“IF the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives.” Galatians 5:25 TPT. And here’s the NIV version: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” And the last one, the MSG bible: “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.” 

We must always remember, salvation is not a one off – it’s an ongoing, active, co-operative process. You see, the problem is that we think that because we have been given an option, a choice, we can still opt out of obedience and it will make no difference to our walk with Jesus. Just because the owner of the vineyard is absent that does not mean we can do whatever we like! We can ignore His directives, but we do that at our own peril. This is why…

It is the Spirit of God Who leads us and inspires us, and when we ignore Him, or whatever God is saying to us, we are actively rejecting Him. We are telling Him we don’t want His help. Remember Samson?  That guy wanted what he wanted, and due to God’s investment in his life, he could get most things without any consequence. Boy, is this man’s life a cautionary tale! He shows us that disregarding the Lord’s instructions can have dire results. We can walk with the Holy Spirit and experience His power through our lives, and if we are not careful, we can see His power flowing through us as His approval of WHATEVER we do. Our God doesn’t take His gifts back – He’s not an Indian giver.

Samson was accustomed to the power of God being with him in whatever battle he faced. Then he got careless. A beautiful woman wore down his resolve and he disobeyed God’s instruction not to cut his hair. Because of this Samson lost his connection with the Holy Spirit … and he didn’t even know it.  Like I said – a cautionary tale! Judges 16:20; “Then she called out,“Samson,the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought,“I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.“The ‘she’ in this story BTW, is Delilah, who would not stop until she rendered him helpless! …To return to the most important line in the whole story … SAMSON DID NOT KNOW THAT THE LORD HAD DEPARTED FROM HIM. Pause and think on that! 

Sincere repentance is great, do it! But making allowances for our pet sin(s) is not! We are treating the Holy Spirit badly when we act like that…He will leave AND WE WILL NOT KNOW IT – Samson didn’t. The Holy Spirit is not like a plane or a train! He does not announce His departure … He just quietly … leaves. This BTW explains the people you know who claim they are definitely Christians but they stay the same day after day, year after year. There are people who pay lip-service to God but they are not fooling Him. Transformation is always our own personal choice, and our responsibility – it is our response to Christ’s sacrifice. He will ALWAYS help us if we will just take a step of faith. 

Friendship with the Holy Spirit is to be desired and sought after. Those people who like to appear righteous, however, are living in presumption. All we ever need to do is ask for His help. Um… you and I cannot be independent and walk with the Holy Spirit, all at the same time. HE. WILL. LEAVE. The very purpose of being saved includes actively relying upon Him. Here’s another news flash … the Lord’s silence does not mean that He agrees with us.

Almighty God is always looking for us to use our faith. Ask for His mercy and grace, and then stop doing whatever it is that you know you should not be doing. Leave the room. Stop thinking someone else is going to make the difference and use your own faith. Nobody is making anyone do that stuff, and SomeOne, oh so precious, is right there, wanting to help you overcome.

We are saved to walk by faith and serve Him, and that always includes our transformation. When we tell Him “I can’t” –  our unbelief in His power to SAVE us from ourselves, will be our downfall. Tell Him, “I can’t, but I want to, please help me!” – and then do something differently. The Holy Spirit will show us the way through any trouble, one step at a time. Otherwise we are parking our lives in the middle of satan’s freeway. Change is hard but necessary – God has work for each one of us to do.

However simply praying God will change us, and then walking away and still acting like our mean old sorry self is not the way to be changed. Nobody else is going to put their hand over anyone’s mouth to shut them up when they’ve wandered off into giving people a piece of their mind. Our choice to disobey is our choice. Faith steps are not optional they are essential. Bye.👋🏻