Study

How To Be Spiritual

Ben Stuart
6 Days
Introduction
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

How to Walk with the Spirit of God

Day 3

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Welcome to day three of How to Be Spiritual. Today, we’re diving into the question: how do we know we’re in step with the Spirit of God?

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:4-7

First, He is consistent with the scriptures. We need to be in tune with the Word of God for our thoughts to be aligned with His thoughts. Second, we understand that God is contrary to the world and flesh. Suddenly, we don’t like the sin that our savior bled out for. We begin to grieve what grieves God.

We challenge you to ask the Lord to show you what it looks like to have a deep desire for His Word and walk contrary to what the flesh desires.

Summary

We have been adopted as sons and daughters. Because of what Jesus did, we have been pulled from slavery in sin to sonship, clothed in His righteousness. We conduct all our business in His Name as sons and heirs.

Often, we know we have a new identity, but we still feel broken. God didn't just change our position, He changed our constitution. He didn't just change us in His Son, He put His Son in us that cries out "Abba, Father."

Luke 4:1-13, Matthew 4:1-11, and Mark 1:12-13 all record how after Jesus was baptized, The Spirit led him into the wilderness, and He returned in the power of the Spirit. He was directed and empowered by the Spirit. To be truly spiritual people, the Spirit of God will direct and empower us.

What does it look like to be directed by the Spirit?

  1. He is consistent with the Scriptures. (see John 14:15-17). He is the Spirit of Truth and will teach us all things. (see John 14:26). Read the Bible until your thoughts match the flow of it. 2 Peter 1:21 says that the Spirit of God inspired the words of the men who wrote the Bible. This is the Holy Spirit's breath on a page, and He loves to speak through it.

  2. He is contrary to our flesh. (see Galatians 5:16-17). Paul also told the Colossians that part of our broken estate is that we've lost sensitivity to God and have been given over to our own sensuality, a numbing of the conscience. How do we know we are operating in the Spirit? We move from numbness and sensuality to the Spirit of God. Suddenly, you don't like the sin that your Savior bled out for. It grieves the Spirit of God in me. He doesn't like it, so I don't like it.

You cannot walk in sin anymore; the Spirit of God has ruined that for you. He has changed you from the inside out, and you won't know peace unless you walk with the Spirit of God.

What's next?

Ask the Lord what it would look like for you to be a person who is deeply woven into His word and walk away with increasing sensitivity to the holiness of God inside of you.

  1. Are you clinging to past sinful patterns? If so, confess them to God and ask for His practical freedom from them. You are meant to live in step with The Spirit; don't let anything pull you away from that destiny.

Scripture References

14May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,
16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
7Then the
Lord
God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
5Jesus answered,
“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
6
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit.
7
You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You
must be born again.’
8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
22And with that he breathed on them and said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
4But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
6Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “
Abba,
Father.”
7So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4Jesus answered,
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’
”
5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8Jesus answered,
“It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’
”
9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.
10For it is written:

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you

to guard you carefully;

11they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

12Jesus answered,
“It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
”
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4Jesus answered,
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
”
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,

and they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7Jesus answered him,
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
”
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10Jesus said to him,
“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’
”
11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
12At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,
13and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
14
He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime.