Life in the Spirit -- The Great Danger

LIFE IN THE SPIRIT - THE GREAT DANGER

Many of you have been blessed by the weekend writings of Pastor John Strain. He is our Pastor and we are blessed by his friendship and ministry. Yesterday's message was powerful and the outline below is one that I want to encourage you to use to dig deeper in your walk with the Lord:

"God designed each of us to know Him, love Him and serve Him. We do that effectively when we experience "Life in the Spirit." To live any other way is to live a sub-normal Christian life. That's why we need to understand "THE GREAT DANGER" that attacks those who want "LIFE IN THE SPIRIT."

1. Danger lurks at the door when we GRIEVE the Holy Spirit. To
grieve is to make sorry.

2. Danger lurks at the door when we QUENCH the Holy Spirit. To
quench is to extinguish.

3. Danger lurks at the door when we TEST the Holy Spirit. To test is
to deliberately disobey.

4. Danger arrives at the door when we exhaust God's patience.

So here are four keys to avoiding THE GREAT DANGER:

1. Pursue godliness and resist the enemy.

2. Walk humbly.

3. Live obediently.

4. Choose surrender over independence.

I trust that this simple outline will cause you to think and dig a little deeper. It was what I needed to hear yesterday. - Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK.

God's WORD for YOU: 2 Chronicles 17-18; John 13:1-20

Think about this: Most Christians are like a man who was toiling along the road, bending under a heavy burden, when a wagon overtook him, and the driver kindly offered to help him on his journey. He joyfully accepted the offer, but when seated, continued to bend beneath his burden, which he still kept on his shoulders. "Why do you not lay down your burden?" asked the kind-hearted driver. "Oh!" replied the man, "I feel that it is almost too much to ask you to carry me, and I could not think of letting you carry my burden too." And so Christians, who have given themselves into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus, still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burden, and often go weary and heavy-laden throughout the whole length of their journey. - Hannah Whitall Smith