How to Be a Prophetic Christian Part 2

By Mike Noel

Be a Person of the Spirit

In my first post I encouraged us to be a people of the Word. God’s will for us is to enjoy close fellowship with him through the Bible (Prov. 7:1-4; Jeremiah 15:16). We are are also called to be a people of the Spirit. Acts 2:17-18 states that the outpouring of the Spirit on God’s people is a fulfillment of a prophecy by Joel concerning God’s new covenant church. The Spirit in the new covenant is for all of God’s people. If you are a Christian you have the Holy Spirit. Scripture calls us to worship in the spirit, pray in the spirit, love in the spirit, speak in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, bear the fruit of the Spirit, sow to the Spirit—well you get the point!

Walk in the Spirit

We are to walk in the Spirit which is another way to say to live one’s life in the Spirit. Now that is one big order. One way to describe walking in the Spirit is that we are to live our lives with a dependency on the Spirit’s power. This applies to all of life not just what we tend to think of as “ministry”. I associate walking in the Spirit with the art (science?) of hitting a baseball. The very best hitters in baseball usually hit between .300 and .350. What that means is that they are successful at hitting only 30 to 35% of the time - and that’s the best hitters! Walking in the Spirit is part of our calling as Christians. It’s part of our vocation. We are to seek to live our lives through his power. Now you may ask yourself, “How do I do that?”. If so, I’m right there with you. I am always asking God and thinking about what it means to be a person of the Spirit. One of the big problems we have is that the world, the flesh and the devil are always present to try and distract and defeat us and keep us from being a people of the Spirit. But grace helps us in this regard. We don’t earn the Spirit’s presence or power by our good behavior. Galatians 3 reads:

Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

We often fail and fall down in our attempts to walk in the Spirit. But when we do we can through the gospel ask and believe God for a continued supply of his power. Luke 11:5-13 gives us some help in getting a handle of seeking God for the Spirit’s power: The Lord wants us to be a people who shamelessly ask and expect to receive from him the Spirit’s help in our life. We should grow in our expectation and confidence that He as our heavenly Father will give us this gift. I encourage you to be bold and be specific in your asking. How is it that you need and desire his help? Is it for the gifts of the Spirit? Is it to help you in evangelism? Is it to lead your family? I believe that just as God commands us to desire earnestly the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy (I Cor. 14:1) that he desires earnestly to give the Spirit to those who ask and seek and knock.

Steps To Be a Person of the Spirit

Especially for those who may be timid or apprehensive about the person of the Holy Spirit:

• Study scripture that speaks about him. Meditate on the promises of God for the believer concerning the third person of the Trinity.
• Ask God to illuminate the truth of his Spirit to you. Ask him to fill you (and refill you) with the Spirit.
• Talk to others about their experience of life in the Spirit. The Lord wants us to help one another in this great adventure of the Christian life.