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UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP with the FATHER: Because each one of us is different in the eyes of God, each one of us has a different way of responding to the Spirit. Though obedience to God's Will is the way we humble ourselves to God, God has a special purpose for each one of us. THEREFORE, it is not our place to judge each other. We will all bear the fruit of the Spirit in our individual and unique walk with God.
It is important as we walk with the Spirit through this study that we NOT become guilt-ridden, but instead, that we gain an internal perspective of what it means to personally yeild to the Spirit of God. This study is all about our unique relationship with the Father.
Part 1 of 5 Video (Click Here)
Additional Questions:
Recommended Discussion Questions Chapters 1-3Prayer: May God open the eyes of our hearts and minds to His teaching about the Holy Spirit and may He fill us with the fruit of the Spirit to overflowing so that every moment of our lives glorify Him.
Romans 12:1-2: 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect
will.
STUDY BUDDIES:
The early church met daily from house to house teaching and sharing with each other the Will of God. If we want to grow to more and more like the early church, then we should learn to share daily with each other. You will have the opportunity to find 2 more folks to work with as Study Buddies. You should decide how best you wish to communicate with each other (phone, text, Facebook, email, having lunch together or Wednesday evening meals). These forms of communication should become ways for you to express your Spirit-filled lives instead of ego-centric, narcissistic platforms that merely promote “self”.
You are challenged to communicate at least twice a week on several of the following:
(1) Investigate a term, idea, or Scripture and discuss it in detail. Be ready to share what you have discussed in class. (Acts 2:42-47)(2) Create at least one reflection and question for next week's class.
(3) Challenge each other with a real-world application about something that you have read. Be willing to share your experiences. (James 2:14-24)
READ: Introduction and Chapter 1:
MEDITATION CHAPTER: Ephesians 5 "ARE YOU ASLEEP?"
REFLECTIONS:
You may not be able to answer the following questions completely at this point, so we will continue to ask the same questions over and over as we work through this study. As you learn more about the Holy Spirit, we are hoping that your answers will change or at least become more explicit. These questions are not to make us feel guilty. We ask these questions to help us become the "transformed" people of God.
Questions for your consideration:
(1) What is the benchmark of a Spirit-lead church? What evidence might you be looking for?
Suggested Reading: Galatians 5:13-26(2) How do most Christians rectify the discrepancy between what they see in Scripture and what they see in their own Christian walk?
Suggested Reading: Matthew 5:20; Matthew 7:5; Matthew 23:13-23 and Romans 12:1-2
(3) Why is the Holy Spirit vital to our lives today?
Suggested Reading: Ephesians 1:17-19; Ephesians 3:16-20
(4) What is wrong with the statement: "I want to find a healthy balance between extremes"?
Suggested Reading: Revelation 3:16
(5) What are the "dangers" of opening our hearts and lives to His presence and actions more fully than we have ever done before?
Suggested Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:17; John 18:36; Philippians 3:13-15
(6) Can you give some illustrations of where you have "cut and pasted" verses together which might need to be re-evaluated?
Suggested Reading: 1 Corinthians 14:40; John 4:23
(7) Why is application of God's Word vital? How do Spirit-led Christians respond to God's Word?
Suggested Reading: Matthew 18:4; Micah 6:8
(8) In today's world we have come to judge almost everything by our material, consumeristic standards. We judge our success by what "we" have accomplished. We teach our children to judge themselves by the sports "they" can play, the grades "they" make, the talents "they" possess, and by the entertainment "they" have been privileged to participate in. How would a Spirit-led family do this differently?
Suggested Reading: Acts 2:46-47; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 4:17; John 15:5; James 1; Colossians 3:23-24; John 5:30; Philippians 2:3
(9) Why do you think people who have once been involved in a church, leave not only the congregation, but God altogether?
Suggested Reading: Romans 8; Hebrews 3:7-8
(10) I used to say that "selfishness" (self-centeredness) was the root of all the problems in the world...that that statement did not give hope or a solution. A better way of putting this would be to say that the "lack of submitting to the Holy Spirit" is the root of all problems. How is this demonstrated in our churches? In our lives?
Suggested Reading: Ephesians 5:14-18; Romans 13:14
(11) Submitting to the Holy Spirit includes examining our cultural biases. Are you willing to examine every aspect of your faith? Every assumption and cultural norm that you have accepted as being the Will of God? Give examples of assumptions you have made in the past.
(12) Why did Jesus send "another Counselor"?
Suggested Reading: John 14:16; John 16: 8-9, 14;
(13) If the Counselor exists in our hearts, what supernatural traits should we exhibit on a daily basis?
Suggested Reading: Galatians 5:22-23
For Discussion Read:
1 Corintians 2:12-15
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,
TAKE-AWAY: We will either be God-filled and transformed by submission to the Holy Spirit now or we will get our own way. We can either have a relationship with God now or not. Christ will not coerce us into surrendering and on the last day, He will get out of the way and let us reap the reward that is devoid of Him.
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