To Walk In The Holy Spirit

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Permalink Reply by Meg on May 28, 2009 at 12:04pm

The Barna Group, an organization in America that asks people about how they understand their faith has released their latest findings. The following is their introduction to this issue:

"Casual Christians and the Future of America

In a wide-ranging discussion about the state of faith in America, veteran researcher George Barna recently addressed questions raised by his new book, The Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter. In that book, Barna outlines seven diverse faith segments, profiling their lifestyles, religious beliefs and practices, values and life goals. The seven tribes include Casual Christians, Captive Christians, Mormons, Jews, Pantheists, Muslims and Skeptics. During the course of the conversation, Barna answered a series of questions about the largest – and potentially most powerful – tribe, the Casual Christians. Barna’s studies indicate that Casual Christians are a tribe that represents 66% of the adult population of the U.S. Read his responses – and compare them to your own perspectives."

Here's the rest of the story:

http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/13-culture/268-casual-chr...

Here is the main point Mr. Barna has uncovered, and why he is speaking out:

"Barna: Casual Christianity is faith in moderation. It allows them to feel religious without having to prioritize their faith. Christianity is a low-risk, predictable proposition for this tribe, providing a faith perspective that is not demanding. A Casual Christian can be all the things that they esteem: a nice human being, a family person, religious, an exemplary citizen, a reliable employee – and never have to publicly defend or represent difficult moral or social positions or even lose much sleep over their private choices as long as they mean well and generally do their best. From their perspective, their brand of faith practice is genuine, realistic and practical. To them, Casual Christianity is the best of all worlds; it encourages them to be a better person than if they had been irreligious, yet it is not a faith into which they feel compelled to heavily invest themselves."

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Permalink Reply by Meg on May 28, 2009 at 12:35pm

It would be the people Mr Barna is referring to as "Casual Christians" who feel the most threatened by "legalism" Therefore, we should first examine why God's commands seem so threatening in the first place. 1 Peter 4:4 gives an excellent description of the problem: "They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you." What Peter is saying is that when we interact with unbelievers, they expect us to act like they do; in fact, if we try to tell them that we choose not to live that way, some people get very upset. When they get upset, the first thing they try is to get us to compromise our beliefs. If that doesn't work, they accuse us of being "uptight" or "legalistic". They seem to expect us to be "nice" people, but they insist we be "nice" on their terms.

What happens then, is that people start deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong, and then they are able to claim that they are "nice" people, no matter what they may be doing. So we end up with "nice" adulterers, "nice" homosexuals, even "nice" child molesters and "nice" murderers. Seriously, Ted Bundy and Dennis Rader (BTK killer) were both described by their neighbors as "nice" people -- especially Ted Bundy. I once met and gotten to know a child molester, and he was one of the "nicest" people I had ever met! It simply is not possible for people to set their own standards for right and wrong, because sooner or later circumstances are going to make sinful choices look reasonable. This is why, when I searched Biblegateway for how many times the New Testament tells us to "stand firm" there were 20 results!

http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=stand%20firm&versio...

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Permalink Reply by Meg on May 30, 2009 at 7:25pm

I first heard the tterm "Walking In The Holy Spirit" at the Pentecostal Church where I was originally baptized. The way they explained it, Walking In The Holy Spirit meant learning to live by what they considered to be living according to Biblical "rules". The problem is that I don't think anyone does that 100%, no matter what they claim, so while there must be something here, it isn't really as simple as it seems. In fact, nothing about Christianity has ever been as simple as I thought it should be! So I ran a Google search, to see what someone else might think Christian Spiritual Maturity means. Here's what I found:

"Spiritual Maturity - Accomplishing Growth
What are the marks of spiritual maturity? Spiritual maturity is learning how to walk in obedience to God. It is making the choice to live by God's viewpoint rather than your human viewpoint. Galatians 5:16 and 25 give the key, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature…Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." The word "walk" in verse 16 is from the Greek word peripateo, which means "to walk with a purpose in view." The word "walk" in verse 25 is translated from another Greek word stoicheo and it means "step by step, one step at a time." It is learning to walk under the instruction of another. That person is the Holy Spirit. Since believers are indwelt by the Spirit, they should also walk under His control.

How can you learn to walk in the Holy Spirit's control? You study God's Word! 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17 instructs us, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth…All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." This is good practical instruction on how you become spiritually mature. It is not done by osmosis, but it is done by choosing to apply God's Word in everyday circumstances. As you walk step-by-step, applying God's Word to your life, you will grow spiritually."

http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/spiritual-maturity.htm

OK, so in my experience, the basic concept presented here is accurate, but one thing I've found is expressed in Hebrews 4:12:

"For the word of God is living and active...."

What I've been discovering is that the Bible only makes sense when you try to live by what it says. When you do that, the Word not only makes sense, it comes alive, and if we are applying Scripture accurately, we begin to discover why Jesus said what He did say. Love is what ties everything together. You can be as stiff and legalistic as you can stand to be, but if you're just trying to "be good", everything is still going to fall apart. Note 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Paul goes on to say,

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

This is easier said than done though! In the process of day-to-day life, all sorts of pressures and conflicts seem to work against our efforts to be the loving Christians we want to be, the nice people we prefer to be, the Holy Priesthood we are Called to be! This is why Christians seeking Spiritual Maturity read their Bibles every day, and not just a few happy spots, but the entire Bible, not just one time in one year, but over and over again, year after year. After 6 years of this sort of thing, I promise all of you, it never gets old! That's because as we master one concept, we find ourselves faced with new challenges, or we find that we have a side of ourselves still in conflict with God's Will. This still happens to me too; I've been studying Proverbs all day trying to pull my thinking in line with the Lord's thinking.

That's what Walking In The Holy Spirit is. That's also what we mean by Sanctification and Spiritual Maturity, is learning how God thinks so we can understand why He says things, and then we can try to master the art of thinking like He does, and so be more like Jesus Christ, which is what Christianity is supposed to be all about.

In Christ, Meg

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Permalink Reply by Cliffton on June 21, 2009 at 6:05pm

we all fall short of the glory of god, to me the idea of walking in the spirit, is like walking with Jesus physically...one of the biggest obstacles to this is like the rich man who asks Jesus about being a disciple. Jesus tells him to sell all his stuff and give it to the poor....and follow Him.....well the rich man had too much pride for God's Will to work him.....like Jonah when he wanted Nineveh destroyed, but God wanted to save the town....Jonah's pride kept him from being faithful to God's Will...so in my mind there has to be a complete let go of everything you consider yourself to be....like dumping out your jar of you, and letting the Spirit, Fill it....

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Permalink Reply by Jobo on June 24, 2009 at 2:56am

Jesus is the Truth and the Sole Foundation of our faith.
I guess it's about time for us to turn to Him. The best thing to do is to get on our knees and start praying for His peace and wonderful counsel to come to us.

It's time for us to stop being SELF-AWARE and start being GOD-AWARE.
Let's just let God be God.

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Permalink Reply by Meg on June 24, 2009 at 11:04pm

Its not enough, Jobo, to hope some revelation of God will just start filling your mind. In fact that can be a dangerous mistake. There are a whole crowd of false teachers out there who get that sort of thing going to the point that they're claiming things like revelations from angels, feathers from those same angels, gold dust falling either out of the air or out of someone's hair and gold fillings appearing in teeth among other things. There's got to be something we can put our full trust in, and in my mind, thats the Bible. This is a tall order, I know, the Book is huge! But to break things down to size somewhat, its the parts of the New Testament that fall after Acts and before Revelation that give us a clear picture of how God thinks and what He considers right. The letters of Paul and the letters of Peter are some of the clearest most straight-up parts of the Bible we can work with. When I started reading the Word for the first time, those were the parts I started in, and those are the parts I still recommend.

Meanwhile, any time someone makes a claim, especially if you think they might be playing you, insist on Chapter and Verse (such as 1 Samuel 1:15 - 20 for example). Then you can look it up for yourself, which is usually a good idea.

:Let's just let God be God." How would you know if God is being God if you don't read the Bible to find out what He's like when He's being Himself?

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Permalink Reply by Monica Hernandez on July 4, 2009 at 10:35am

Hello Meg:
I agree with you that there is much confusion in the Christian community about what is legalism and what is not. Those who speak that way tell us that we are to live only in relationship with Jesus Christ because He saved us, but on the other hand, life is full of tangles and when we live only in relationship with Jesus, would He not eventually show us how to undo the tangles we have caused in our lives by making wrong choices in the past?

Part of walking in the Holy Spirit involves changing our attitudes, thoughts and feelings and that is where the teachings of Rick Warren and Joel Osteen come in...

I invite you to visit my other blog which is about "breaking through barriers" and becoming anew! Visit: www.monicahernandez.word.press.com...also visit: www.thoughtsselected.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by Olufemi Folorunso on September 2, 2009 at 4:23am

Just to add my view, the only way to walk in the Spirit and for all of us to have a common solid foundation is not a need to define truth but for us to make up our mind that we are going to obay God without any reservation. There and then, the Holy Spirit will come to our aids.

Thanks

Pst. Olufemi

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Permalink Reply by Meg on September 20, 2009 at 8:38am

AMEN!!!!

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