Walk in the Holy SpiritSample

God is interested in spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

Life filled with the Holy Spirit is not you trying to live for God but letting the Holy Spirit live through you. We receive salvation when we believe that Jesus died in our place on the cross, but do you know how character is developed?

It results when you surrender to the Holy Spirit and let Him live in your place! Yes, let Him live His life through you. Salvation came when Jesus died in our place, but sanctification comes when we let Jesus live in our place.

Of course, it’s easier for most of us to let Jesus die for us than to let Him live in our place. The second part requires surrender.

We so often replace surrender with striving. Striving produces the work of the flesh; surrender produces the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is like having kids; children are the result of intimacy.

Many people come to the altar for the pastor to lay hands on them in order to get better character. You know that laying hands on you can’t get you pregnant. You can’t get pregnant because you came to the altar. You need to have a relationship and intimacy, and kids come as a result of that. The same is true of His character in us; it’s a fruit that follows intimacy.

Christian character will not be developed as a result of striving but as a result of surrendering. Stop trying harder. Start yielding to the Holy Spirit daily. Yield to Him the areas of your character where you are weak and constantly fail. Whenever temptation presents itself for you to act out of character, at that moment follow the Holy Spirit away from sin. You will sense His prompting; don’t grieve Him by ignoring His whisper. The goal is not holiness but the Holy Spirit. He will bring us to holiness when we follow Him. He is the goal; He is not a means to a goal. I am not using the Holy Spirit to get holy; I am wholly surrendered to the Holy Spirit. I can’t live holy without the Holy Spirit. His fruit produces holiness in me.

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