Walking in the Spirit

Paul said to Timothy: "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Tim. 1:6, NKJV).

Christians ought to learn to live by the laws and principles of the Kingdom of God, and to invest our faith that God who has begun a good work in each of us will bring it through to completion. The flesh, the natural man and the Spirit are opposed to one another, and we have to put off the old and put on the new in order to be able to walk in the Spirit.

Six aspects of the Spirit led life

Paul said: "... for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

Paul said to Timothy: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7).

These two passages of Scripture highlight six aspects of the Spirit led life that God has called us to and we should expect them in increasing measure:

1 Hunger and thirst after righteousness

Jesus tells us to hunger and thirst after righteousness because we shall be filled. Although we have the imputed righteousness of Jesus, Paul is really here about living out our part - In other words, right living. We are to live by God's standards and be blameless, innocent and holy. This will affect all the areas of our lives. It means submitting rigidly to all the laws of the land, including speed restrictions and yellow lines, being 100% honest about our tax returns, submitting to our employer and being a good employee. We need also be willing to submit to the leadership of our Local Church. God wants us to do these things for Him, as unto the Lord because they are the environment within which He is training ue in sonship. If Jesus had to learn obedience (Hebrews 5:8) then we have to as well, and co-operate to produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).

2. Walking in peace

God has also called us to peace. The Kingdom of God is not in termoil and confusion. It is peaceful and orderly and God wants us to be peaceful and orderly too. Jesus left us His peace which the world cannot give (John 14:27). It is part of His Kingdom and we should constantly experience the peace of God. In order to do that, we need to have a right relationship with God, with our family and with other believers. This means constantly walking in fellowship with God as Jesus did, being in unity and harmony with our family, and being able to fellowship freely with everyone, as there are on personality clashes or friction. If any of these areas is not right we cannot enjoy the peace that God intends for us.

The Bible is very practical and tells up how to deal with each of these situations. As far as God is concerned we may need to confess our sin or get back into faith on some issues. With the family it may be getting the roles right so that the husband can lead by example, treating his wife correctly and making sure that the children are obedient. Problems with other believers may just need an apology with a willingness to forgive and forget. The key to not quenching the Holy Spirit is to make sure that you are walking in peace and if something comes up to deal with it that day and not let the sun go down on your anger. The longer you leave it, the harder it is and it goes no affecting you. If you are not in peace ascertain why and allow the Holy Spirit to show you the correct steps to get back into peace.

3. Walking in joy

The Kingdom of God is meant to be full of joy and the happiest place to be. The Holy Spirit is full of joy and we need to cultivate the joy we have inside. If anyone could ever accuse us being miserable then we are quenching the Holy Spirit who very definitely is not! This needs to be expressed in our praise and worship in Church as well as in our homes and we should be known as the happiest people around. This is not just a good testimony for others but allows the Holy Spirit to express through us how He feels no matter where we are. When Stephen was stoned and his face glowed, it was surely with the joy of the Lord as he saw Jesus, and the joy of the Lord was his strength. It enabled him to be in victory during the stoning and he just 'fell asleep' and passed into heaven (Acts 7:55 - 60).

4. Walking without the spirit of fear

God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power. Fear is able to quench the Holy Spirit because it effectively paralyses a believer and intimidates him. This can be true not only in meetings but individually and we need to experience the perfect love of Jesus that cast out fear. If you have fear then it is not from God, and you need to be freed from it.

David, the psalmist said: "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (Ps. 34:4).

5. Walking with power

God has given us power and need to be sure that we are not limiting the power and quenching the Holy Spirit. God has given us power to be witnesses and to have authority over all the principalities and powers that seek to oppose and hinder the work of God. We are in a spiritual war whether we like it or not, and we are the targets. We need to move in the power of God and learn what power we have. We can pull down spiritual strongholds, pray obstacles out of the way, cast out demons in the Name of Jesus and move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We are positionally seated with Christ, higher than the angels, the fallen angesls, unredeemed men, the animals and the plants. We need to see it and realize what God has entrusted to us. It requires a revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Paul said: "... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him ato be head over all things in the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:17 - 23, emphasis added).

Once we see it we can then move in faith and prove it to be true in our own experience. God does not want us holding back with what He has chosen to give us. Along with the power we have love, which is the very nature of God, for power without love is dangerous. May we allow God always to motivate us with the love of the Father, and to let His perfect love remove any fear we coud otherwise have.


6. Walking with a sound mind or self-discipline


We have it now and need to allow God the order that comes from discipline. In other words, it should be clear that Holy Spirit has produced an ordered, stable and mature life out of whatever muddles there were when we were saved. This is then a credit to the work of the Holy Spirit and shows that we have come under new management. It is important not to fight it while it is happening! Part of that new self-discipline will be time to pray, time to study the Bible, time with the family and time with other believers all in a proper balance.


On fire for God


If we really want to be on fire for God we have to function as fire does. It is not an emotive issue based on standing up at a service or meeting on dedication. It is like the song about love - don't talk of love show me!


We can now consider seven marks of being on fire for God and see how well we measure up to them, because where the Holy Spirit is unquenched these marks should be in evidence.


1. Fire gives off warm


Fire give off warm. When we are on fire for God, the effect should be that we warm others around us, just like sitting round a warm fire. Sometimes we use the phrase that we are warm to someone. It is meant to be like that when the Holy Spirit controls our personalities, as he never was and will never become a cold person. In other words, there should be a warming effect by being with someone burning for God. This happened on the road to Emmaus when two disciples walked with Jesus.


"Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us" (Luke 24:32)?


Whatever personality we may naturally have the Holy Spirit can change us to be more like Jesus so that others warm to us and see that the Lord is a warm Person.


2. Fire gives off light


Fire give off light. The darker it is the more visible the light even from a great distance. God wants us to be salt and light for Him, so that others will clearly see. To do this we have to be burning our oil.


Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor can do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:13 - 16).


God desires a witness for Himself on the earth for those not saved and the light we have is meant to point them to the Lord. This implies that it has to be something supernatural otherwise they would not praise God for it, but assume it was part of our natural character. The passage implies that in our role as ambassadors and witnesses for Jesus there will be supernatural signs following. Jesus wants us to make clearly visitbgle wha we have and not to hide it. If we areon fire for God there will be signs following our ministry, because God Himself does not want the Gopel to be hidden. Even if men prefer darkness to light (John 3:19) God wants that light for those who will look in it. John described Jesus as the light of the world (John 1:9) and that ministry has been extended to us, so that we fully represent Him.


3. Fire is used in cooing and to prepare food


Fire is used in cooking and to prepare food. The Bible describes itself as milk (1 Peter 2:2) and meat (1 Cor. 3:2) and the ministry of a teacher is to prepare and present that food so that the believers are nourished and fed. A man on fire for God will not serve up spiritual food reheated from cold, but garnish the meat in such a way that it makes the listener come back for more. It may mean turning tha meat into mince so that it can be digested more easily. He will spend hours in preparation. If you want to be on fire for God then you should ask God to teach you how to prepare spiritual food for the Body of Christ, and seek to develop the ministry of feeding the flock. Too much is left to the 'Bible teachers' when this should be a feature of Christians going on with God, that both know the Word and can teach it.


The writer of Hebrews said: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only milk is unskilled in the word of righteiousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to thse who are of full age, that is, those hwo by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:12 - 14).


4. Fire is used for purifying


Fire is used for purifying. This is a ministry needed in the Body of Christ so that it is pure and it takes a man on fire for God to do it.


The Lord said: "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like a launderers' soap" (Malachi 3:2).


The principle is to heat up the substance so that the impurities come to the serface where they are then skimmed off. In terms of ministry a man on fire for God can do that because the warmth of his presence enables those with deep problems to allow themselves to be affected by the warmth which brings up the impurities which are then dealt with and removed. In other words, those on fire for God can have a counseling type of ministry from the Holy Spirit that purifies the Body of Christ and prepares the Bride of Christ for Jesus. This can also be done through the anointed word of prophecy or knowledge so that the word is received and results in the Body being purified.


5. Fire is used for melting and welding


Fire is used for melting and welding. If you are on fire for God your heat can affect believers who come near you so that some of the heat is transferred. You can melt those iced-up for some reason or other, and restore life to the frozen parts This is partly how the Body of Christ will be formed into one. god wants to weld us together as a single unit but with many parts, ad it will take the fire of the Holy Spirit and men who will be used by God to do this. Unity will not come because everone decides to gorget their differences, but will be a work of the Holy Spirit uniting us in a bond.


6. Fire us used for protection


Fire is use for protection. God is concerned to protect the weak and defenseless in the Body of Christ and it is the role of the man on fire for God to act in a protective capacity. This means being aware of those most vulnerable and making sure that they are safe and living in peace and stability. In one sense, it is a passive role and expresses a zeal and concern for the whole house of God.


7. Fire is used for destruction


Fire is used for destruction. It is the element that God has chosed for the final destruction of the Devil in the lake of fire, and God uses it in many other places in a similar way. The earth will be destroyed with fire at the end of the Millennium. As far as the man of God is concerned we need the fire of the Holy Spirit to destroy the works of the Devil and give him a foretaste of the lake of fire. If we are on fire for God, then we should be seeing th Devil's work destroyed in the Name of Jesus. Elijah did this both with the prophets of Baal and also the two groups of fifty men sent to capture him.


It is part of God's ministry for us to have dominion over demonic principalities and powers and to destroy the work they are doing, whether with literal fire or not. A man on fire for God will see God move in this way so that the authority we have in the heavens is established here on the earth.


When the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit tongues of fire rested on each one of them. they then all spoke in tongues. There is a link here because tongues are part of the anointing that comes on you when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, part of being on fire for God is a ministry of tongues as a spiritual weapon in paryer and ministry.


Conclusion


It is quite likely that not all the aspects of being on fire for God are functioning in their fullness in our lives, because there is a natural tendency in all of us to hold back and be cautious or conservative. The question then follows what should we do if we are quenching the Holy Spirit and not seeing those things that the Bible imply are normal but we consider exception?


We need to realize that God has lit a fire in each of us at salvation and however dimly it is burning it hasn't actually gone out!


Isaiah foretold about Jesus - "A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; ..." (Matt. 12:20).


When Paul wrote to Timothy he reminded him that he had a flame and it wasn't burning as it should. Paul had prayed for him early (2 Tim. 1:6) and he had received a ministry, probably through a word of prophecy, which had not yet come to pass. It was there bu latent.


Similarly it can happen to you. You may have had a Word fromthe Lord about your ministry and that initial fire of enthusiasm had died down. Now is the time to start to fan that little flame and seek to be on fire with the ministry God has given you. Ask the Lord to refresh you with a new vision of that calling and press on into it.


The psalmist said: "Who makes His angels sprits, His ministers a flame of fire" (Ps. 104:4).