Last week, we looked at Philippians 3:12-14 and established that Paul compares our spiritual life to a Greek foot race. We discovered that our spiritual goal is to be increasingly transformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 3:18) and that we must tenaciously lay hold of that goal. We must hold insistently to that goal and not allow our spiritual lives to slip into neutral. So what other directions does Paul give us to ensure our spiritual victory? In verse 13-14, we read, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I have always been one of those people who loved school, but there was one class that I hated. Yes, hate is a strong word, but from kindergarten through college this class was at the top of my list, right before mathematics. For many, this was a cake class, but alas, not for me. The dreaded class was physical education (P.E.). Why you may ask, other than the fact that I am completely uncoordinated, did I have such disdain for this class? Well, the truth is that I really dislike running and I detest sweating. In fact, I pretty much boycott the Summer Olympics because it pains me to watch the athletes sweat. You get the picture, right?

Have you ever sensed the Holy Spirit being quenched in a corporate gathering?

Answering that question might be tricky because people feel various parameters such as the length of a service, the style of music, or even the type of building you meet in can quench the Holy Spirit. What does it actually mean to quench the Spirit? Once I attended a service where several thousand people had gathered. During this service, hundreds, even a thousand or more people, began gathering around the front to seek God, to repent, and to pray. As a result, there was a palpable shift in the atmosphere. The weighty presence of God had moved upon us to the point that it was difficult even to breathe; most of us were on our faces weeping, broken, and repenting.

Have you ever hurt the Holy Spirit?

I have been studying recently about our privilege and responsibility to host the presence of the Holy Spirit. Our entire lives are to be lived and immersed in the Holy Spirit. Paul stated that we live by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63). We actually don’t live spiritually until the Spirit invades and infuses our souls with vitality. Jesus also said of the Spirit, “He abides with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). Imagine that! The Spirit abides with us; He remains, hovers, and tabernacles on and in us. Life should never be boring, right?

Have you looked at your shoulder lately?

John the Baptist was sent to baptize in water, and he also was to look for the Coming One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. John was told that the Holy Spirit would descend upon Jesus and "remain" upon Him (John 1:33), and this would distinguish Jesus as the Messiah. Sure enough, John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him (John 1:32). I don't believe Jesus walked around with an actual bird on His shoulder, but I'm certain that the Holy Spirit remained with Him. Remain (meno) means to dwell, sojourn with, abide, and tabernacle upon. The Holy Spirit, the dove, never departed from Jesus which tells us that He lived and adjusted His life, in every manner, to host the Holy Spirit.

Did you know that one of God’s names is Jehovah Rapha? It means the Lord who heals, cures, and makes whole. It’s in God’s nature to heal His people.

Today is the final blog in our series on replicating Jesus. We’ve noted so far that Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom and taught in various synagogues throughout the cities. Proclamation and teaching are essential ministries for us to replicate, but the Bible also indicates that Jesus spent His time “healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people [emphasis mind]” (Matt. 4:23). In fact, Jesus healed everyone who came to Him and asked to be healed, and on a few occasions He healed everyone within a city.

What are you imparting to people around you?

Jesus returned to His hometown in Mark 6 to minister. The people, however, did not respond well to His ministry or message. In fact, they took offense at Him to the point that the Bible says, “He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them” (Mark 6:5). Their response caused Jesus to “wonder” over their unbelief, but it also initiated an activity in Jesus that must be replicated in our lives as well. The Bible goes on to say, “He was going around the villages teaching” (Mark 6:6). Jesus confronted faithlessness with the impartation of truth; that’s what the ministry of teaching does.

Do you realize that you carry an incredibly contagious and anointed message with you?

Last week, we began a four-part study about the believer’s assignment to replicate Jesus. He instructed His followers to do the things that He did and even greater things because of the distribution of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:12). Amidst all of the activities recorded about Jesus, we see three that encompassed the majority of His ministry. Matthew 4:23 says, “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people [emphasis mine].” 

Have you ever heard the question: what would Jesus do?

Bracelets and T-shirts were made with the letters WWJD printed on them. Perhaps a better question to ask is: what did Jesus tell us to do? There are portions of His commission accounts that leave no room for guessing. They tell us precisely what all of us should be doing. One of those accounts is found in the gospel of John. Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly ministry when He said to His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

Have you ever made a spiritual assumption and been wrong?

Recently, I’ve been studying a particular passage in Luke that has challenged me on several levels. It states:

Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. (Luke 2:41-26)