Ephesus 10

Hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying requires fellowship. He is not just a Teacher that stands up in front of a class and gives instructions to students. Quite the contrary, He talks to you when you open your heart – your inner sanctuary – and sit down in His presence to listen, to learn, to ask questions and then to practice what He has shown you.

Life with the Holy Spirit should be a fun filled experience. If you come into a place of prayer and fellowship with either the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit and you do not experience joy – big smiles, giggles, shouts of exhilaration, laughter – then you have not entered into the kingdom.

The kingdom of God is filled with righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. He draws you into the blissful kingdom of the Father when you come to hear Him with an open heart and mind. He is not a stern, serious, grieved, Holy Spirit! He is the One who fills the whole kingdom with joy and laughter.

Jesus, when He was saying, “Goodbye, I’m going to die now,” to His disciples explicitly told them NOT to be sad because He was going to send the Holy Spirit to them. The last thing that He was going to give them and leave them with was the wonderful, exuberant joy of the Holy Spirit.

Also, the joy of the LORD (God) is your strength. Tell me, how are we supposed to ‘war’ against the enemy of our souls without strength? If Satan can keep us morbid, hopeless, and depressed because of our sins and what we consider as our sorry lives, then he can keep us under his control. Sadly, many saints believe that repentance means to feel morbid and sorry for what they have done.

Not so. To repent means to take on a new mind, or to change the way you think. Repentance is to forsake your way and your opinion of sin and align yourself with God’s way and His opinion of sin. The forgiveness of sin is the cornerstone of your faith and everything in your relationship with Him hinges on how you see and understand sin.

If you believe that God is angry and grieved with you because of your faults and failures, you will struggle with what God thinks of you and who you are as His new creation. It will keep you in bondage to guilt and condemnation. If, however, you know that through His blood you have been forgiven and that you can bring this under the blood where it is judged once and for all, it will release you and bring you into joy and freedom.

This brings you right back to one of the first things you need to know about Jesus if you want to walk with Him in His kingdom and fulfill your calling in Him.

Revelations 1:4-6 … May the kindness of God’s grace and peace overflow to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are in front of His throne, and from Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness, the Fristborn from among the dead and the Ruling King, who rules over the kings of the earth!

Now from the One who loves us and has loosed us from our sins by His own blood,

And to the One who has made us to rule as a kingly priesthood to serve His God and Father – to Him be glory and dominion throughout the eternities of eternities! Amen! (TPT)

Don’t argue with God over your forgiveness. Your part in overcoming and gaining victory over sin is to acknowledge that the sinful act you committed is wrong. His response is to cleanse your conscience from it and its effects on your thoughts and emotions through His blood and to bring you back into your position of righteousness in Him.

If you want to make the Lord happy then accept the victory He carried out over sin on your behalf when He hung on the cross and shed His blood for you. Be thankful and be happy. You may have to begin this by faith but as you learn to accept your forgiveness it will usher you into the joyful, righteous, and peaceful presence of God.

And remember, when you don’t know how to do something – ASK! He will gladly and joyfully answer all your questions as you walk and talk to Him.

Scripture Reference: Neh 8:10; Mt 26:28; Act 2:38; Act 10:43; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:22; Heb 1:3; Heb 8:12; Jn 15:11

Be happy, you’re forgiven! 😄😁😅