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“Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:25 NIV

“And to expose our hearts to the truth and consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit into silence.”

A.W. Tozer

MORE is available to us in Jesus Christ than we ever imagined. Eighteen months before Galatians was written, the Apostle Paul saw the people of Galatia moved by his vision of Jesus, they were overwhelmed by the hope and the beauty of His promise, and they said yes to it. For a short time, there was a kind of spiritual honeymoon. They were filled with love for God, and for one another. They were serving the poor and enthusiastically sharing their newfound faith in Jesus with their neighbors. Old habits started to change. Certain behaviors got cleaned up. Then, it all stopped. The spiritual growth stopped and they started to yell at their spouses...again. They began to stress about their jobs...again. They began to deceive...again...to get jealous...again…to lose their tempers...again. And so, to keep up appearances, they began to pretend they were better than they really were...again.

What happened? They stopped walking in the Spirit and bought into the lie that a group of false prophets set before them — that their righteous standing before God was not a gift but, instead, had to be earned. So they exchanged the love and forgiveness of God they received as a gift through the death and resurrection of Jesus, for self-effort, self-improvement and self-salvation….which is the reason why their initial positive character change was short-lived. Pastor Jared taught last week, “Character is not exclusive to Christ followers. Change…[lasting change]…is exclusive to Christ followers.”

Ken Blanchard, author of “The One Minute Manager”, told a story about a golf outing where apparently one fella in the foursome would yell, in frustration, after every bad shot, “Jesus Christ!” Finally, after a lot of bad shots, Ken went up to him and said, “It might help if you said, “Jesus Christ!”…before your shot.” Friends, only the Spirit of Jesus, in you and in me, can create positive change that lasts.

It is an astounding truth that the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead lives in You!

And He is bigger than You; He is stronger than You; He is more patient with your failures and inadequacies and pretending than You are. And He is committed to helping you 24/7.

For over 40 years, before every sermon I delivered, I would stand in a quiet place, close my eyes, and whisper,

“Holy Spirit, I need your Help. I cannot do what God the Father has asked me to do without your help.  Make me your instrument.  Use me…And…Help me to have Fun as we become more like Jesus!”

All I can say is...40 years has flown by…and the Spirit gave me MORE than I ever Imagined!

You want MORE love?…MORE joy?…MORE peace?…Then why not try this prayer on for size every morning! Chances are really Good that you”ll find yourself not only Walking in the Spirit, but having Fun along the way as well.

Pastor Harry Kuehl

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