How to Walk by the Spirit
Have you ever noticed that Jesus lived tuned to His Spirit? Has your heart longed for what came so easy to Him to be available to you too? Are you amazed and disappointed that no one has been able to teach you step-by-step how to live this way?
I know exactly how you feel, and it spurred me to invest a year into laser-focused research. Now together, in a fraction of that time we can explore a treasure trove of 500 key verses which discuss “heart” or “spirit” and thus hold the answers we seek. We will go right to the source, the Bible, and prayerfully meditate over these vital Scriptures to uncover their meaning in our lives. Can you imagine any better way of learning how to sense your spirit, thus unlocking the spirit realm?
Newly Revised & Expanded 15th Anniversary Edition!
Do you quench, grieve, blaspheme or HONOR the Holy Spirit?
Earlier in my Christian life, I was completely unaware of the presence of the Holy Spirit Who is joined to my spirit. Today, I am 100% aware of Him, what He offers, and what He feels like, and I have a biblically-based, practical vocabulary for describing His sensations. This is because I decided to take that year of my life to prayerfully review all 1400+ verses on heart and spirit, with one passionate goal: “Lord, teach me to sense my spirit, and the movements of Your Spirit within my heart.” He did, and now I get to live and walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25)! Since the flesh profits nothing (Jn. 6:63), how important is it to sense your spirit?!
How I moved from grieving and quenching to honoring the Holy Spirit
When I first got saved I knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. My church never talked about Him. They even taught me to judge and scorn those who prophesied, received dreams and visions, and healed the sick. So I began my Christian life scorning and grieving the One who lived within me. Wow! How’s that for an incredibly terrible beginning to my Christian walk?
Hungering for more of God, I came to realize that the Holy Spirit must be allowed to play a greater role in my life. I decided that I wanted to do what the New Testament said I could do: be baptized in the Holy Spirit, receive dreams and visions, speak in tongues, cast out demons and heal the sick.
That desire led me to discover that Jesus did miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, which made me hungry to learn more about the Holy Spirit! As the months flew by exploring in depth the wonder of the Holy Spirit Who lives within me, I put the revelation I received into a course called Living Naturally Supernatural. Since the Holy Spirit is joined to my spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), I decided I needed to take another year and become aware of the movements of my spirit. I knew nothing about my spirit so I decided to explore every truth I could find in Scripture concerning my spirit.
Discovering the heart/spirit connection…
Not only are there over 500 verses in the Bible on “spirit,” but there are another 900 or so on “heart.” The New Testament says that the Holy Spirit has been placed in our hearts (2 Cor. 1:22; Gal. 4:6; 1 Cor. 6:17). The heart/spirit connection is extremely close as revealed in Psalm 51:10,17 and Ezekiel 18:31. This means there are 1,400 verses we can explore as we seek to learn to live and walk comfortably in our hearts by the Spirit. Wow! Amazing! Excellent! I don’t want to live according to my mind, because my thoughts are not His thoughts (Isa. 55:8,9). So now let’s dive in and master living from our heart/spirit.
Learning about our hearts/spirits
Let the fun begin. Here is a bit of what you will discover as you prayerfully explore these 500 verses with me.
Heart is defined as: underlying attitudes, underlying motivations and underlying character traits. Jesus ministered heart to heart. You sense one’s heart when you sense whether they are meek, humble, proud, hostile, or gentle. You could minister heart to heart by releasing the attitudes of Christ within your heart (faith, hope, love, mercy, compassion, boldness, etc.) to the needs within the hearts of those you meet.
Always joined: I discovered that my spirit is designed to be joined to another spirit. It is not designed to operate on its own. I choose to yield to the Holy Spirit, or to walk according to the spirit of the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2,3). Even though my spirit is always joined to another spirit (which determines the major flow within me), the Bible says my spirit can still be affected by five other things. Here’s just one of those five: 1 Samuel 30:12. Interesting!
Deep emotions: Emotions in my spirit – really? I was taught emotions were part of my soul and thus unreliable, untrustworthy and to be cut off. However the Bible disagrees! The Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me (Ezek. 3:14). Jesus, moved by compassion (an emotion) healed (Matt. 14:14). The miracle-working power of God rides on the carrier wave of compassion. No wonder satan wanted me to consider emotions soulishand cut them off. That would be a great way to make sure miracles didn’t occur when I prayed for healing for others.
Heart’s activities: How about 17 specific activities of the spirit which the Bible mentions? How many can you name? How many are you aware of throughout the day? Here is one activity of the heart: The heart of the wise instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips (Prov. 16:23). Wow! So when I speak from my heart (i.e., with pictures and flow and emotion) I become a powerful communicator! As a public speaker, I love knowing and experiencing this reality.
Wholeheartedness: All ten wholehearted activities are directed toward God. Can you name them? Do you do them wholeheartedly? Do you know what wholeheartedly means? I used to think it meant grunting harder. That is not the correct answer.
Things done to man’s spirit: The Bible lists 13 things which can be done to man’s spirit. Can you tell from James 1:26 one thing you can do to your heart?
Twelve things God gives to the heart: Here is one of them which I have asked God for. God gave Solomon … largeness of heart (1 Kgs. 4:29). If you have largeness of heart that means you have the capacity to ______ (Hmmm – do you know?) Do you have largeness of heart?
Five ways the Spirit communicates: We explore the eyes, ears, mind, will and emotions of our hearts.
Sensing God within: We learn to present the five senses of our hearts to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fill each of these five senses.
Birthing the miraculous: When we allow all five senses of our Spirits to be filled by God, miracles are released!
Sharpening the spirit: Jesus grew strong in spirit (Lk. 1:80; 2:40). What steps can we take to strengthen our spirits?
The day dawns – the Morning Star arises in our hearts: We have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; (2 Pet. 1:19).
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 1
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 2
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 3
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 4
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 5
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 6
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 7
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 8
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 9
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 10
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 11
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How to Walk by the Spirit - Session 12