Experiencing Life

On April 25, we thought about being Spiritually dead… this week we took off after life. Experiencing life! How does the Holy Spirit bring those who are dead to life, wake ’em up?

To get after that, I talked about the process of moving from death to life from three vantage points: the mechanical, the volitional, the experiential. For each category there was a prayer response and an image. Here they are:

1. Mechanical:  It is the Holy Spirit that brings people to life so they can respond to the claims of Christ and His call on their life.  It is like a computer coming out of sleep mode–  the screen just goes from dark to an image, but lots of things are going on in the background that get it ready for input and instruction.  That’s what it is like when spiritually dead people wake up…  prayer point:  put a list of people next to your computer monitor and every time your computer ‘wakes’ up, pray that God would wake somebody up.  “God, please wake up____ to your goodness and love.”
2. Volitional:  The Holy Spirit wakes us up, makes us alive, so that when the opportunity comes for us to hear words and see signs that point us to our need for a Savior in Jesus, we will respond.  It’s like turning on a light switch.  prayer poing:  ‘Name’ your light switches.  Every time you flip one on, pray that God connects the dots for someone who is curious and seeking.  Put the right words, the right signs at the right moment.
3. Experiential:  2 NT images of coming into a relationship with God:  The Holy Spirit washes us and the Holy Spirit adopts us into God’s family.  prayer point:  random idea–  every time you brush your teeth, pray that you would ‘experience’ being spiritually washed:  forgiven, without guilt or shame, at peace with God.

One of the primary Holy Spirit gifts for those who are following Jesus is that we would EXPERIENCE Him–  that a relationship with God would not just be cognitive, or disciplined, but an experience of life.  We’ll talk a lot more about life in the Spirit in the weeks to come.

And for those who are over-achievers…  in the past 2 weeks, I have gone back to one of my favorite and most influenced by books:  Redemption Accomplished and Applied. Probably the most succinct and careful treatment of the process/order of salvation.  You should read it at some point in this lifetime.