WEBVTT 00:00:01.959 --> 00:00:04.480 Welcome to the Quality Christian Living podcast. 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:07.139 Once again I am your host David Friend. We're 00:00:07.139 --> 00:00:10.060 continuing our series on the Holy Spirit and 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:14.300 today's topic is Holy Spirit gift of great faith. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.579 So we're gonna really get into this and I believe 00:00:16.579 --> 00:00:18.359 the Lord's got something special for us today. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:21.059 How do we receive the gift of great faith and 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:24.399 which scriptures will help us to best understand 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.300 how to have great faith or even just faith? Does 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.160 the Holy Spirit decide who receives a gift of 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.340 faith? And from this I believe we will better 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:35.659 understand the difference between feelings and 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:38.100 faith. A very important topic, so let's get into 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:40.740 it. But first, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:42.420 you once again for your love, your goodness, 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.799 your kindness, your faithfulness, your mercy. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:47.600 I thank you for my salvation. I pray you would 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.719 bless those who are listening in today. I invite 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:52.000 the Holy Spirit to come in and take complete 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.740 control. I yield everything I've done to you. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:57.460 Holy Spirit, guide us and direct us. Teach us 00:00:57.460 --> 00:00:59.960 what you would have us to. get into and what 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:02.020 we should avoid. Thank you for that now. I pray 00:01:02.020 --> 00:01:03.859 you would bless it and I pray that all those 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:05.959 who are listening in would receive exactly what 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:08.200 they're looking for. Father, I thank you again 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:10.640 for your touch, your hand upon us, and I thank 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.239 you for this Holy Spirit series that's being 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:15.680 received so well. I give you praise for it and 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:17.620 thank you for it now and give you all the glory 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:19.859 for what's about to take place in Jesus name 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:22.319 I pray, Amen. Well, we're going to get right 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:24.500 into this today because we've got a lot to cover 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:27.680 and I try my best to stay below the 30 minute 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.159 maximum. That seems to be the amount of time 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:32.200 that people show the most interest and you can 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:34.760 keep their attention. So I hope that you'll be 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.019 blessed by this. To get started on today's podcast, 00:01:38.099 --> 00:01:40.519 we must read a scripture. I believe that will 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.900 help us build a foundation for great faith. and 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:46.900 it's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:50.480 11 in the New Living Translation. It is the one 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.620 and only Holy Spirit, the word says, who distributes 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.920 all these gifts. He alone decides which gift 00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:58.980 each person should have. Now, there's something 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:01.060 that I could have read before that, but I chose 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:03.299 not to because I felt that I wanted to make that 00:02:03.299 --> 00:02:06.000 statement jump out because it's the Holy Spirit 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:09.340 who decides. He distributes the gifts, all the 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.939 gifts, including the gift of great faith. So 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.819 this particular scripture is referring to the 00:02:14.819 --> 00:02:17.340 gifts of the Spirit that we read about in 1 Corinthians 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:20.539 chapter 12, verses 7 through 10, and it includes 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:22.599 all these things. I won't read all those verses, 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.349 but basically, Basically it includes the gifts 00:02:24.349 --> 00:02:27.289 of advice or wisdom and knowledge and gift of 00:02:27.289 --> 00:02:30.150 great faith, gift of healing and performing of 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:33.430 miracles and prophecy and discerning of the spirits 00:02:33.430 --> 00:02:35.789 and tongues and interpretation of tongues and 00:02:35.789 --> 00:02:38.550 all of these gifts we'll be talking about in 00:02:38.550 --> 00:02:41.770 upcoming podcasts. But today's particular podcast 00:02:41.770 --> 00:02:44.650 is going to deal with understanding great faith 00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:46.849 and understanding that the Holy Spirit is the 00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:49.530 one who decides who receives that and who does 00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:52.750 not receive that. So let's get ready. to help 00:02:52.750 --> 00:02:56.330 us with that. We're going to focus on the gift 00:02:56.330 --> 00:02:59.960 of great faith because so many people Desire 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:01.919 faith they want greater faith. They want more 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.159 more powerful faith. They want to have consistent 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:06.099 faith. They want to have faith. That's unshakable 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:07.939 They won't have faith that's just filled with 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:10.620 power and I believe that that's available to 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:12.840 us But we've got to understand exactly how the 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.439 Holy Spirit operates and how we can receive this 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:19.159 this gift of greater faith We all receive a certain 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:21.259 amount of faith when we receive Jesus Christ 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:23.860 as our Lord and Savior It comes upon us because 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:26.400 of faith and then we're given a measure of faith 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:28.599 So we'll get into that maybe a little bit in 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.099 this podcast but definitely in podcasts to come. 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:33.099 Matter of fact I did a podcast here a few weeks 00:03:33.099 --> 00:03:36.439 ago entitled dealing with unshakable faith. That's 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:38.280 kind of faith that we all want to have faith 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:40.580 that doesn't waver in the midst of trials and 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:42.379 challenges and difficult you know things that 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:44.780 we're facing in our lives so we want to understand 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:47.680 all of that but today let's focus on great faith. 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:50.729 Now it doesn't the scriptures say just faith. 00:03:50.969 --> 00:03:54.729 You know the Apostle Paul was talking about great 00:03:54.729 --> 00:03:57.610 faith. The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul 00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:00.710 to refer to great faith not just faith. I believe 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:04.710 this passage promises us that we have faith. 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:09.050 It's up to us to believe for faith and that faith 00:04:09.050 --> 00:04:11.990 carries us through any challenge that we will 00:04:11.990 --> 00:04:15.610 ever face in our life. Faith to Christ. for physical 00:04:15.610 --> 00:04:18.029 or mental healings I know I've been fighting 00:04:18.029 --> 00:04:20.189 a lot of battles over the years with physical 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:23.209 health issues and had to have my faith increase 00:04:23.209 --> 00:04:25.170 and had to have the strength of the Lord to carry 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:27.569 me through these things and praise the Lord he's 00:04:27.569 --> 00:04:29.610 healed me in every situation that I received 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:32.110 three different times in my life where my health 00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:34.230 was so bad that it was probably going to take 00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:37.670 my life but praise to our living God he delivered 00:04:37.670 --> 00:04:40.430 me from all those illnesses I give him all glory 00:04:40.430 --> 00:04:43.370 and praise now the Holy Spirit is the one who 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:46.329 gives the gift of great faith he's the only one 00:04:46.329 --> 00:04:48.350 that's what the scripture told us in first Corinthians 00:04:48.350 --> 00:04:50.949 chapter 12 verse 11 we read it quickly again 00:04:50.949 --> 00:04:54.449 it is the one and only spirit who distributes 00:04:54.449 --> 00:04:58.050 all these gifts he alone decides which gift each 00:04:58.050 --> 00:05:00.389 person should have so we have to go to the Holy 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:03.360 Spirit for this so we must ask him for great 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:05.399 faith. Now I believe there's nothing wrong with 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:07.600 asking the Holy Spirit for great faith. We go 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.100 to the Father. The Bible tells us Jesus taught 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:12.180 us how to pray. We go to the Father in the name 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:14.100 of Jesus. So we can go to the Father and say, 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:16.759 Heavenly Father, I pray in the name of Jesus 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:19.100 that I would receive greater faith. And I ask 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:21.519 the Holy Spirit to give me greater faith, more 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:23.540 powerful faith, more consistent faith, faith 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:26.379 that takes me beyond my ability, the realm of 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:29.240 my understanding, takes me to a new level of 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.060 faith and trust and confidence and belief that 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.839 God's Word will bring me through and that I will 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.620 receive this faith to be able to pray for a great 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:39.899 miracle and we can do that and pray for that 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:41.759 and I would encourage you to do that. Now the 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.600 gift of faith comes to us as we hear and believe 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.319 and accept God's Word because that's where the 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.319 beginning of faith is. Faith comes from hearing 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.300 and hearing the Word of God and we've got to 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:54.199 understand that we've got to hear and got to 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:56.240 believe. Hearing is one thing actually hearing 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.240 it but we've got to hear it to believe it. You 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.399 know when the pastor preaches a sermon we hear 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.670 it but do we really Do we hear it? I mean, do 00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:05.430 we really receive it? Do we take it in? Do we 00:06:05.430 --> 00:06:07.430 allow it to become part of us, to become part 00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:09.730 of our thought process, our minds, our heart, 00:06:09.829 --> 00:06:11.990 what we think about, how we think, and how we 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:14.370 act? That's what faith is all about. Faith is 00:06:14.370 --> 00:06:16.610 there, and everyone knows it's there. We all 00:06:16.610 --> 00:06:18.889 have faith. I mean, just as simple as me sitting 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:21.170 in this chair. I have faith this chair is going 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:22.990 to hold me up, right? I also have faith that 00:06:22.990 --> 00:06:25.269 this microphone is going to record this, and 00:06:25.269 --> 00:06:27.790 I have faith that this recording will go out, 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:29.610 and I have faith to believe that people will 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:32.449 listen to it, people be touched that the Holy 00:06:32.449 --> 00:06:34.230 Spirit will help them and bless them and touch 00:06:34.230 --> 00:06:36.649 them and that people receive Jesus Christ as 00:06:36.649 --> 00:06:38.769 Lord and Savior that they'll listen to these 00:06:38.769 --> 00:06:41.589 podcasts and they'll commit their lives to the 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:44.290 Lord and have a close walk with God or they'll 00:06:44.290 --> 00:06:46.569 stay with me to learn various topics we're talking 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:48.850 about that they all require a certain amount 00:06:48.850 --> 00:06:51.410 of faith but in order to have a deeper faith 00:06:51.410 --> 00:06:53.990 a greater faith we've got to rely totally upon 00:06:53.990 --> 00:06:55.910 the Word of God we got to believe it to hear 00:06:55.910 --> 00:06:59.149 it and accept it we must read God's Word we must 00:06:59.149 --> 00:07:03.370 know God intimately, we must ask for faith. It's 00:07:03.370 --> 00:07:07.230 only then that the Holy Spirit decides who receives 00:07:07.230 --> 00:07:10.629 great faith. Now, if I was in a classroom right 00:07:10.629 --> 00:07:13.209 now, and I used to teach community college, junior 00:07:13.209 --> 00:07:15.310 college level for a number of years, and when 00:07:15.310 --> 00:07:17.709 I did that, I would ask for a show of hands for 00:07:17.709 --> 00:07:19.490 people, you know, did they understand what I 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:21.610 was talking about? Or when I was preaching, I 00:07:21.610 --> 00:07:24.050 would ask people, as a pastor, I would ask people, 00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:26.209 how many people understand what I said or agree 00:07:26.209 --> 00:07:27.529 with what I said or believe what I'm saying? 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:29.550 Raise your hand, just let me see that hand. And 00:07:29.550 --> 00:07:31.750 when you do that, I'm asking for confirmation. 00:07:32.029 --> 00:07:34.629 On a podcast, I don't get that. I don't have 00:07:34.629 --> 00:07:36.850 any way of knowing or hearing, so I have to have 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:39.610 faith and trust in God to believe that he is 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:42.269 going to use this podcast to reach out to people. 00:07:42.410 --> 00:07:44.629 And I thank God for it because now in nearly 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:46.850 just under four years of doing this podcast, 00:07:47.050 --> 00:07:49.689 we've been blessed to see it go throughout many 00:07:49.689 --> 00:07:51.250 countries around the world, and I just thank 00:07:51.250 --> 00:07:54.230 God for that. He is the one who's received all 00:07:54.230 --> 00:07:56.550 glory and honor for that. Now the gift of great 00:07:56.550 --> 00:07:59.810 faith is supernatural and comes only from the 00:07:59.810 --> 00:08:03.170 Holy Spirit. The gift of faith is our source 00:08:03.170 --> 00:08:07.019 of hope. and the gift of greater faith is our 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:09.779 source of hope and strength. The gift of great 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:13.120 faith is proof of God's power through the Holy 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.259 Spirit that can influence the world. I believe 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:19.740 that. I truly believe that. When you walk around 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:22.980 with faith, strong faith, great faith, people 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:26.399 look at you and they say, I don't know how they've 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:28.339 got that or how they receive that or I want to 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:30.300 receive what they've got. And it's not that you 00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:32.399 have anything to boast in, but it's just simply 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.000 that it's something that will draw people to 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.919 us. If we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:39.720 and someone hears that, they're going to want 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.460 to know why. It's because of our faith in Jesus 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.720 Christ and receiving Him as our Lord and Savior 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.399 and our faith to believe we're going to spend 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.820 eternity in heaven with Him that draws people 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:52.639 to us. So having a gift of faith and having that 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.159 faith operating in our lives, it impacts others. 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:58.120 It influences other people's lives. Now a scripture 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:02.240 that helps us to have great faith is one that 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.899 is just so powerful. But before I read it, I 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:08.600 want you to think about this. Only the Holy Spirit 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:12.100 can reveal what this scripture is saying to us 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:14.200 and what it means. Have you ever done that? Go 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:16.100 to read a scripture and you start to read it 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:18.639 and then stop. Say, Holy Spirit. Can you explain 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:20.679 this to me? Can you reveal to me what this is 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:22.659 speaking to me, what it's saying to me? I think 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:24.440 that's what we should do when we approach reading 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:26.580 the Word of God. So when I give you a scripture, 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:28.279 and I give you something I believe that's going 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:31.000 to be helpful and powerful, I need to stop and 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:32.700 say, Holy Spirit, is this the one that I should 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:35.659 use? And then I need to ask you, listening in, 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:38.559 to ask the Holy Spirit to help you receive what 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:40.559 the scripture's saying. Because remember, all 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.519 scriptures are inspired, they were inspired by 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.720 the Holy Spirit. Some people say, well, Paul 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.029 wrote this and Paul wrote that. John wrote this 00:09:48.029 --> 00:09:49.690 and Peter wrote that and all that, and that's 00:09:49.690 --> 00:09:51.769 all good and well, but it was the Holy Spirit 00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:53.909 who really wrote it. It was the Holy Spirit who 00:09:53.909 --> 00:09:56.929 gave them what went into the Word of God. And 00:09:56.929 --> 00:10:00.409 so, Holy Spirit -inspired scriptures can come 00:10:00.409 --> 00:10:03.509 to us, and then the Holy Spirit can inspire us 00:10:03.509 --> 00:10:06.570 to receive His Word spoken through someone else 00:10:06.570 --> 00:10:08.929 to meet a need that we have. and those words 00:10:08.929 --> 00:10:11.509 were spoken, some of them, thousands of years 00:10:11.509 --> 00:10:13.809 ago. And in the case of Jesus Christ and the 00:10:13.809 --> 00:10:16.909 Apostles, just over 2 ,000 years ago, these words 00:10:16.909 --> 00:10:19.389 were spoken and they're powerful and they're 00:10:19.389 --> 00:10:21.970 lasting and they never let up. All right, now 00:10:21.970 --> 00:10:24.250 I'm ready to read the scripture. It's a pretty 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:27.889 basic one, Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 1. Now 00:10:27.889 --> 00:10:31.809 faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:34.740 conviction of things not seen. Now, if you're 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:37.379 a non -believer, then that's confusing, because 00:10:37.379 --> 00:10:39.879 how in the world can faith, which is something 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.320 you can't see, assures us of anything, things 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:45.440 that we hope for, and that is the conviction 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:47.639 of things that we can't see. But when you're 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:50.570 a follower of Jesus Christ, faith... You can't 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:53.070 explain your faith in Jesus necessarily. It's 00:10:53.070 --> 00:10:55.710 hard to explain it to people. But when you have 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:58.070 something that's in your heart, in your mind, 00:10:58.190 --> 00:11:00.610 and it's all that you are, it's who you are, 00:11:00.690 --> 00:11:02.870 it's how you think, and how you act, and how 00:11:02.870 --> 00:11:05.909 you react, it's only brought upon because of 00:11:05.909 --> 00:11:08.049 our faith and our trust in God's Word, and our 00:11:08.049 --> 00:11:10.090 faith and our trust in the Holy Spirit, and our 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:12.509 faith and our trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord 00:11:12.509 --> 00:11:14.429 and Savior, that He's going to take us through 00:11:14.429 --> 00:11:17.009 everything in life, and we've got to rely upon 00:11:17.009 --> 00:11:20.340 that. So faith then becomes unassured. God's 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:23.620 word is assurance. The New King James Version 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:26.039 also has a little different way of translating 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:29.100 Hebrews chapter 11 to 1. It says, now faith is 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:32.440 the substance of things hoped for. And then the 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:35.309 evidence of things not seen. Now, I did a series 00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:37.690 of podcasts here back, I'm not sure, probably 00:11:37.690 --> 00:11:40.250 a year or so ago, I'll tell you how to pull those 00:11:40.250 --> 00:11:42.409 up later on in the podcast, but I did a series 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:44.649 of podcasts dealing with faith and hope. Matter 00:11:44.649 --> 00:11:46.750 of fact, it inspired me so much I wrote a book 00:11:46.750 --> 00:11:49.830 on it entitled, Faith for Miracles. I wrote another 00:11:49.830 --> 00:11:52.850 book entitled, another faith book entitled, How 00:11:52.850 --> 00:11:55.919 to Receive Everything from What we call nothing 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:57.919 and that's basically believing for something 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:00.360 that we can't see that it really is and it's 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:02.200 going to happen it's called calling forth those 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:04.620 things that are not as though that they are well 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:07.360 this is all faith and it's all inspired by the 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.759 Holy Spirit because without the Holy Spirit we 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.360 wouldn't have we wouldn't be saved we wouldn't 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:14.700 have the power of faith in our life we wouldn't 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:17.200 have any opportunity to receive great faith in 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.500 the Holy Spirit a comment I probably should say 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:22.470 right now that I hadn't plan to say this, but 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:24.149 I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to share this, 00:12:24.350 --> 00:12:26.750 is that great faith can come and go in our life. 00:12:26.909 --> 00:12:28.870 We can have really great faith at one moment, 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:31.169 the Holy Spirit's operating in that, giving us 00:12:31.169 --> 00:12:34.049 that, and then we lose, we pull back and we don't 00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:35.809 have the trust and the faith or the confidence 00:12:35.809 --> 00:12:37.730 because we're going through something, and maybe 00:12:37.730 --> 00:12:40.389 we'll have a little lesser faith than what we 00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:44.340 had before. So remember, the gift of great faith 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:46.220 comes from the Holy Spirit, but that doesn't 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:48.639 mean that the faith that we have isn't vital, 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:51.059 isn't important, and if it's not great faith, 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:54.120 it's still faith, and it's still good. Now, what 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:57.519 does it mean when we say the Holy Spirit decides 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.580 who receives the gift of great faith? Now, some 00:13:00.580 --> 00:13:02.919 people might say, well, that's not fair. He's 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.460 favoritism. Well, it's not favoritism. The Holy 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:08.460 Spirit is drawn to people who are drawn to Him. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.679 And if you want great faith, then we need to 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:14.379 rely upon the Holy Spirit's direction and guidance. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.299 I believe we're more likely to receive the gift 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:20.740 of great faith if we're seeking God, if we're 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:24.279 seeking a closer walk with God. a closer day 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.580 -to -day, minute -to -minute experience with 00:13:26.580 --> 00:13:28.080 the Holy Spirit. Now, some people say, well, 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:29.799 you can't live minute -to -minute with the Holy 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:32.039 Spirit. I have to say, yes, you can. Yes, you 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:33.559 can. That doesn't mean you're perfect. That doesn't 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:35.440 mean that you're speaking about Him constantly 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.220 and not doing anything else. I mean, we have 00:13:37.220 --> 00:13:39.500 to go to work and do our jobs. You know, we have 00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:41.220 to do certain things with people and we're not 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.100 always involved in it. But we can have a day 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:45.820 -to -day, minute -to -minute experience with 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:48.779 the Holy Spirit because He lives and dwells inside 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:51.679 of us. And because He dwells in us, He's always 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.570 available. to us and we're always available to 00:13:54.570 --> 00:13:57.509 hear from Him. And He's many, many times wanting 00:13:57.509 --> 00:13:59.490 to speak to us when we're in the middle of other 00:13:59.490 --> 00:14:01.970 things and getting distracted and losing our 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:04.409 focus on the things of the Lord or something 00:14:04.409 --> 00:14:06.929 spiritual in our mind and heart that the Holy 00:14:06.929 --> 00:14:09.049 Spirit will then try and help bring us back in. 00:14:09.210 --> 00:14:11.909 Lately the Holy Spirit's told me, I really feel 00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:15.070 He's led me to pray that every single day that 00:14:15.070 --> 00:14:18.370 He convicts me that I need to have a closer walk 00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:21.190 with Him, that He impresses me that I need to 00:14:21.190 --> 00:14:23.940 have a closer walk with him and that I will feel 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:26.419 his presence more and more as I make decisions 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:28.700 as I talk to people as I'm driving across the 00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:30.940 city whatever it might be that I'm doing I want 00:14:30.940 --> 00:14:33.019 the Holy Spirit to guide and direct me and I 00:14:33.019 --> 00:14:35.919 believe that's really what the Holy Spirit wants 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:39.220 in order to give us a stronger dose of faith 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:41.860 if you will so what does it mean when we say 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:45.500 that the Holy Spirit decides who receives the 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:48.700 gift of great faith well first we must understand 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:52.190 I believe that because the Holy Spirit decides 00:14:52.190 --> 00:14:55.190 who gets this gift that we've got to put our 00:14:55.190 --> 00:14:58.509 trust in Him to do what only He can do. Not everyone 00:14:58.509 --> 00:15:01.629 will receive this gift of great faith. That's 00:15:01.629 --> 00:15:03.830 what the Bible says. It's not for everyone. But 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:06.929 I believe there can be a humongous, a huge amount 00:15:06.929 --> 00:15:09.570 of people who can receive great faith. Maybe 00:15:09.570 --> 00:15:11.830 it's only for a moment. Maybe it's for a day. 00:15:11.909 --> 00:15:15.519 It may be for a lifetime. But we must pray. That's 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.759 how the Holy Spirit decides who to give that 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:20.100 prayer to. I believe that. Who to give that gift 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:24.000 of great faith to. We must pray and ask for stronger 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:27.399 faith. Now everyone who becomes a Christian receives 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.799 the gift of the Holy Spirit and a measure of 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:32.720 faith. Now I'm not going to get into that right 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:34.519 now because that will take me off in a different 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:37.159 direction but everyone who's a follower of Jesus 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.559 Christ receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:42.299 When you say Father I'm sorry for my sins I ask 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:44.759 you to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.259 I promise to serve you all the days of my life 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:50.080 I confess you as my Lord and Savior I receive 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.870 you come into my heart give me life filled with 00:15:53.870 --> 00:15:55.889 your guidance and direction and your joy and 00:15:55.889 --> 00:15:58.370 peace for I receive you and I walk in you in 00:15:58.370 --> 00:16:01.299 Jesus name I pray amen when we pray that And 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:03.340 we mean that, and it's real in our life. The 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:05.879 Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of us. And 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:09.220 then we're given a measure of faith. It's a portion 00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:11.899 of faith. To some, it's larger than other people. 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:14.039 And it's interesting we understand that because 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:17.159 there are various levels of faith that each and 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:20.580 every one of us has. So the gift of great faith, 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:24.659 or any faith, is a supernatural anointing to 00:16:24.659 --> 00:16:27.539 trust God. Really, small faith, big faith, it's 00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:29.419 still, there's a certain level of faith there. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.700 And it's It's enduring trust. It's enduring trust 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:38.580 and evidence in God's promises. It's unwavering 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:40.899 faith. whether it be great faith or little faith. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.279 Romans 10, 17 says this, faith comes from hearing 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:46.580 the message of Jesus. Now, I'm not sure what 00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:48.419 translation that is, but what they're saying 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:50.720 is we get faith from hearing the message of Jesus, 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:53.299 so when we share Jesus with other people, they 00:16:53.299 --> 00:16:55.720 can receive enough faith to receive Jesus Christ 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:57.659 as their Lord and Savior, and their walk with 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:00.940 God begins. It's interesting to note, I've preached 00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:02.899 on this before, I've written articles on it, 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.640 I've commented about it in the books that I've 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:08.359 written on faith, and that is that Jesus calls 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:11.049 faith faith great, and he calls faith small. 00:17:11.309 --> 00:17:13.309 You know, he looked at his disciples once and 00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:15.369 he says, I've never seen such little faith. Oh, 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:17.769 ye of little faith, he says. He just was irritated 00:17:17.769 --> 00:17:20.490 with them. And yet he saw a centurion who told 00:17:20.490 --> 00:17:23.069 him, if you could just heal my servant, you don't 00:17:23.069 --> 00:17:24.549 need to go to my house. You need to go there 00:17:24.549 --> 00:17:26.410 at all. I believe I have faith to believe that 00:17:26.410 --> 00:17:28.829 you can heal my servant. And Jesus said, I've 00:17:28.829 --> 00:17:31.769 not seen such great faith in all of Israel. He 00:17:31.769 --> 00:17:35.000 referred to this man. who was a centurion in 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.579 the army, if you will, and this man stood up 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:40.180 and had great faith to know that Jesus didn't 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:42.660 have to go and lay hands on his servant, that 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:44.700 Jesus could just speak the word. And so Jesus 00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:47.259 said that your servant's healed. And so there's 00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:49.380 levels of faith, and so don't beat yourself up 00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:51.839 if you feel your faith is weak. But on the other 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:54.109 hand, if your faith is weak... then we've got 00:17:54.109 --> 00:17:56.849 to analyze and find out why is it? Are we trusting 00:17:56.849 --> 00:17:59.970 in God's Word? Are we praying daily? Are we seeking 00:17:59.970 --> 00:18:02.730 God daily? Are we reading at least some of the 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:05.049 Word of God daily? And I'm not saying hours and 00:18:05.049 --> 00:18:07.490 hours and hours of it, but a portion of our day. 00:18:07.670 --> 00:18:09.589 I think one of the best things that we can do 00:18:09.589 --> 00:18:11.589 to walk in the presence of the Holy Spirit and 00:18:11.589 --> 00:18:14.150 have greater faith is to have a daily devotional 00:18:14.150 --> 00:18:16.630 of some kind. It might be getting up and praying 00:18:16.630 --> 00:18:19.410 over a list of people to pray for. It might be 00:18:19.410 --> 00:18:21.289 reading a devotional that somebody's written. 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:23.849 I personally read one. every day I've done that 00:18:23.849 --> 00:18:26.210 for many many years it just kind of gets me off 00:18:26.210 --> 00:18:28.670 track gets me on track I should say in the in 00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:31.150 the right direction and when I'm reading that 00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.589 devotional it's kind of set me up for having 00:18:33.589 --> 00:18:35.890 greater faith for that day and there's scriptures 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:38.730 in my devotional and I read some comments and 00:18:38.730 --> 00:18:41.210 then I pray over people and it just kind of gets 00:18:41.210 --> 00:18:43.710 me going how long does that take sometimes it 00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:46.009 takes 20 minutes sometimes it takes an hour it 00:18:46.009 --> 00:18:47.849 just depends on what it's what it's going to 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:50.609 be for that day but I feel like that helps me 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:53.170 to stay in line and helps me to walk in the Spirit. 00:18:53.309 --> 00:18:55.210 I don't have all the answers, but I certainly 00:18:55.210 --> 00:18:57.809 know the one who has them, and I'm going to read 00:18:57.809 --> 00:19:00.289 his word and seek his word to get the answers 00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:02.309 that I'm looking for. Now here's an area I promised 00:19:02.309 --> 00:19:05.170 to cover when I introduced this podcast. What 00:19:05.170 --> 00:19:07.450 is the difference between feelings and faith? 00:19:07.789 --> 00:19:11.089 Feelings are emotional and can be easily impacted 00:19:11.089 --> 00:19:13.430 due to our circumstances. It's very important 00:19:13.430 --> 00:19:16.450 to understand that. Faith is a strong reliance 00:19:16.450 --> 00:19:19.789 on God's Word and His promises. Faith is, as 00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:21.329 we know, as we read about in the Word of God, 00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:24.630 it's substance. It's an assurance. It's a conviction 00:19:24.630 --> 00:19:27.769 of things hoped for. Feelings are things that 00:19:27.769 --> 00:19:30.210 we're thinking about or that we'd like to see 00:19:30.210 --> 00:19:32.289 happen, but we don't have a plan of attack. We 00:19:32.289 --> 00:19:34.329 don't really have the Holy Spirit helping us. 00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:37.069 Feelings are things that typically our body is 00:19:37.069 --> 00:19:39.450 trying to handle. I feel good one day. I feel 00:19:39.450 --> 00:19:43.359 bad the next day. But having Hope and trust and 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.440 confidence in God to have greater faith will 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:48.500 carry us through every day. Faith will keep us 00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:50.720 above the circumstances we're going through. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:53.079 Now I've used this comment before but I got to 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:54.880 use it again and that is look at the Apostle 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.779 Paul. Some of the greatest things that he wrote 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.420 was in the middle of his greatest trials in prison. 00:19:59.630 --> 00:20:03.670 When he wrote the epistles and wrote Philippians 00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:06.670 and Galatians and Ephesians, when he wrote these 00:20:06.670 --> 00:20:09.529 words, he was in prison for some of these and 00:20:09.529 --> 00:20:12.609 he was facing horrendous trials. In prison, he 00:20:12.609 --> 00:20:15.240 said, I learned to be anxious for nothing. but 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:17.200 everything through prayer, petitions, with thanksgiving 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.460 I made my request made known to God and the peace 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:21.720 of God that passes all understanding will guard 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.059 my heart and guard my mind in Christ Jesus. That 00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:26.759 is great faith. That is great faith in the midst 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:29.940 of circumstances and I'm really praying and believing 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:31.819 that God is going to help all of you who are 00:20:31.819 --> 00:20:33.980 listening in to have that kind of great faith 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:35.799 in the midst of any trial that you might have. 00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:39.460 The Holy Spirit can help us to focus on our faith 00:20:39.460 --> 00:20:42.880 and not rely on our feelings. Now I got to start 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:45.000 wrapping this up. There have been several key 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.740 events that have helped me to experience greater 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:50.400 faith. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me a gift 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.079 of great faith on several situations, many, many 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.920 times over the years, in many situations for 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:58.079 other people in my own life. My first experience 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:00.759 was when I was diagnosed with kidney failure. 00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:03.380 I was only 25 years old, a brand new Christian, 00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:05.400 and the doctor said, this is going to take your 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:08.539 life, and the Holy Spirit told me. pray, drink 00:21:08.539 --> 00:21:10.720 a lot of water, but pray and pray and pray and 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.859 trust God and believe. And I was healed and I 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:14.779 was restored from that. And then later on in 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:17.500 life, I came down to making the decision to stay 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:19.299 in business, to go into full -time ministry. 00:21:19.380 --> 00:21:21.920 And my wife and I needed a touch of greater faith 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:24.119 to be able to step out in faith, to close our 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:26.359 business down, stop our source of income and 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:28.799 go to work for the church for free. And God blessed 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:30.740 that and has prospered it. And now that we've 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:33.160 been operating in that church now for some 28 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.259 years, the senior pastors for almost 18 years 00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:39.109 and then a total of 28 years being involved in 00:21:39.109 --> 00:21:41.490 being a pastor in that church. A third time was 00:21:41.490 --> 00:21:43.589 when I had cancer issues, and a fourth time I 00:21:43.589 --> 00:21:47.009 had cancer issues. I was told that my life would 00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:49.710 only have six months to go, diagnosed with multiple 00:21:49.710 --> 00:21:52.450 myeloma bone marrow cancer, an incurable disease. 00:21:52.470 --> 00:21:54.509 They say to this day it's incurable, but God 00:21:54.509 --> 00:21:56.730 touched me, and I believe by God's grace and 00:21:56.730 --> 00:21:59.450 His mercy, I've been healed in Jesus' name. So 00:21:59.450 --> 00:22:01.789 these are things that happened in my life. I 00:22:01.789 --> 00:22:04.089 just want you to understand that. I don't go 00:22:04.089 --> 00:22:06.410 around saying, well, nothing bad ever happened. 00:22:06.349 --> 00:22:08.970 to me. No, I struggle with things. The Bible 00:22:08.970 --> 00:22:11.349 tells us that rain falls on the just and the 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:13.710 unjust alike. So I'm going to have to wrap this 00:22:13.710 --> 00:22:16.630 up. My time is running out. We'll continue speaking 00:22:16.630 --> 00:22:19.069 in this vein in this direction as we continue 00:22:19.069 --> 00:22:21.849 on. Our next podcast is called, I believe it's 00:22:21.849 --> 00:22:24.190 going to be, The Holy Spirit Teaches Us Faith. 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:26.309 But in closing, I want to pray for you. So let's 00:22:26.309 --> 00:22:28.450 do that right now. Heavenly Father, for those 00:22:28.450 --> 00:22:30.369 who are listening in, I know many of them have 00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:32.529 come and listened to this because they want greater 00:22:32.529 --> 00:22:34.450 faith, and that's wonderful, that's honorable, 00:22:34.630 --> 00:22:36.809 it's just awesome. And I just pray now, Lord, 00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:39.170 that these things we've taught about being led 00:22:39.170 --> 00:22:41.710 by the Spirit of God will help them to have the 00:22:41.710 --> 00:22:43.869 greater faith they need, to be faithful to the 00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:46.069 Word of God and faithful to prayer and seeking 00:22:46.069 --> 00:22:48.430 the Holy Spirit daily and asking for His guidance 00:22:48.430 --> 00:22:50.910 and direction literally to take care of us and 00:22:50.910 --> 00:22:53.809 lead us every moment of our life. So I pray you 00:22:53.809 --> 00:22:55.789 would bless them and that you would... Bless 00:22:55.789 --> 00:22:57.829 them with greater faith and understanding of 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:00.650 that faith that will believe for it. anything 00:23:00.650 --> 00:23:03.410 because with great faith nothing is impossible. 00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:06.309 The Word of God tells us that, that faith comes 00:23:06.309 --> 00:23:08.490 to carry us through the challenges that we face 00:23:08.490 --> 00:23:10.769 in each and every day. So Father bless them Father, 00:23:10.809 --> 00:23:13.710 may your face be upon them and shine upon them 00:23:13.710 --> 00:23:16.170 Father. And I pray Lord that people would start 00:23:16.170 --> 00:23:18.549 even right now to start let these scriptures 00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:21.630 sink into them and receive the fullness of your 00:23:21.630 --> 00:23:24.390 blessings that faith comes from hearing the message 00:23:24.390 --> 00:23:27.630 of Jesus and that faith is the assurance of things 00:23:27.630 --> 00:23:42.589 hoped for in the Well, I hope this has been a 00:23:42.589 --> 00:23:45.049 blessing. My goodness, this has gone fast. I 00:23:45.049 --> 00:23:47.809 don't remember doing a podcast that flowed smoother 00:23:47.809 --> 00:23:51.890 and quicker and went through it. I'm just so 00:23:51.890 --> 00:23:53.970 thankful to the Lord for that and helping us. 00:23:54.190 --> 00:23:56.759 So I pray that if you... have questions about 00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:59.200 this that you continue listening to our podcast 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:01.359 series on the Holy Spirit and when you're talking 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:02.819 about the Holy Spirit you're going to be talking 00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:05.319 a lot about having faith. If you'd like to know 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:07.539 more about the Quality Christian Living podcast 00:24:07.539 --> 00:24:11.019 you can go to davidcfriendauthor .com and when 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:13.019 you go to there right on the front page there'll 00:24:13.019 --> 00:24:15.940 be a link to the podcast we've done. This is 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:20.200 podcast number 325 so there's a obviously a lot 00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:22.059 of them that we've done in nearly four years 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:25.380 and if you Scroll down on that list of podcasts, 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:27.839 then you'll see teachings on faith, teachings 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:31.359 on finances, teaching on what it means to experience 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:33.220 miracles in your life and how you can have faith 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:35.220 for miracles. I've talked about how to get out 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:37.180 of debt. I've got books there to help people 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:39.680 understand how to help veterans going through 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:41.799 challenges in their life, because I was obviously, 00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:43.859 many of you have listened before and heard that 00:24:43.859 --> 00:24:46.980 I was a veteran in the Vietnam War. And so bottom 00:24:46.980 --> 00:24:49.160 line, there's a lot there that's available and 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:50.839 that you'll get to know more about quality Christian 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:54.700 living. to my podcast you can do that by going 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:59.150 to see PNShows .com or wherever you listen to 00:24:59.150 --> 00:25:01.470 your podcasts. Well, I truly believe that this 00:25:01.470 --> 00:25:03.930 has been blessed and led by the Holy Spirit and 00:25:03.930 --> 00:25:07.049 I pray that you will tune in to our next podcast 00:25:07.049 --> 00:25:09.289 coming up when we're going to talk about the 00:25:09.289 --> 00:25:11.750 Holy Spirit teaches us faith. We're going to 00:25:11.750 --> 00:25:14.630 get into trying to understand exactly where in 00:25:14.630 --> 00:25:16.990 the Word of God does it show us that we're being 00:25:16.990 --> 00:25:19.589 instructed how to have greater faith. Where does 00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:23.190 the Holy Spirit show us exactly how people of 00:25:23.190 --> 00:25:25.890 weak faith can have stronger faith and get into 00:25:25.890 --> 00:25:28.569 examples of great faith that came out of people 00:25:28.569 --> 00:25:30.990 who quite frankly had very little faith to start 00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:32.910 with. So I believe it's going to be blessed to 00:25:32.910 --> 00:25:35.089 the Lord and I hope that you'll let your family 00:25:35.089 --> 00:25:37.430 and friends know that we're continuing on our 00:25:37.430 --> 00:25:39.009 series on the Holy Spirit and we're going to 00:25:39.009 --> 00:25:40.930 hang in there for a little bit and how faith 00:25:40.930 --> 00:25:42.849 and the Holy Spirit work together. I want to 00:25:42.849 --> 00:25:44.970 close this out with just a couple of questions 00:25:44.970 --> 00:25:48.410 that people have sent in and asked to get information 00:25:48.410 --> 00:25:50.910 on. So for example, what does it mean to be led 00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:53.349 by the Holy Spirit? in our daily lives. Well, 00:25:53.349 --> 00:25:55.210 let's just kind of look at that for a second. 00:25:55.490 --> 00:25:57.970 You know, the bottom line is we've got to deny 00:25:57.970 --> 00:26:01.990 our flesh and deny our thoughts and yield ourselves 00:26:01.990 --> 00:26:04.609 to the Holy Spirit to take us through the things 00:26:04.609 --> 00:26:06.609 that we are faced with each and every day. Here's 00:26:06.609 --> 00:26:09.029 another question. How can someone recognize when 00:26:09.029 --> 00:26:11.470 the Holy Spirit is speaking to them? Well, I 00:26:11.470 --> 00:26:13.549 like to think about that, that when I have peace 00:26:13.549 --> 00:26:15.589 in my life, I know that I'm not hearing from 00:26:15.589 --> 00:26:17.910 the devil. I know that peace comes from our Lord 00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:20.450 and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit comes 00:26:20.450 --> 00:26:24.259 to give us and peace. So to identify when I believe 00:26:24.259 --> 00:26:25.940 the Holy Spirit is leading me and guiding me, 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:27.660 it's going to be something encouraging, something 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:30.140 positive, something that's lifting up. Good advice 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:32.619 for people, or it's correcting my own life, things 00:26:32.619 --> 00:26:34.519 that I need to do differently, and that type 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:37.259 of thing. But to recognize the Holy Spirit basically 00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:40.009 is that when you have peace... from what you're 00:26:40.009 --> 00:26:42.390 hearing, then you know it's from the Holy Spirit. 00:26:42.529 --> 00:26:45.089 Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 10 and 00:26:45.089 --> 00:26:47.410 verse 10. He says that the devil, well, he called 00:26:47.410 --> 00:26:49.869 him the thief, but he's referring to him obviously 00:26:49.869 --> 00:26:52.450 as the devil. The thief comes to kill, to steal, 00:26:52.490 --> 00:26:54.269 and to destroy. He says, but I've come to give 00:26:54.269 --> 00:26:56.609 people life and give it to them more abundantly. 00:26:56.710 --> 00:26:59.549 So I want to close this with a blessing. I just 00:26:59.549 --> 00:27:02.029 want to thank you so much for listening in to 00:27:02.029 --> 00:27:04.490 the Quality Christian Living podcast. Lord, I 00:27:04.490 --> 00:27:06.349 pray that you would bless these folks that are 00:27:06.349 --> 00:27:08.250 listening in and keep them and that your face 00:27:08.250 --> 00:27:10.309 would shine upon them. I pray that you would 00:27:10.309 --> 00:27:12.210 be gracious to them, Lord, that you would give 00:27:12.210 --> 00:27:15.309 them peace. I pray, Lord, that they would Prosper 00:27:15.309 --> 00:27:18.230 and be in good health even as their soul prospers 00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:20.630 and for ask that in Jesus name So until next 00:27:20.630 --> 00:27:23.890 time I pray that God will richly bless you I 00:27:23.890 --> 00:27:26.490 pray that you will receive faith beyond your 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:28.829 wildest Imaginations and I pray that you would 00:27:28.829 --> 00:27:32.329 continue to seek each and every day a greater 00:27:32.329 --> 00:27:34.970 stronger relationship with the Holy Spirit Remember 00:27:34.970 --> 00:27:38.150 Jesus sent him to be our counselor give us comfort 00:27:38.150 --> 00:27:40.809 to be our backup He's got our back and the Holy 00:27:40.809 --> 00:27:43.069 Spirit is there to help us. He's right there 00:27:43.069 --> 00:27:45.630 inside of us If you know Jesus Christ as your 00:27:45.630 --> 00:27:48.049 Lord and Savior, you can go directly to Him anytime. 00:27:48.190 --> 00:27:50.789 If you don't know Him, then receive Him as Lord 00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:52.869 and Savior. Ask for forgiveness of your sins 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:55.069 and receive Him this day. And I know that He'll 00:27:55.069 --> 00:27:57.109 come into your heart and change your life. Thank 00:27:57.109 --> 00:27:59.410 you once again for listening to Quality Christian 00:27:59.410 --> 00:28:02.289 Living. I am your host David Friend. May God 00:28:02.289 --> 00:28:03.210 richly bless you.