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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Without a proper response to the Holy Spirit, our lives will be unproductive and our service will be feeble and weak.
To start the new year off we are going to discuss Recognising and Responding to the Indwelling Spirit.
Today we are talking about Responding Positively to the Holy Spirit In You.
Prayer
Father, we bow before Your presence to thank You for the days of this new year.
We can thank you for each day as a new page on which we can write a record of worship and witness the works of love for others.
Thank you for these opportunities for living in this time, and for the values of eternity.
As we bring tithes and offerings, we pray your blessings upon these indications of our recognition of Your ownership and Lordship.
Help us to give ourselves completely into Your service.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Hebrews 3:7-9 NKJV
Be Faithful
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
Scripture Reading
Hebrews 3:7-11 NKJV, Psalm 95:1-11 NKJV
Be Faithful
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Psalm 95:1-11 NKJV
A Call to Worship and Obedience
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Introduction
Have you developed a habit of making the appropriate response to some gift or act of kindness on the part of others?
Many parents put forth a consistent effort to teach an attitude of gratitude to their children by instructing them to always say “thank you” when they are given a gift or someone does something for them.
Some people always make an affirmative response when they receive a gift.
Others never indicate an attitude of gratitude.
How have you responded to God’s great gifts?
We should think of life itself as a gift from God.
How have you responded to God’s gift of His Son who came to be our Saviour?
If you have received Jesus Chest as Saviour, how have you responded to God’s gift of His indwelling Holy Spirit?
It is possible to receive this priceless gift and not even recognise it we are told in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 12:1.
God’s gift of His Holy Spirit is the gift of Himself as an abiding presence.
This divine Comforter, Counsellor, Helper is present to work the work of God in our hearts.
It is with His guidance, energy, and assistance that we, as the disciples of Jesus, are able to become Christlike in our character and conduct.
This is possible if we make a proper response to the Holy Spirit.
- We face the danger of making a negative response to the Holy Spirit.
You may grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 4:30 says, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
This insight into the emotional reaction of God to our failure to respond properly should concern us.
In his letter to the Ephesians in verses 4:25-32, Paul details some of the attitudes of mind and actions of life that can bring bitter grief to the Holy Spirit.
The opposite side of this coin is that we can bring joy to the Holy Spirit if we cooperate with Him in eliminating these bad character traits and these destructive forms of conduct toward others.
We are told in 1 Thessalonians that you may quench the Holy Spirit.
The picture here is that of pouring water on a fire to put it out.
It is a picture of quenching the flame of a candle.
It refers to a response toward the Holy Spirit that refuses to cooperate with Him as He seeks to do God’s work within us.
You may insult and outrage the Holy Spirit we are told in Hebrews 10:29.
Hebrews 10:25-31 contains a warning that should cause us to tremble if we are tempted to the point of yielding to the forces od evil and to the purposes of satan.
The Scripture teaches us very forcefully that our Father God chastises His children when they live a life of disobedience growing out of little faith and a rebellious spirit.
2. An invitation to respond positively.
Some people have a tendency to confine God to the past.
They think of Him as living in ancient times when the Bible was being written.
This is a sad mistake to think of God as some kind of antique that must be relegated to history.
Others make the mistake of confining God to the future.
They think of Him as being concerned only about the soul and its safety in heaven.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the god of the living.
He is the God of the now.
God is the God of current events.
He is our contemporary.
By means of His Holy Spirit, He wants to speak to us today.
We must hear His voice.
It is shocking to read through Scripture and discover both in the Old Testament and the New Testament the recurring statement, “You would not listen” or “They would not listen.”
Some people refuse to listen because they are preoccupied with their own pursuits.
Others refuse to listen because they disagree, and disagreement often hinders a person from really hearing.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us today through the Scriptures.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us today through spiritual songs.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us today through Pastors, teachers, and parents.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us today through the church.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us today through the events of life.
Do you listen?
Are you tuned in to hear what God is saying to you with the still, small voice of His Holy Spirit within you?
Notice the warning, “Do not harden your hearts as in rebellion.”
You can harden your heart by ignoring God’s voice.
It is possible to ignore Him that you no longer hear what He has to say.
You can harden your heart by disobedience to God’s will.
You can harden your heart by refusing to listen when God seeks to speak to you.
You can harden your heart by making excuses for yourself and by blaming other people.
Conclusion.
Let us bow down in worship before the presence of the Holy Spirit of God who come to dwell within each of us individually and all of us collectively.
Let us rejoice in the creative and benevolent purpose of this indwelling presence of God.
He has come to enable us to be all that God wants us to be.
He is present to produce within us the character of Jesus Christ.
Let us trust Him for help, for leadership and strength, and for divine inner control.
If you have not yet come to know Jesus as Saviour, the Holy Spirit calls you to Him by the great needs in your life.
He invites you to Jesus by virtue of your need for forgiveness.
He calls you to Christ by your potential for helpfulness to others.
He calls you through your responsibility for being helpful to others.
He calls you by the fact that you are on the way to eternity and you need to be ready.
God wants to forgive your sin and give you the gift of eternal life if today you will receive Jesus Christ.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2022 IS A YEAR OF REPENTANCE AND BLESSINGS
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