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Worship in Spirit and Truth

DoveIn this post I’m continuing to talk about the encounter between the woman at the well and Jesus. He told her that He could give her living water. She replied that she wanted it so that she wouldn’t have to keep coming back to this well.

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
John 4:16-18

We usually miss what’s happening here because we live in a different culture. To us, having five husbands means that you must have low morals. In that culture it probably meant that she couldn’t bear children.

When each new husband realized that she couldn’t produce an heir, she was sent away. She was also under the stigma that if you can’t bear children, then you’re under a curse from God.

Jesus was showing her that God knew everything about her, and he loved her anyway. She was still a candidate for a blessing.

The woman was floored by that thought. It’s one thing to say, “I’m going to bless you”, if you don’t know me. But to know everything about me and still love me enough to bless me; that’s overwhelming…let’s change the subject.

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:19-24

This is the key to what John wants to teach us by this encounter. The highest relationship with God is accomplished only in the spirit. The Lord is talking about being baptized in the spirit and continuing the relationship by praying in the spirit.

The natural is alright – but the highest and best is accomplished in the spirit. You can’t worship in spirit and truth simply using your flesh and your soul. As a matter of fact, you can sing, clap and dance without even thinking about it – it’s automatic sometimes. There are other times that I can think deeply about what I’m praying for. Those things are good and acceptable.

But the truth is that God desires a relationship with your spirit.

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
John 4:25-26

Christ then reveals Himself to her. In this discussion we see God’s heart for us. He wants us to relate to Himself on a level that’s deeper than our minds can fathom. He wants us to communicate in the spirit. That’s why prayer in the spirit is so important. Don’t neglect this great gift.

Question: How often do you spend time praying in the spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 

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The Living Water of the Spirit

Stream 2In my last post I talked about the woman at the well encountering Jesus. He talked to her about receiving living water. We saw that this was a concept found in the Old Testament.

The prophet Zechariah talks about living water in relation to the Second Coming of Christ.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Zechariah 14:8-9

It’s important that we as believers understand what Jesus means by living water. It’s also obvious that the woman doesn’t understand what the Lord’s talking about.

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:11-14

Jesus was not talking about natural water. In the original Greek, Jesus says that if you drink His water you will not never thirst ever. That might not be grammatically correct in English, but it’s very emphatic in Greek.

Why will you never thirst again? That’s because a spring of this living water will come up from WITHIN you.

What does this mean based upon the Old Testament Scriptures that we looked at? Jesus was saying, “I can place God inside of you.”

You need to understand that this was the last Gospel to be written. When the church received it, they already knew the testimony of John the Baptist.

And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:7-8

So the early church read this knowing that Jesus is the baptizer in the Spirit. What do Jesus’ words to the woman mean to us? If you ask the Lord, then you’ll be baptized in the Spirit.

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
John 7:15

The woman didn’t know it at the time, but she was operating in a Scriptural principle. She was placing a demand upon Christ. The Lord offered her an amazing blessing. She asked to receive it. That’s what it takes for a miracle to occur.

In my next post we’ll see what her need was, and how this blessing takes shape in her life.

Question: What are some blessings that you received by asking the Lord?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 

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Born Again – The Wind and the Spirit

WindThis is my final post in a series about how the Bible defines being born again. Being born of the spirit requires a spiritual work. Jesus tried to describe it in parable form to a Pharisee He was meeting with.

“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.”
John 3:8

It’s important to understand the Greek language at this point. The word wind and the word spirit are the same in ancient Greek. The only way that the translators differentiate them is by the context in which they appear. As always, context is everything.

Think about it. The natural wind has no mind. It can’t want anything. It can’t try to do anything or go anywhere. The emphasis of this passage is not the wind that we feel in nature. Christ is talking about the Spirit.

Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit moves wherever He determines to go. He decides on the direction and the outcomes that He’s working towards.

The Lord literally says that you cannot know by seeing where the Spirit is originating, or where it’s going to. You can only hear the sound of the Spirit as He moves in your life at the present time. He concludes by saying that this is how it works for everyone born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus is floored by this concept.

“How can this possibly happen.”

But for us, looking back, this should sound very familiar. There is a gifting through which we can hear the sound of the Spirit, even though we don’t understand what He’s trying to accomplish in us.

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
1 Corinthians 14:14

Your mind has no clue what the Holy Spirit is accomplishing in you as you pray in the spirit. The wind is blowing, but you don’t know where it’s coming from or where it’s going to. Regardless of this fact, your life is changed. The Holy Spirit is bringing you through the birthing process. You are being born again by the spirit into your inheritance.

When you pray in the spirit, you don’t need to understand the syllables you’re speaking. It’s the exchange that’s taking place in your spirit that makes the difference. You hear the sound, and you know that the Holy Spirit is at work in you.

This is the key to experiencing the glory of the Kingdom of God. It’s not about through following a set of rules, but by becoming a new person. We must be born of God into the inheritance of the kingdom.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
Romans 14:17-18

Remember that only those who are born of God can do righteousness. Peace is living rightly with others in the kingdom. Joy is experiencing the power of our inheritance in the kingdom. All of these together speak of the blessing of being born of God by the spirit.

This verse clearly states that living at this level is pleasing to God. That should be our goal. All of us are accepted by God in Christ. We should want to go the distance to the point where we are pleasing to Him. This requires that we be born of the spirit.

Question: How would living at this level change the face of the church?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 

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Relationship – The Foundation of Authority

BeamI’m posting about how our relationship with God has been revealed throughout Scripture. We started with this verse from John.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24

If you read the first three chapters of Genesis, you’ll find that Adam never needed to speak to God out loud – it was all by the spirit. It was a perfect relationship on God’s level. It’s what we were created for. It wasn’t until sin entered the picture that this union with God was ruined.

…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7

God caused His breath – or literally the Spirit of life – to enter into Adam’s being. This was what made him come alive to God. Adam became a soul that could enter into a relationship with the Creator of the universe.

God spoke to Adam by His Spirit. Adam worshipped God by his spirit. Adam then obeyed God’s Word. Everything was the way it was designed to work. No words needed to be spoken out loud – it was all in the spirit.

That’s why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought death. If you’re hearing from God in your spirit, and obeying what you hear, then there’s no need to recognize good and evil. Your life is simply about hearing and obeying.

I believe that this is the type of relationship that God wants to restore in us. This is the life giving flow of the Spirit. Unfortunately, we live on this side of the fall, and all of our experience before Christ is apart from the Spirit.

It was in the garden that Adam would meet with God, probably under the shade of the tree of life. It was his sanctuary. The tree of life is all about relationship. It was the visible symbol of Adam’s relationship with God.

It amazes me how hard we try to obtain a walk of power and authority. All the while we never stop to realize that these can only flow from a relationship with God. The place of relationship is the place of authority.

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
Genesis 2:19

Now that’s authority. God and man working together for a destined outcome. Whatever Adam called the creature – that was its name. This was because Adam functioned perfectly in the spirit. He said what he heard from God. God’s authority was flowing through him to the world around him. This carried over into all aspects of his life in the garden.

This is the kind of relationship we need to cultivate with the Lord. Only then can we walk in the authority of the Spirit.

Question: Why does walking in authority require hearing from God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2016 in Revival, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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It’s All About Relationship

RelateAn area that the modern church has glossed over is our relationship with the Lord. The Bible describes many levels, yet we seem to think that just because we sing or read about the highest levels, then that’s where we are. We need to relearn what God thinks when He uses these terms.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24

It’s clear from these words of Christ that the Father’s greatest desire is for relationship. But He doesn’t just want the surface relationship that many are satisfied with. He wants us to come to His presence on His level – in the spirit.

I praise God that I can use my mind and my mouth to approach God. But God is a spirit and He wants us to come before Him at that level. I want to look at the way in which a relationship with God was revealed over time through the Scripture. Let’s start at the beginning.

And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:9

In this verse we see the garden that God had created. In the center were two very special trees. In them we see the choice that was before mankind. It was life versus the recognition of good and evil. This is where God placed the first man, Adam.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17

The choice was his. Adam was allowed to eat of any tree he wanted. But he was specifically asked by God not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One tree would give life, the other would bring death. It was all about Adam’s trust in God’s Word.

It always comes down to this single choice. Life and death are both about relationship. It has always been this way from God’s perspective. We are the ones who redefine things for our convenience and self-justification.

Israel got the same choice many years later.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Deuteronomy 30:15-16

Loving God is to relate to Him. Our life then flows from this relationship. It’s an undeniable fact. I must participate in His plan, and I must allow Him to participate in my life. The two go hand in hand. This is the relationship that Adam had with the Lord.

The choice he had was all about life and death. Life is a relationship with God. At the start of this story, Adam had a perfect relationship with God. God wants worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth. This is how Adam related to God.

Question: How does the choice between life and death work in our Christian walk?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2016 in Revival, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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Who is the Holy Spirit?

DoveHere we are 2000 years from when the Holy Spirit was given to the church. But do we fully understand who He is?

We’ve developed a religious language that’s not based on the Bible. It seems like it’s based on songs and traditions. If you listen to our language you get the idea that there are three Gods.

There is only one God. My goal is to explain some things that may sound confusing at first. But throughout this series I want us to have a clearer picture of who the Holy Spirit actually is.

The fact that we’ve been created in the image of God should give us a foundation for understanding Him. Just like us, there are three parts to His being – Father, Son and Spirit.

Part of the problem is that we like formulas. Many times I’ve heard that we must pray to the Father, through the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus. While there’s nothing wrong with that, a lot of what we do sounds like this…

If you were meeting with a friend, would you say, “I just want to sit down with your body and talk to your mind through your ears.”

We don’t do this in the natural. We simply say, “Can I talk to you?”

Even something as simple as “Who created the world?” sometimes can be confusing.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3

We know that God created everything, but we argue over whether it was the Father or the Spirit who said, “Let there be…”

In talking about Jesus Christ, Paul said…

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Colossians 1:15-16

Was it Father, Son, or Spirit who created us? What I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t matter – God created us – all the parts of His being worked together.

That’s like asking; was it my spirit, soul or body who drove my car? I DROVE MY CAR!!!

I think that we get so caught up in the parts of God’s being, that we miss the big picture. God Himself lives in us. I have access into His presence.

I don’t believe that the Lord is as concerned over our formulas as much as our relationship with Him. We must spend quality time getting to know the person of the Holy Spirit.

That’s what the next few posts will deal with.

Question: How would you characterize your relationship with the Holy Spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2015 in Creation, Faith, Spiritual Walk

 

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Spiritual Sensitivity

TrailHow sensitive are you to the things of the spirit? Do you take the time to hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you? God’s people should be in tune to what the Lord is accomplishing on the earth.

This is how Paul described it.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14

I know that I’ve mentioned my hiking from time to time in this blog. As a matter of fact, in a few days I’m leaving on a two week long “hiking and prayer” trip. I’m looking forward to a good time in the Spirit.

I find it enjoyable talking to non-hikers about my backpacking trips. I love their reactions to some of my statements.

“How can you sleep all night in a shelter with only three sides?” “What do you eat?” “Where do you find a bathroom?”

I think that it shocks some people to learn that it’s possible to live without all the trappings of society. The thought of spending one night without TV or the internet is frightening. They don’t even want to think about the fact that running water isn’t necessary to survival.

Unless you’ve experienced the freedom of the wild, the ecstasy of a mountaintop, or the tranquility of a hidden lake there’s no understanding what I find.

It’s the same in the spirit. Unless you’ve experienced the wisdom, peace, and power of a relationship with the Holy Spirit, you have no clue how important it is. The thought of spending time in prayer is foolishness to those who ignore it.

That’s what Paul is talking about in the verse above. The phrase man without the spirit is actually the soulish man in the Greek. He’s not talking about an unsaved person. Rather, it’s the Christian who lives by what sounds logical to him. He gives no thought to the Spirit.

Unfortunately there are many believers who live this way. They read the Bible, go to church, and then do their best to figure out what they should be doing for the Lord. What they don’t realize is there are some things in their Christian walk that they can never figure out on their own.

They need to be hearing from the Holy Spirit. There are some things God has for us that can only be received by the spirit. But in order for that to happen there needs to be some quiet, alone time with the Holy Spirit.

There are some who can’t imagine spending time in the presence of God. But until you experience it for yourself, you’ll never fully understand the blessing. All of my descriptions fall short of the reality of time spent in the Spirit.

Walk in that blessed experience today. Spend time in the presence of the Lord. Let His Spirit minister to yours. Come away refreshed and revived. Let your soul be reminded why it’s so important to obtain what can only come from the Spirit.

Question: How has your life been touched and changed by time spent with the Holy Spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 

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One More Week

TimingI’ve been posting about the fact that the Holy Spirit in us is jealous over us. He’s passionate about His love for us. Ignoring or rejecting His attempts to work in us gives the Holy Spirit emotional pain.

We talk a lot about faith. Without it we can’t receive anything from God. If we truly trust God, then we’ll delight in His plan to renew our lives.

Rejecting the Lord’s instruction is the opposite of faith. We can see this in the example of Moses.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Hebrews 11:24-26

I’ve heard different people teach about this verse and I think we’ve missed the real point. The writer isn’t saying that sin only gives you pleasure for a short time. Actually, if you spend enough money, you can sustain the pleasure of a sinful lifestyle for quite a long time before it catches up with you.

This verse literally says that Moses chose not to enjoy the pleasures of sin for this little time only. In other words, he didn’t say to God, “Let me have one more month as a royal Egyptian before I follow your plan for my life.”

“Pharaoh’s birthday is in two months. That kind of celebration will never happen again. I’ll attend it, then after that I’ll identify with Israel.”

The trap is that it will never be the right time to live for God. It will never be the right time to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit in us.

Scripture says that Moses was looking ahead to the reward. Do I look ahead to the reward that the Holy Spirit is holding out to me? The choice is – do I want to go where the world is leading me to or where the Holy Spirit wants to take me?

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Galatians 5:16-18

That’s why we need the Holy Spirit’s leading. If we submit to His process then there’s no need for the law. It’s when our heart sides with the flesh that the conflict starts. My spirit wants to submit to Christ and my flesh wants to chase after the world.

I need make the choice to follow the Spirit’s leading. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today – while the Holy Spirit is seeking my attention. Don’t ignore His gentle voice calling for your fellowship.

Question: Is there something in your life that’s been hindering you from fully submitting to the Holy Spirit’s leadership?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on April 8, 2015 in Faith, Prayer, Revival, The Church

 

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First Impressions of the Holy Spirit

DoveI believe that the church doesn’t acknowledge the Holy Spirit as it should. We don’t fully understand the blessing we’ve been given. We have the Spirit of the living God residing in us.

I wanted to delve deeper into understanding the Holy Spirit as a person. So I began to teach a series on the Holy Spirit in my Wednesday night Bible Study. As I began to study, the Lord started showing me things that I wasn’t prepared for.

What I found is going to be the subject of my next few posts. My hope is that it will lead you to a greater respect and understanding of the Spirit that lives within you.

As I said, I was studying what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. Who wrote the Bible? Obviously THE HOLY SPIRIT! He used individuals to write it down, but the Lord breathed His Word through them to bring us the Scripture.

In thinking about what was written, I asked myself a question. What’s the first thing that the Holy Spirit says about Himself? After all, first impressions are the most important.

In my studies I’ve come to believe that the book of James was the first of the New Testament to be written.

In that short book there’s only one direct reference to the Holy Spirit and it took me off guard.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?
James 4:4-5

We know that God the Holy Spirit wants to be your friend. But it’s interesting to see that the first thing He reveals about Himself is that you can’t be both His friend and the world’s friend.

Understand – you can have friends in the world. But the Spirit of God doesn’t want you to be a friend of the world system. We can’t be chasing after the same things that the world does.

The Scripture above literally says that the Holy Spirit is intensely jealous. This is a destructive jealousy to the point where He actively seeks to destroy whatever would try to steal the heart of those He loves.

He knows that you love Him. He knows the plans He has for you. He wants to bring you prosperity and health. He has a hope and a future destiny for you.

But at the same time He sees someone trying to steal your heart. Someone who has plans to ruin your life. Someone with a desire to steal, kill, and destroy.

My question is; if that’s the first thing He says, how important is it to Him? An even greater question is; how important does this seem to the church today? Unfortunately, I believe that we’ve lost this sense of the Lord’s jealousy.

That’s what I intent to write about for the remainder of this series.

Question: How does the knowledge of the Holy Spirit’s jealousy affect your walk with Christ?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2015 in Power of God, Prayer, Revival

 

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Transformed by the Spirit

GalaxyI’m posting about Christ as the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. In my last article I showed how Christ walked in the power of this baptism as our example.

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.”
John 3:34

This is what the Lord said about Himself. Jesus had unlimited access to the Spirit.

I’ve heard people use this verse as if it only applies to Christ. Think about what it means to have the Spirit without measure.

Maybe you’ve seen the example of the glass that’s full of water. That’s like us being filled with the Spirit. Then if you take that same glass and immerse it in a fish tank; that shows what the baptism in the Spirit is like. I’ve used this example many times.

How much water does the glass have in the fish tank? There’s no way to measure it. That’s what Christ is talking about. He was the first one to experience a life that was baptized in the Spirit.

In talking about this to the disciples, the Lord said…

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
John 7:38

This can happen because I live in two realms. In the spiritual world I live immersed in the Spirit – the living water Christ talked about. In the physical, this water gushes out and is evident to those around me.

It doesn’t matter how much power I have to put out in ministry, in the spiritual it’s without limit. The truth is that we have that same unlimited access – if we live an immersed life.

But that’s not the best part, in my opinion! At one point Jesus took the three closest disciples up on a mountain to pray.

As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
Luke 9:29

This verse literally says that He was changed as He prayed and His face became different. Jesus was transformed by the Spirit. He had no sinful flesh as we do. But as He prayed His flesh, His physical appearance, was changed. He was transformed to a higher, more glorious appearance.

We’re told in Scripture that God desires to take us from glory to glory. How will this happen? I believe it’s through prayer in the Spirit. It will be accomplished through living an immersed life.

That’s why an understanding of the gift of the Spirit is so vitally important to this generation. We need it. In order to transform the church we need a manifestation of the power of God. We need the Holy Spirit’s life changing work.

It will only come as God’s people press in and do what Jesus did. Live a lifestyle of prayer in the spirit – a life of immersion.

Question: What will it take for you to live a life of immersion in the Holy Spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 

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