien

The Word of the Lord

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I could sense their hesitation as I explained how we were going to begin our retreat. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to participate; they were just afraid it wouldn’t work. One told me later, “I just knew I was going to have to come back to the table and make something up because I doubted I’d really hear something from God.”

For the last few weeks I’d been thinking about the biblical phrase, “The word of the Lord.” When we use that phrase, we are usually referring to the written Word (the Scriptures), which is our foundational way to hear from God. But I was thinking of the instances when a word from God came as some sort of vision, audible voice, recognizable presence, or specific message.

Scripture came about through God’s word to specific people. For example, “The word of the Lord” came to Abraham in a vision promising him that he would have an heir (Genesis 15:1–6). Abraham didn’t have it in writing, but he believed God and began to orient his life around God’s promise.

“The word of the Lord” came to Elijah, giving him specific direction on where to go (1 Kings 17:1–6). He followed and received God’s provision.

“The word of the Lord” came to Nathan instructing him to tell David not to build the temple (2 Samuel 7:1–17). Why didn’t “The word of the Lord” go directly to David? Because Nathan was the prophet, which was the means God used in that time to speak, since there was not the written authority of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit The Word of the Lord

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“The word of the Lord” came to Samuel but it took four tries and some wise counsel before he was able to recognize it (1 Samuel 3:1–10). It makes me wonder how often we fail to recognize a “word from the Lord” when it is given today.

Now I’m not suggesting that everyone should be able to hear the audible voice of God! I don’t doubt that God could speak audibly if he desired, but I have never heard that voice. Yet, God has given his Holy Spirit to every Christ-follower and this Spirit is a “Counselor to be with you forever” who “lives with you and will be with you” and will “teach you all things” (John 14:15–26). God speaks, prompts, directs, and leads us through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Of course it helps if we’re actually listening.

There in the park I asked everyone to do just that. In fact, I asked them to simply listen for a word. A single word. One word that could become the focal point of their prayer life over the next few weeks or even months. They scurried away and spent the next half hour lying on park benches in the sun or hiking trails through the woods, trying to hear from God. Many were filled with hesitation and doubt, but they tend to humor me when I try to lead, so they gave it a shot.

And when we returned and huddled on our picnic benches, their faces had changed as they told stories of how a word just seemed to “click” when it came to their mind. Faith. Childlike. Prepare. Follow. Key. Accept. Open. Trust. These were our “words from the Lord,” and we committed to praying these words for one another during the next few months.

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The “word of the Lord” that the biblical characters experienced is not available to us today in the same way, since we have the completed Scriptures. But there are other ways we can “hear” a word from the Lord—not just through an audible voice, specific direction, or miraculous sign, but through the nudgings of God’s Spirit in times of quiet prayer or through the sense of conviction the Spirit gives us as we read certain passages of Scripture.

The Spirit is waiting to speak to a person who pauses long enough to recognize it. Are you ready and willing to listen? Will you pray, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10)?

Tammy Melchien serves as Kids’ City Champion for Community Christian Church, a multisite church in the western suburbs of Chicago. She also provides leadership and children’s ministry coaching through NewThing Networks. This article was first published online in July 2008 at GiftedForLeadership.com.

HOW DOES GOD SPEAK?

Check out “My Conversation with God,”

a compelling Christianity

today article that describes

a person’s unique

experience of “hearing” a

very specific message from

God through the Holy Spirit.

Also, learn more about

the role the Holy Spirit plays

in helping us to read and

understand Scripture by

reading “Listening to God’s Word” on

GiftedForLeadership.com.

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www.GiftedForLeadership.com

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/2.44.html

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/2.44.html

http://blog.kyria.com/giftedforleadership/2008/03/listening_to_gods_word.html

http://blog.kyria.com/giftedforleadership/2008/03/listening_to_gods_word.html

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Reflect£ Read Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit in John 16:5–15. Together, identify the specific actions Jesus associates with the Holy Spirit in this passage, then provide modern-day examples of how the Holy Spirit “speaks” to us in these ways.

£ Read 1 Samuel 3:1–18. Though it’s likely quite different from Samuel’s experience, describe a time when you felt like God was “speaking” to you—when you sensed the Spirit calling you to do something, challenging you in some way, leading you to pray for someone, or speaking a truth into your heart or mind.

£ It took awhile for young Samuel to recognize the voice of God speaking to him. In your experience, what has the Holy Spirit “sounded” like to you? How do you recognize the Spirit’s “voice”?

£ How can a person best discern if she is really hearing from God through the Holy Spirit rather than just her imagination or the opinions of another person?

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Q. Is every believer guaranteed at least one spiritual gift?

A. The short answer is yes—at least one, perhaps more. But let us be clear what we are talking about. What are spiritual gifts? None of the New Testament passages that speak of them (Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 12–14; Eph. 4:11–16; 1 Pet. 4:10–11) define them. Since these passages all come from letters to churches where gifts were already in use, and the only question was whether they were being used well, that need not surprise us. But constructing a definition is not hard.

The Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to do God’s work. By J.I. Packer

Experiencing God’s Presents

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Gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4–11), given to build up the church (12:7, 14:4) and the individuals within it. It is only through Christ, in Christ, and by learning and responding to Christ that anyone is ever edified. Therefore, gifts should be defined in terms of him—as powers of expressing, celebrating, displaying, and obeying Christ. Gifts communicate his reality through word or action in service of God and others (fellow believers and non-Christians too).

Gifts vary from gifts of speech to gifts of mercy; Paul’s flitting to and fro between the two kinds in his gift lists (Rom. 12:6–8; 1 Cor. 12:8–10) shows that there is no scale of values attached to them. There is no pecking order between helping, serving, giving, administering, encouraging, and being kind, on the one hand, and preaching, teaching, leading, and exhorting, on the other, let alone such “sign-gifts” as healing, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues.

The key truth is that in the church, which is one body in Christ, we’re all members—that is, body parts of Christ, and, in him, of each other.

Among the variety of God’s gifts, some are natural abilities and character qualities sanctified, while others correspond to nothing that was previously seen in the person’s life. That the gift is from the Holy Spirit is more evident in the latter case than in the former, but the reality is that all our capacities for expressing Christ are spiritual gifts. By means of them, Christ from his throne uses us as his hands, feet, and mouth, even his smile, and speaks, meets, loves, saves, and sustains.

The Holy Spirit Experiencing God’s Presents

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As the test of whether you are a leader or teacher is that others follow you or learn from you, so the test of whether you are exercising a spiritual gift is that people in the church feel the influence of Christ through what you say and do. Natural abilities, however spectacular, are not spiritual gifts as such, whereas diffident clumsiness of word and gesture is no sign that a spiritual gift is not in action.

That the indwelling Holy Spirit imparts to every Christian believer at least one gift appears both from Paul’s image of the body growing toward the full stature of Christ, its head, “when [and clearly only when] each part is working properly” (Eph. 4:16), and from his emphatic declaration: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7, cf. 11). It is plain that every-member ministry in the body of Christ is Paul’s, and therefore Christ’s own, ideal.

The church is not to be like a bus, where passengers sit quietly and let someone else do the driving, but like an anthill, where everybody is at work. Not everyone who thus ministers will be a church officer, nor will the service they render always be appreciated. But just as every bit of that fabulous complex, the human body, has a job to do, so it is with each of us who believe.

How can Christians identify their own gift or gifts? By trying themselves out in paths of service that attract them, or that others, who know them well enough to discern their potential, urge upon them. The presence or absence of a gift will quickly become apparent.

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When, as sometimes happens, all attention focuses on the spectacular “sign-gifts” that, over and above their benefit to the church, specifically authenticated the apostles’ personal ministry, the truth about gifts is skewed (see 1 Corinthians 12:29-30). Most are gifted in less eye-catching and more unobtrusive ways.

Paul told the Corinthians to seek the best gifts. Other things being equal, the best gifts will always be those that express most love and do most good to most people.

J.I. Packer is Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College and an executive editor of Christianity today. This article was first published in the August 2003 issue of Christianity today.

Reflect£ Read 1 Corinthians 12:1–26. How would you describe God’s purpose for spiritual gifts in your own words?

£ Look again at 1 Corinthians 12:7, 12–13. How has God used your personal talents and abilities to build up and unify the church? When have you felt challenged and empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve or minister to others outside your comfort zone?

DISCOVERYOUR GIFTS!

So you know the

Holy Spirit empowers

us through spiritual

gifts, but how can you

discover what your

spiritual gift is? Check

out this article by

Nancy Ortberg on

Kyria.com for tips on

zeroing in on your own

spiritual giftedness.

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http://www.kyria.com/topics/spiritualformation/theologyspiritualissues/10.62.html

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£ Review these passages which describe different spiritual gifts and their purpose: Romans 8:3–8; 1 Corinthians 12:8–10, 27–30; Ephesians 4:11–16; and 1 Peter 4:8–11. As J.I. Packer points out, these are not exclusive lists; there are also many other ways the Spirit may gift and empower us to do God’s work and build up the church. Based on these lists, teaching you’ve heard on this subject, and your own experiences, what do you feel may be your spiritual gift(s)? Explain.

£ 1 Corinthians 13 is a well-known passage in our culture, quoted often at weddings and decorating countless homes in lovely wall-hangings. In our familiarity with this passage, it’s easy to forget that Paul’s message about love is situated directly within his lengthy teaching on the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13. What role do you think the Holy Spirit plays in enabling us and empowering us to love others?

£ In what sense might this kind of love be a “spiritual gift”? Share your thoughts and experiences.

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If you walked into my family room, you might be too polite to ask, but you’d certainly be wondering, what are those brown things on the wall? You might think I had three brown ghosts hanging around our fireplace, but the enlightened (my husband, our children, and I) know the obvious: It’s an orchard!

Scraggly, wandering trees cut from brown wrapping paper, dotted helter-skelter with a few paper “fruits,” have hung on the wall for months now, quietly testifying to a family “spiritual project” that didn’t quite turn out the way I’d planned.

What God taught me when I tried to teach my kids about the fruit of the Spirit By allison Yates Gaskins

A Fruitful Summer

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You see, recently I finished a study on the nine fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23). I felt gratified with my new understanding of these qualities and was convicted that I needed to faithfully impart this understanding to my children, ages two, four, and six.

It was a simple plan, really. Give or take a few days, summer vacation lasts about nine weeks. We would take one fruit of the Spirit each week, learn what it meant, memorize a related Bible verse, demonstrate it in our family relationships, and tape paper fruit on our trees when we exhibited spiritual fruit. Then, just for fun, we’d taste-test an unusual fruit from the market and harvest a local fruit (we live in a fertile farming community) together as a family.

By the end of summer, I was sure we’d be a riper, more mature, fruitful family.

Week one: a rough startDay One of “love” dawned like any other around our house—while it was still dark, with Tucker, two, yelling loudly enough to wake the neighbors, “Mommy! Mommymommymommeeee!” Not an auspicious beginning. I was supposed to get up before my early riser and spend time alone with the Lord, meditating on his love for me. Perhaps then the fruit of love would have flowed from me the rest of the day. Instead, we had a little problem: The day I was going to teach the kids about love, I didn’t even like anyone in my house! Things went from bad to worse, and by breakfast I had decided it just wasn’t the day to start. Maybe tomorrow.

The Holy Spirit A Fruitful Summer

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One week later, things around our house were definitely going bananas, but not in the way I’d intended. I had set so many goals I didn’t quite know how to begin. So, I didn’t. After all, I still had time.

After ten days of procrastination (I kept on waiting for that feeling of love to overflow and ignite my soul. It didn’t.), I tried again. Unfortunately, the most fruitful thing in our home that week was my womb. As I was feeling knocked sideways with typical first-trimester blech, one by one my great expectations flew out the window. What had I been thinking? What pregnant mother of preschoolers can accomplish so many goals in nine weeks? Apparently, not this one.

Week four: getting somewhere!Fortunately, my children met my feeble attempts to explain the fruit of the Spirit with much enthusiasm. They cut out paper orbs with abandon. Blue (blueberry) was love, red (strawberry) was faithfulness, yellow (banana) was kindness, and so on. You might be hard pressed to identify these if you actually saw the trees on our wall, but the kids can tell you what’s what.

They loved the idea of “catching” each other (and especially themselves) in the act of “bearing fruit” so they could tape paper fruit on their personal trees. I often heard questions like, “Mommy, what can I do that would be gentleness?” (Music to any mother’s ears!)

Even little Tucker ran circles around the family room hollering, “Ah-lay-LOO-yuh! I love God!” We decided that was definitely joy in motion, so we taped an orange “joy” fruit on his tree.

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Soon colored shapes began dotting our little orchard. Before hanging any fruit, we wrote the child’s name on it and what he or she had done: “Callie helped Daddy weed Mommy’s garden—kindness.” “Callie, Will, and Tucker picked fresh blueberries for Aunt Jen—love.” “Callie played with Will and Tucker without fighting—peacemaking.”

Weeks five through nine: a revelationIt didn’t take long for me to realize a few things. Though my children’s harvest was slowly growing, they were still the same imperfect kids. They still misbehaved like normal children. And—even more humbling—I still had not a single fruit with my name on it in our orchard. Every fruit that I thought I knew well enough to teach my children, I had somehow missed. My husband and kids weeded my garden because I had not been faithful enough to weed it myself. My kind son cleaned out the basement with his daddy after I had endlessly postponed the chore. I took my daughter to pick strawberries—which we did with great patience and joy—but when I waited too long to preserve them, all ten pounds rotted. Was I trying so hard to teach my family that I was neglecting lessons I thought I’d already learned?

Summer’s endBy the end of the summer, I realized something significant. I had jumped a little too far ahead of myself in this project. I had all the right ideas; I truly wanted to teach an important spiritual concept to my children. I longed to give meaning to the fruit of the Spirit that they could understand and apply, even in their youth. I wanted to learn and grow as a family. And, although I know for a fact that they still can’t recite all nine fruits in order (I still find myself double-checking!), I do

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believe the kids learned something. They won’t soon forget their fruit trees and the lessons behind them.

But what my children learned is different from the lesson I am still learning: fruit only grows in season. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.” After spending a year studying the fruit of the Spirit, I started looking for immediate, beautifully ripened fruit in my life. Instead, I found a small tree not quite ready to produce anything worth tasting. My “tree” still needed a lot of pruning, some tender nurturing, and several months of patience while the small buds blossomed into fruit. I had expected too much, too soon. I can’t fill my head with knowledge about spiritual things and immediately expect to be overflowing with wisdom to impart to my family. That would be like trying to pass off crab apples as red delicious ones.

Where do we go from here?We’re certainly not going to give up on living a fruit-filled life. We may take down the paper trees—but then again, we may not. They’re a great reminder that growth is a continual process, not a nine-week project.

We’ll keep nurturing our trees. I’m going to start by memorizing a few verses that help me keep growth in perspective for me and my family. Jeremiah 17:7–8 says:

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord . . . He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream . . . It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

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Spiritual growth is about what the Holy Spirit can do in me and through me, not about what I can produce on my own. I can’t force my children to have self-control, but I can teach them what it means and pray that we’ll all grow in that area. When we concentrate on soaking in the nourishment of God’s Word instead of gritting our teeth and trying to produce fruit by sheer willpower, he grows that fruit in us over time. It’s not our own effort, but God’s Spirit, alive in us, which ultimately yields fruit.

Allison Yates Gaskins and her family live in Virginia. Her book, 31 Days of Prayer for My Child, is available from Baker Books. This article was published in Christian Parenting magazine in 2005.

Reflect£ Paul’s well-known list of the fruit of the Spirit is situated within the context of a larger teaching about the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives; read Galatians 5:16–26. Which key phrases or ideas jump out at you from this passage? Why?

£ Paul describes a very real conflict waging war within Christ-followers: the desires of “the flesh” (our sin nature) and the desires of the Spirit. Reflect on 5:17; when in the past week or two have you experienced this battle? Describe your experience.

£ Though the virtues Paul describes as fruit of the Spirit can sound cutesy and nice, Paul lists them in the context of the raging battle between our sin nature and the leading of God’s Spirit. Which of the fruits listed in Galatians 5:22–23 do you find the most difficult to live out in your everyday life? What makes it so tough?

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£ In practical terms, what do you think it means to “live by the Spirit” and to “keep in step with the Spirit” (5:25)?

£ The fruit of the Spirit could also be described as the “evidence” of God’s presence in your life—the natural results in one’s life of living according to God’s leading and relying on his power. If you have a faith relationship with Jesus, God’s Spirit is within you and is continually growing and changing you to be more like Christ. Which of the fruits of God’s Spirit have you sensed God growing within your life lately? Explain.

£ As Alison points out in her article, we can’t make these fruits grow in our life just by trying really hard. On the other hand, the Spirit doesn’t magically make them appear as we sit passively by doing nothing. So what’s been your experience? What role do you think our own efforts (or lack thereof) play in the growth of this fruit in our lives?

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Hank had been a Christian for 50 years. By the time I came to pastor Hank’s church, he was an old cranky guy. He had been a member there since he was a young cranky guy.

Hank complained about his family, he complained about his job, and one day, he began to complain about the church’s music. He stopped people in the church lobby—visitors, strangers—and said, “Don’t you think the music in this church is too loud?” We sat him down and told him he had to stop that. I figured that was the end of it.

The Spirit’s work—and our part—in spiritual maturationBy John ortberg

True (and False) Transformation

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Several weeks later, I got a visit from a man from OSHA, the government agency that oversees safety in workplaces. I wondered, Why is someone from OSHA here to see me?

He began explaining dangerous decibel levels at airports and rock concerts. Then I realized what had happened. Hank couldn’t get satisfaction anywhere else, so he called OSHA to report that the church’s music was too loud!

I started laughing. I apologized to the OSHA agent for making light of the situation, but it just struck me as silly. The agent said, “You think you feel silly? Do you have any idea how much abuse I’ve taken at OSHA since everyone found out I was busting a church?”

Fifty years in the church hadn’t brought a smile to Hank. He was just as grumpy as he had always been, maybe more. What was missing in his life? In all that time in church, why hadn’t he grown to become more like Christ?

Great expectations Hank’s lack of joy wasn’t only his fault. He hadn’t changed, perhaps, because we didn’t expect him to. We expected him to attend, to tithe, to serve, and to stay away from certain scandalous things. But we didn’t expect transformation, significant change on the inside and outside.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t helped him to change, either.

In Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds,” the word translated “transformed” is metamorphoo, from which we get metamorphosis. Paul uses a variant

The Holy Spirit True (and False) Transformation

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of that word in Galatians 4:19, “Until Christ is formed in you.” The transformation God desires for us is a process of morphing into Christlikeness.

When Jesus told us the kingdom of God was at hand, he wasn’t referring to a someday promise beyond the pearly gates. The kingdom is supposed to be marked by changed lives and by the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, and so on. But our churches are filled with people who, under the surface, are just as anxious or driven or unsettled or angry or unhappy or ego-fed as anyone outside the church.

Why aren’t the people of the kingdom morphing?

Some years ago, a Christian leader wrote, “One assumption in particular has haunted me throughout my Christian experience—the assumption of the changed life. I was taught that if I was a Christian, people would see a marked difference in my life. I was taught that the closer I was to God, the more spiritual I was, the greater and more visible the difference would be. I believed that Christianity would change you outside, not just inside.

“I don’t believe that anymore.”

He isn’t the only one that’s given up. Spiritual transformation is missing in many Christians’ lives because failure in the pursuit of it has caused us to settle for less. At least two common counterfeits are passed off as transformation.

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Settling for the minimum Sometimes we mistakenly think the Christian life is primarily about entrance to heaven. We’re content with conversion when God is calling for transformation. Rather than expecting the kingdom of God to revolutionize lives today, we hope it will happen in heaven tomorrow.

Somewhere along the line we swapped out Jesus’ gospel—through the Holy Spirit we can be transformed into citizens of the kingdom of God, right now, today—for a gospel of heaven’s minimum entrance requirement.

The difference is illustrated in a scene from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As King Arthur and his knights seek the Holy Grail, they come to a bridge that spans an abyss “of eternal peril.” A bridge keeper allows people to cross this bridge only if they can answer three questions. Get one wrong, and you’re tossed into the pit.

Lancelot is the first to test the bridge keeper. The keeper asks him, “What is your name?” Lancelot answers.

“What is your quest?”

Lancelot answers, “To seek the Holy Grail.”

“What is your favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“Right,” says the bridge keeper, “off you go.” Lancelot crosses the bridge, amazed this was so easy.

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The second knight similarly states his name and quest. But the third question is now, “What is the capital of Assyria?”

“I don’t know that.”

Suddenly the knight is hurled, screaming, into the abyss.The third knight, Sir Galahad, is nervous as he’s asked his name and quest, but he answers correctly.

“What is your favorite color?”

Sir Galahad panics. “Blue . . . no, yellow. Aaaaahhhh,” he screams as he is hurled into the pit.

Finally, the king steps up. “What is your name?”

“Arthur, king of the Britains.”

“What is your quest?”

“To seek the Holy Grail.”

“What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” (Don’t ask. It’s a goofy theme that runs throughout the movie.)

“What do you mean,” asks Arthur, “an African or European swallow?”

“What? I don’t know that,” answers the bridge keeper, who immediately is launched into the abyss. Arthur and his followers thereafter cross the bridge unhindered.

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Many people’s idea of the gospel is that some day we’ll get to the bridge to paradise and be asked, “Why should you be allowed to cross?” As long as we answer correctly, we make it across. Answer wrongly, and we’re cast into the abyss. The gospel is redefined to be the announcement of the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven.

In Hank’s church, this is all we asked of him. He knew the words. He knew what his standing before God was based on. But we didn’t know how to transform his life.

Jesus never said, “Now I’m going to tell you what you need to say to get into heaven when you die.” The gospel writers make it clear that Jesus’ good news was that we no longer have to live in the guilt, failure, and impotence of our own strength. The transforming presence and power of God is available through Christ and in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, right here, right now. To live in that power, you must become Jesus’ disciple, or as Dallas Willard captures it, his apprentice. Unfortunately, though, too many apprentices are burning out because they’re seeking spiritual transformation the wrong way.

Only looking the part A second counterfeit form of spiritual maturity is outward appearance.

In his commentary on Romans, James Dunne noted that first-century rabbinic writing focused on dietary law, circumcision, and Sabbath keeping. Why would the rabbis spend so much time on these ancillary aspects of the faith?

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Because all groups want to define who is in the group and who is out. Groups tend to establish “boundary markers” to make this distinction. Sociologists define these markers as highly visible, relatively superficial practices—like dietary laws and Sabbath customs.

Conforming to boundary markers too often substitutes for authentic transformation.

The church I grew up in had its boundary markers. A prideful or resentful pastor could have kept his job, but if ever the pastor was caught smoking a cigarette, he would’ve been fired. Not because anyone in the church actually thought smoking a worse sin than pride or resentment, but because smoking defined who was in our subculture and who wasn’t—it was a boundary marker.

As I was growing up, having a “quiet time” became a boundary marker, a measure of spiritual growth. If someone had asked me about my spiritual life, I would immediately think, Have I been having regular and lengthy quiet time? My initial thought was not, Am I growing more loving toward God and toward people?

Boundary markers change from culture to culture, but the dynamic remains the same. If people do not experience authentic transformation, then their faith will deteriorate into a search for the boundary markers that masquerade as evidence of a changed life.

A pastor once asked me, “Isn’t your church worldly?”

“What do you mean by worldly?” I asked him.

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He answered, “People in the world listen to contemporary music, and you use contemporary music in your church. People in the world use drama, and you use drama. Everybody knows that Christians should be different from non-Christians by being more loving and joyful and all that stuff, but everybody knows we’re not. So shouldn’t we do something to make ourselves different?”

I felt like saying, “In other words, if we can’t be holy, then we should at least be weird?”

Where people are not growing more loving and joyful and truthful and compassionate, Christians have often tried to look different in other areas—weird boundaries disguised as holy differences.

Doctrine, behavioral standards, and even sanctified peculiarities may identify who’s in the club, but they also present a facade of pseudo-transformation, masking an unchanged life within. Authentic transformation happens a different way.

The way to transformation When Paul writes about being “morphed” in Romans 12:2, he gives a command, but in passive voice. He doesn’t say, “Transform yourself”; he says, “Be transformed.” We can’t make transformation happen ourselves; it is something God’s Spirit does to us. But what then is our role in it—personally and in our churches?

1 Corinthians 9:25 says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

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Here is the reason many people give up on transformation or accept boundary markers as pseudo-transformation: we spend ourselves trying to be transformed, when the Bible calls us to train to be transformed.

There is an enormous difference between trying to do something versus training to do it. Take for example a marathon. How many of us could run a marathon right now? Even if we tried, really, really hard? But many of us could run a marathon eventually, if instead we trained for it.

While I cannot speak Russian, no matter how hard I try, I can be transformed into a fluent Russian-speaker with training. I’ll need to pass my eyes before a new alphabet over and over. I’ll need to recite with my mouth and with my mind a new vocabulary. Eventually, the training will allow me to become a new speaker.

Training means arranging life around those activities that enable us to do what we cannot do now, even by extreme effort. Significant human transformation always involves training, not just trying.

Too often in our churches, people hear us talk about what an amazing person Jesus is. They leave thinking, I’ve got to try hard to be like him. We’re unwittingly setting them up for frustration. When the trying proves ineffective, they eventually quit or rely on external trivialities to pretend they’re transformed.

Authentic spiritual transformation begins with training, with discipline. As we train ourselves in godliness, we begin to overcome the limits of sinful patterns. The purpose of that discipline is always freedom—training myself to be free of the obstacles that hinder my transformation.

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Two types of training The training required varies from one person to the next, depending on maturity and the particular sins that need to be addressed. Sins can be loosely divided into two categories: sins of omission (not doing what I ought) and sins of commission (doing what I shouldn’t).

Dallas Willard wrote in The Spirit of the Disciplines that the spiritual disciplines, the tools of training, can be divided into two corresponding categories: disciplines of engagement, like worship or study or prayer; and disciplines of abstinence, like fasting or solitude or silence.

There is a connection between the type of sins that I wrestle with, areas in which I need to grow, and the disciplines that will train me for transformation in that area. As a general rule, if I’m struggling with sins of commission, then the disciplines of abstinence train me. For example, if I struggle with gossip, the discipline of silence trains my mouth not to speak unbridled.

Likewise the disciplines of engagement train us against the sins of omission. For example, cranky Hank was omitting joy. The discipline of intentional celebration—engaging in activities that celebrate God, life, creation, and other people, and thanking and praising God for all of it—will train Hank toward a life of joy. Hank may not see the results of this training immediately, but that’s the way to rearrange his life around opportunities for the Holy Spirit to increase his joy.If you are struggling with impatience, training may mean rearranging life around opportunities for the Spirit to increase your patience. Deliberately drive in the slow lane on the freeway. Purposely get in the longer line at the grocery store.

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If the Holy Spirit is calling you to break patterns of sin, merely trying leads to frustration, but deliberately training leads to change.

Spiritual transformation is a long-term endeavor. It involves both God and us. I liken it to crossing an ocean. Some people try, day after day, to be good, to become spiritually mature. That’s like taking a rowboat across the ocean. It’s exhausting and usually unsuccessful.

Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on “relying on God’s grace.” They’re like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there.

Neither trying nor drifting are very effective in bringing about spiritual transformation. A better image is the sailboat, in which if it moves at all, it’s a gift of the wind. We can’t control the wind, but a good sailor discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly.

Working with the Holy Spirit, which Jesus likened to the wind in John 3:8, means we have a part in discerning the winds, in knowing the direction we need to go, and in training our sails to catch the breezes that God provides.

That’s true transformation.

John Ortberg is a pastor and author of many books, including The Me I Want to Be. This article was first published in the Summer 2002 issue of LeadershiP JournaL.

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Reflect£ John Ortberg concludes his article with three pictures: a person “trying hard” on a row boat, a person passively hanging onto a raft, and a person in a sailboat propelled by the wind. Which image best reflects your life right now when it comes to your spiritual transformation? Explain.

£ Review John 14:16–17, 26– 27. How does Jesus’ description of the Holy Spirit’s active role in believers’ lives compare or contrast with what your daily life really looks like and what you expect of the Holy Spirit? Explain.

£ Various translations use the word “Counselor,” “Helper,” “Comforter,” and “Advocate” for the Greek word parakletos in John 14. How can the Spirit’s counsel, help, comfort, and advocacy enable you to “transform” and spiritually mature?

£ Review Romans 8:5–8, 13–14. How does this passage characterize our part and the Spirit’s part in our daily choices, thoughts, and character? How would you explain this idea to a new Christian?

£ Return to the image of the sailboat—do you sense that the Holy Spirit, like wind, is blowing you in a particular direction? Is the Spirit convicting or challenging you about an area in which you need to grow? How will you respond? What spiritual growth habit (also called spiritual discipline) might help you in your training?

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“Blueberry Pomegranate, 100 percent juice, all natural.”

On the label, a ripe pomegranate spilled its exotic, glistening seeds onto mounds of fat, perfect blueberries.

I’ve read that blueberries and pomegranates are rich in antioxidants that may prevent cancer and other diseases. I imagined the juice of these “super fruits” coursing through my body, neutralizing cancer-causing “free radicals.” Pomegranate and blueberry juice would sweep my body clean. Over the lips, through the gums, look out toxins, here it comes!

If I had an ingredients list on my life, I wondered where God’s Spirit would be listed.By erin Bunting

Flavored or Filled?

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And then I read the ingredients list: “Filtered water, pear juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate.” Where was the blueberry? Where was the pomegranate? Finally I found them, fifth and seventh on a list of nine ingredients, after mysteriously unspecified “natural flavors.”

By law, food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. That means a product contains the greatest proportion of the first ingredient on the list and successively less of those farther down. So according to this list, the jug in my hand held mostly water and other juices, with just enough blueberry and pomegranate for flavor and color.

In the bottom corner of the front label, in small, easy-to-miss type, were the tell-tale words: “Flavored juice blend with other natural ingredients.” The enticing pictures and clever labeling were decoys to sell a diluted, blueberry-pomegranate flavored product, convincingly disguised to look like something it wasn’t. I put the juice back on the shelf.

I left the store empty-handed and wondering, What if I had an ingredients list printed on me? Would Jesus be the main ingredient? If not, how far down the list would he be? Would my “label” accurately represent my contents? Or would I falsely project a misleading outward appearance that cleverly masked diluted ingredients? My packaging may be convincing. I may look and sound like the real thing. But what if someone came to me looking for Jesus beneath my “Christian” label and found something else? Something Jesus-flavored, but not Jesus-filled?

The Holy Spirit Flavored or Filled?

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I often pray, “More of Jesus, less of me.” What I mean is I want my spirit to be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). I want my personal ingredients list to be “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit . . . full of God’s grace and power” (Acts 6:5, 8).

The word full means completely, maximally filled. It means holding all there is space for, containing as much as possible. A full container has no room for anything else. When God gave us Jesus, he gave us himself, fully, purely, undiluted: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ” (Colossians 2:9–10). God also gave us a savior who was “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1).

Through Christ, we have access to that very same Spirit. Paul said “we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13), and it comes from Christ alone who said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Only Jesus can satisfy my deepest thirst. When I accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit flooded in and saturated my inmost being. So if I am filled with him, there should be no room for anything else, and he should pour out of me undiluted.

Remember the Gatorade advertising campaign that asked “Is it in you?” The computer-generated special effects made it look like athletes were so saturated with Gatorade that they actually sweated and bled the stuff—it oozed from their pores the harder they played. In a real way, I want to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that it oozes out of me the harder I live for Jesus. The trouble is, sometimes I

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neglect the “come to me and drink” part. My spirit grows dry and I make the mistake of trying to satisfy the thirst with concoctions of my own making, or weak substitutes in which Jesus is nowhere on the ingredients list.

Of course, unlike juice bottles, Christians don’t have ingredients lists. I alone am responsible for revealing my spiritual contents to Jesus and asking him to adjust my proportions—“More of you. Less of me.” I must willingly allow him to search my heart and replace what is empty, useless, and self-made with his real, pure, unadorned, unadulterated perfection.

If someone came to you thirsty for Jesus, what would you have to offer them? Would they be drawn in by an attractive Christian “label” that seemingly promises soul-quenching refreshment? Would the “one Spirit” flow from you? Would you pour out the pure spirit of Jesus, or a diluted Jesus-flavored substitute? Blueberry pomegranate juice may fight free radicals. Gatorade may quench a “deep down body thirst.” But only through Jesus Christ and his empowering Spirit can I be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” in every part of my life (Ephesians 3:19).

The question is simple: Are you God-filled, or God-flavored? How far down the list would someone have to look to find God’s Spirit in you? Is God’s Spirit your main ingredient or just an additive, a flavoring, a filler? Jesus may be on your T-shirt, your bumper sticker, your bracelet, your necklace, or playing on your iPod. But is he in you? Or is God just a name on your label disguising a product that is, in truth, mostly yourself?

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Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last” (Revelation 1:8). One Spirit. A single ingredient, pure and simple. Come to him and drink. Be filled.

Erin Bunting is a writer, actor, speaker, athlete, and artist. Her writing also appears in P31 Woman and FullFill. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two sons. This article, originally titled “Jesus Flavored or Jesus Filled?,” was published on Kyria.com in 2009.

Reflect£ What do you think it means to be “filled” with the Holy Spirit? Do you think there are times when a person is more “filled” with the Spirit than at other times? Explain.

£ Scripture records many instances in which followers of Jesus were “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Read these examples: Act 2:1–12; 4:5–12, 23–33; 13:9–12, 49–52. What effects did the filling of the Holy Spirit have on the Christians in these passages? What were the results of this fullness of God’s Spirit?

£ Read Acts 1:8. How is God’s power evident in the above passages? When have you felt empowered by God’s Spirit to witness, pray boldly, speak truth, or endure persecution?

£ Read Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 5:15–21. In verse 18, Paul contrasts drunkenness with fullness of the Spirit; why do you think he pairs these two ideas? How does this contrast with drunkenness inform your understanding of what it does mean to be filled with the Spirit?

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£ In addition to spiritual gifts, the fruit of the Spirit, and empowerment to proclaim truth, this passage illuminates additional characteristics and behaviors that result from being filled with the Spirit. What are they? Describe a Christian you know or admire whose character is evidence of a Spirit-filled life. What is he or she like?

£ Allow Erin Bunting’s personal reflection to challenge you: How high up on your “ingredients list” is the Holy Spirit? Do other aspects of your life—pride, self-centeredness, worry, stress, overwork—compete with the Spirit for primacy in your mind, heart, and soul? How can you choose to live in a way that is filled with the Spirit?

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Books

Discover Your Spiritual Gifts by C. Peter Wagner (Gospel Light, 2005; 116 pages). Like every believer, you receive gifts from the Holy Spirit at the time of your new birth. But how can you know for certain what your gifts are? This book includes a self-guided questionnaire and the explanations of 28 spiritual gifts Wagner has identified in the Bible. You’ll also understand the difference between your natural and spiritual gifts. Most important, this book will equip you to use your gifts within the body of Christ to become the person God wants you to be and to bless others!

Books and Bible studies to help you further

Additional Resources

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http://www.christianbook.com/discover-your-spiritual-gifts-updated-expanded/c-wagner/9780830736782/pd/736786

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The Holy Spirit Additional Resources

Forgotten God—Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan (Cook Communications, 2009; 208 pages). Today’s church admires the gift of the Holy Spirit, but have we neglected to open it? Chan tears away the wrapping paper and the ribbons to uncover the source of the believing community’s true power for witness and service. He issues a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Spirit of the living God.

The Fruitful Life by Jerry Bridges (NavPress, 2006; 192 pages). This book explores nine aspects of the “fruit of the Spirit” as described in Galatians 5:22–23. Demonstrating the need for prayerful preparation and careful cultivation, Bridges shows you how to produce an abundant crop where it counts the most: in everyday life!

Bible Studies

“Acts 1–12: God’s Power in Jerusalem & Judea”—a 10-session Bible study series exploring the work of the Holy Spirit through the Early Church as recorded in Acts, available from ChristianBibleStudies.com.

“Expectant Prayer”—a single-session Bible study based on the Christianity today article, “My Conversation with God,” available from ChristianBibleStudies.com.

“Galatians: The Fruit of the Spirit”—a nine-session Bible study series examining each of the fruits of the Spirit, available from ChristianBibleStudies.com.

www.kyria.com

http://www.christianbook.com/forgotten-god/francis-chan/9781434767950/pd/767950

http://www.christianbook.com/forgotten-god/francis-chan/9781434767950/pd/767950

http://www.christianbook.com/fruitful-life-overflow-gods-love-through/jerry-bridges/9781600060274/pd/060277

http://biblestudies.stores.yahoo.net/ac1gopoinjej.html

www.ChristianBibleStudies.com

http://biblestudies.stores.yahoo.net/expr.html


http://biblestudies.stores.yahoo.net/gafrofsp.html


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The Holy Spirit Additional Resources

“Meeting the Spirit”—a 10-session Bible study series exploring the role the Holy Spirit plays in believers’ lives, available from ChristianBibleStudies.com.

“Spiritual Gifts”—an eight-week Bible study series examining Scripture’s teachings on spiritual gifts, available from ChristianBibleStudies.com.

www.kyria.com

http://biblestudies.stores.yahoo.net/meetingspirit.html


http://biblestudies.stores.yahoo.net/spiritualgifts.html


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Documents

The Holy Spirit - s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com · Discovering the Holy Spirit in my life By Joy-elizabeth Lawrence 15the Word of the Lord Hearing from the Holy Spirit By tammy Melchien