Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, NIV). Dealing with difficult times, we can either walk in the flesh or be filled with the Spirit. We might say after a tense moment, “I need a drink,” but have we said during trials, “I need to […]
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All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:4, NIV). I grew up in a church and then attended a Bible college and seminary that taught speaking in tongues as a first-century experience. As I matured in my thinking about speaking in
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But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16, ESV). Every skill requires training. Caitlin Clark didn’t step onto a basketball court and start shooting 3-point shots. Patrick Mahomes practiced—a lot—before throwing touchdown passes. My friend Ray Willis, who is defending his doctoral thesis this Spring, spent
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God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets (1 Corinthians 2:10, NLT). The opposite of deep would be shallow. In Corinthians, the Apostle Paul explains that the Spirit reveals to us the deep secrets of God – not the shallow or the superficial. What
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Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching (2 Timothy 4:2, NLT). Something unique and supernatural occurs when I preach a sermon. When we listen to a speech, it’s words to brain. When I preach, something else happens. Instead
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If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13, NASB1995) In Luke 11:1, the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus then instructs them in prayer. Jesus first gives a shortened version
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It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent (Philippians 1:9-10, ESV). The evil spirits of this age specialize in confusion and distraction. Guaranteed, if you have something important to do today, even knowing that you have a task assigned by
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For all who are being led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14). The Spirit softly nudges you daily. Are you aware of this leading? I grew up in a church with an inadequate theology of the Spirit. Yes, we believed in the Spirit of God, but He existed in the
Jesus said, “If anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never be thirsty again. For when you drink the water I give you, it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit, flooding you with endless life!” John 4:14 Happiness isn’t about God’s Spirit directed toward you. It isn’t about you as a
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Someone says, “The Spirit just told me.” How do you sense, “Is this the Spirit?” I knew nothing of art until I married my wife. Then I learned primary colors, perspective, and the rule of thirds. I learned that Picasso was a genius and that the crayon drawings of my children were not, even though
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