Welcome back, my friend. Last month in our series, The Next Step — Living Your Life through Jesus, I explained how each of us is hardwired to sin and that we truly cannot do anything that pleases God through our own efforts (our Old Nature). Satan will always be in control of your fleshly Old Nature.
The apostle Paul tells us that;
“7 because the old sinful nature within us is against God. It never did obey God’s laws and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on following their old evil desires, can never please God.” Romans 8:7-8 (TLB)
The Holy Spirit, Our Teacher and Gift from God
The moment you were saved, you received your New Nature (the Holy Spirit) from God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Ray Stedman in his book, Secrets of the Spirit, says it this way, “The primary work of the Holy Spirit will be to take the life of Jesus and release it inside of the believer.”
You are now being personally taught the truth of God by Jesus Christ Himself through the Holy Spirit inside of you. Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper about the Holy Spirit:
“13 But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words. He will speak only what he hears and will tell you what will happen in the future. 14 The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me by telling you what he receives from me. 15 All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will tell you what he receives from me.” John 16:13-15 (ERV)
Listen to the wonderful promise the Apostle Paul told the members of the Corinthian church;
“22 He (God) has put his brand upon us — his mark of ownership — and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us.” 2 Corinthians 1:22 (TLB)
God’s Holy Spirit is just the first installment of all that He is going to give us; what a wonderful promise for every believer.
The Fruits of God’s Holy Spirit Are Locked in All Our Hearts
Imagine what might have happened after Adam and Eve fell into sin (Genesis 3:6-7) and the Spirit of God left them. Let’s just suppose that before He departed, He placed all of His Fruits along with His tools inside a box, secured it with duct tape, and left it behind inside their (and ultimately our) hearts.
The box sits there and cannot be opened by us. However it sends pulses of desire to our heart for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — just some of the things the Holy Spirit left behind.
We are left with a continuous desire deep in our heart for all of these fruits of the Holy Spirit. Not knowing of how to open the box, we turn to the world controlled by Satan searching for the answers to our desire for true love, peace, kindness and all the other fruits the Holy Spirit left behind. Finally some of us realize that we can never attain fulfillment through what the world has to offer.
Unlocking the Fruits of His Spirit
As soon as you’re saved, the Holy Spirit enters your heart and immediately opens the sealed box and starts unpacking the Fruits of His Spirit. Our master electrician gets busy laying out His necessary tools to begin His rewiring job — a job that will continue the rest of your life.
Why do I refer to this process as “rewired to love” rather than “hardwired to love”? Because we were born to sin, we are like a new computer that defaults to the program that was first placed on it. The only way to change how a computer works is to load a new program that will override the original settings. That is what the Holy Spirit immediately begins to do as He begins to open His life-changing box inside of you.
But just like a computer, we can be reset back to the original default program. With a computer this can happen with the touch of a button; for us, it is as simple as a wrong thought or deed.
The Holy Spirit Starts With Your Mind
The first place the Holy Spirit targets is your mind because it is crucial that you begin to change the way you think.
God tells us that “5 People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do.” Romans 8:5 (ERV)
God goes on further to tell us:
“2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.” Romans 12:2 (GNT)
In the past, your mind was focused on conforming to the standards of this world (and we all know who is in charge here). Your new journey as a Christian begins with a change in your mindset and thought process.
This won’t be easy and you cannot do it on your own. That is why God placed His Spirit inside of you to begin the process of renewing your mind. God has everything under control if you’ll just believe, let go, and let God begin to take care of it.
Your first step of faith was your salvation decision. Your next step of faith is to believe and have faith that God can accomplish what He promises He will do. The apostle Paul gives us this assurance,
6 I am sure that God Who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again. Philippians 1:6 (NLV)
Three Truths Taught by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has three main truth objectives that He wants to begin teaching you once He arrives. Let’s go back again and listen to the explanation Jesus gives concerning the Holy Spirit to his disciples as He prepares for to go to the cross for us. 8 When the Helper comes, He will show the world the truth about sin. He will show the world about being right with God. And He will show the world what it is to be guilty. 9 He will show the world about sin, because they do not put their trust in Me. 10 He will show the world about being right with God, because I go to My Father and you will see Me no more. 11 He will show the world what it is to be guilty because the leader of this world (Satan) is guilty. John 16:8-11 (NLV)
The Spirit inside of you wants you to understand the truth about these three things:
- The reality of Sin in your life was total separation from God your Heavenly Father for all eternity. However, this separation was reversed through your Savior Jesus Christ.
- The truth about the will of God and what it means to be good and pleasing to Him through your Lord Jesus Christ.
- The truth about your adversary in this life — Satan. The one who has clouded the way you think and act through sin, and the reality that he has already been defeated by your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So you no longer have to listen to him.
Join me next month for Rewired to Love — Part 2, to learn more details about the three main truth objectives of the Holy Spirit. It is important that you understand who the Holy Spirit is and the important life-changing role He plays in your Next Step – Living Your Life through Jesus.
Until next month my friend, may His mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
