FINDING
NEW LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
“God
lavishes his Spirit on you and enables you to perform miracles.”
(Galatians 2:3)
A guidebook for the
Life in the Spirit Seminars
He
offers it to you freely, just as he created you freely, because he loves you.
“Let
him who is thirsty come; let him who desires take the water of life without
price.”
(Rev. 22:17)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your
faithful,
And enkindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be
created,
R. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Let
us pray.
O
god, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of your
faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise, and even
rejoice in his consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
1. GOD’S LOVE
“For God so loved the world that he gave his
only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal
life.”
(Jn. 3:16)
WORDS OF
LIFE
Day 1:
“I have loved
you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you.”
(Jer. 31:3)
Day 2:
“I will be
their God and they shall be my people.
There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour,
or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less
than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their
iniquity and never call their sin to mind.”
(Jer. 31:33-34)
Day 3:
“I myself
will pasture my sheep. I myself will
show them where to rest – it is the Lord God who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the
stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the healthy and the
strong. I shall be a true shepherd to
them.”
(Ezek. 34:14-16)
Day 4:
“For God so
loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish, but have eternal life.”
(Jn. 3:16)
Day 5:
“Oh, come
to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come!
Why spend
money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy?
Listen,
listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.
Pay
attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live.
With you I
will make an everlasting covenant
because of my sure, steadfast love.”
(Isa. 55:1-3)
Day 6:
“I know the
plans I have for you – it is the Lord who speaks – plans for peace, not
disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you. When you call to me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you seek me, you shall find me, when you
seek me with all your heart.”
(Jer. 29:11-13)
Day 7:
“The Lord
is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.”
(Ps.
145:18)
Study
This week, the two chapters we will read are concerned
with who Jesus Christ is and how he saves us.
They are:
John 1; Colossians 1.
2. SALVATION
“He has taken us out of the power of darkness
and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him
we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.”
(Col.
1:13-14)
Words of
Life
Day 1:
“In the days to
come the peoples will stream to the temple of the Lord, nations without number will come to it, and they
will say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountains
of the Lord so that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths....’ He will wield authority over many peoples and
arbitrate for mighty nations, they will
hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not
lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war. That day – it is the Lord who speaks – I will finally gather in the lame,
and bring together those that have
been led astray.”
(Mic. 4:1-6)
Day 2:
“Yes, the
heavens are as high above the earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts
above your thoughts.”
(Isa. 55:9)
Day 3:
“For it is
not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the
Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the
spiritual army of evil in the heavens.”
(Eph. 6:12)
Day 4:
“Martha
said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I
know that, even now whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even if he dies, he
will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said,
‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ ”
(Jn. 11:21-27)
Day 5:
“It is not
easy to die even for a good man – though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die – but
what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still
sinners.”
(Rom. 5:6-8)
Day 6:
“Ours were
the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. He was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins. On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds we
are healed. We had all gone astray like
sheep, each taking his own way, and the Lord burdened him with the sins of all
of us.”
(Isa. 53:4-6)
Day 7:
“He has
taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him we
gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.”
(Col. 1:13-14)
Study
This week we will study the new life Jesus brings and the
gift of the Holy Spirit that makes it possible.
John
3; Acts 2.
3. THE NEW LIFE
“I come so that they may have life and have it
in abundance.”
(John
10:10)
Words of
Life
Day 1:
“The Lord
God says this, ‘I shall pour clean water over you and you will be
cleansed. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I
shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh
instead. I shall put my spirit in you. You shall be my people and I will be your
God.’ ”
(Ezek.
36:22-28)
Day 2:
“If you
love me you will keep my commandments. I shall ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate to be with you forever, that Spirit of truth whom the world
can never receive, it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he
is with you. I will not leave you orphans.”
(Jn. 14:15-18)
Day 3:
“When
Pentecost day came round, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.”
(Acts 2:1-4)
Day 4:
“When they
heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the moment
Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began
to speak with tongues and to prophesy.
There were about twelve of these men.”
(Acts 19:5-7)
Day 5:
“The fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
(Gal. 5:22-23)
Day 6:
“The
particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good
purpose. One may have the word of wisdom
given to him by the Spirit; another may have the word of knowledge given to him
by the same Spirit; and another the gift of faith given by the same Spirit;
another again the gift of healing through this one Spirit; one the power of
miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of discerning spirits; another the
gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who
distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses.”
(1 Cor. 12:7-11)
Day 7:
“So you are
no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are citizens like all the saints, and
part of God’s chosen household. You are
part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and
Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.
As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in
the Lord; and you too, in him,
are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.”
(Eph. 2:19-22)
Study
This week the two chapters we will read are about turning
to the Lord in faith and repentance.
John
4; Acts 13.
4. RECEIVING GOD’S GIFT
“If any man is thirsty, let him come to
me! Let the man come and drink who
believes in me! As scripture says: From
his heart shall flow fountains of living water.”
(Jn.
7:37-38)
Words of
life
Day 1:
“When the
kindness and love of God our saviour for mankind were revealed, it was not
because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves;
it was for no reason except his own compassion that he saved us, by means of
the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he
has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour.”
(Tit. 3:4-6)
Day 2:
“If any man
is thirsty, let him come to me! Let the
man come and drink who believes in
me! As scripture says: From his heart
shall flow fountains of living water.”
(Jn. 7:37-38)
Day 3:
“The time
has come and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe the good news (the
gospel).”
(Mk. 1:15)
“Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins
of any, they are forgiven. If you retain
the sins of any, they are retained.”
(Jn. 20:22)
Day 4:
“You must
repent, and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. The
promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are
far away, for all those whom the
Lord our God will call to himself.”
(Acts 2:38-39)
Day 5:
“You know perfectly
well that people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God; people of
immoral lives, idolators, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, usurers, drunkards,
slanderers and swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God.”
(1 Cor. 6:9-10)
Day 6:
“Since God
has promised it, Abraham refused either to deny it or even to doubt it, but
drew strength from faith and gave glory to God, convinced that God had power to
do what he had promised.”
(Rom.
4:20-21)
Day 7:
“So I say
to you: Ask, and it will be given to you. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for
bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a
fish? If you then, who are stingy, know
how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
(Luke 11:9-13)
Study
This week the two chapters we will read are about the
life of the Spirit and the power of God in us.
John
14; Acts 8.
5. BAPTIZED IN THE SPIRIT
“To set the mind on what is unspiritual is
death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
(Rom. 8:6)
Words of
Life
Day 1:
“Unload all
your worries on to God, since he is looking after you. Be calm but vigilant,
because your enemy, the devil, is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand up to him, strong in faith.”
(1
Pet. 5:7-9)
Day 2:
“Well done,
good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things. I will trust you with greater; come and join
in your master’s happiness.”
(Matt.
25:23)
Day 3:
“Pray all
the time, asking for what you need, praying in the Spirit on every possible
occasion.”
(Eph. 6:18)
Day 4:
“To set the
mind on what is unspiritual is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life
and peace.”
(Rom. 8:6)
Day 5:
“Make love
your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.”
(1 Cor. 14:1)
Day 6:
“Brothers,
I myself was unable to speak to you as spiritual men: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food,
for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since
you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and
wrangling that there is among you?”
(1 Cor. 3:1-3)
Day 7:
“Yes, the
troubles which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the carrying of a weight of eternal glory which is
out of all proportion to them. For we know that when the tent that we
live in on earth is folded up, there is a house built by God for us, an
everlasting home not made by human hands, in the heavens. This is the purpose
for which God made us, and he has given us the pledge of the Spirit.”
(1 Cor. 4:16; 5:1,5)
Study
This week the two chapters we will read are about growing
in our union with Christ and in our life in the Spirit.
John
15; Galatians 5.
6. GROWTH
“I am
the vine, you are the branches. Whoever
remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you
can do nothing.”
(John 15:5)
Not to go forwards is to go backwards. When we begin a new life, we have to grow, or
we will always be stunted and incomplete.
You have been given a new life, now you must grow to maturity in it.
Some aids for your Christian life are:
Prayer
Study
(of God’s word)
Community
(life shared with other Christians)
Service
Growth comes from Christ, who gives you a new life. But you need to do those things which will
keep you in contact with him:
Pray
every day
Study
God’s word regularly
Meet
with other Christians for prayer and sharing regularly
Find
a means of Christian service, especially find a way to share the life you have been
given.
Words of
Life
Day 1:
“Anyone who
drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water “ that I shall give will turn into
a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life.”
(Jn.
4:14)
Day 2:
“I am the
vine, you are the branches. Whoever
remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit
in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is like a branch that has been
thrown away – he withers.”
(Jn. 15:5-6)
Day 3:
“You must
give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets
corrupted by following illusory desires.
Your minds must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been
created in God’s way, in the goodness
and holiness of the truth.”
(Eph. 4:22-23)
Day 4:
“Jesus’
reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he
would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.”
(Lk.
5:15-16)
Day 5:
“From the
holy scriptures you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith
in Christ Jesus. All scripture is
inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching,
for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be holy.”
(2 Tim. 3:15-17)
Day 6:
“That very
day about three thousand were added to their number. These remained faithful to the teaching of
the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking
of bread (the Mass), and to the
prayers. The faithful all lived together
and owned everything in
common. They shared their food gladly
and generously; they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community
those destined to be saved.”
(Acts 2:41-47)
Day 7:
“Be tactful
with those who are not Christians and be sure that you make the best use of
your time with them. Talk to them
agreeably and with a flavour of wit, and try to fit your answers to the needs
of each one.
Study
This week the two chapters we will read are about
continuing faithfully in our life with Jesus and being changed into being like
him.
John
17; Philippians 3.
7. TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST
“Not that I am already perfect; but I press
on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
(Phil.
3:12)
Words of
Life
Day 1:
“God is at
work in you for his own loving purposes, and he puts both the will and action into you.”
(Phil. 2:13)
Day 2:
“I believe
nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ
Jesus, my Lord. For him I have accepted
the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I
can have Christ and be given a place in him.”
(Phil. 3:8-9)
Day 3:
“My
brothers, you will always have your trials, but when they come treat them as a
happy privilege; you understand that your faith is only put to the test to make
you patient, but patience
too is to have its practical results so that you will become fully developed, complete with nothing
missing.”
(Jas. 1:2-4)
Day 4:
“The trials
that you have had to bear are no more than people normally have. You can trust God not to let you be tried
beyond your strength, and with any trial he will give you a way out of it and the strength to bear it.”
(1 Cor. 10:13)
Day 5:
“We know
that by turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love
him, with all those he has called according to his purpose.”
(Rom. 8:26)
Day 6:
“Just as
each of our bodies has several parts and each part has a separate function, so
all of us, in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to
each other.”
(Rom. 12:4-5)
Day 7:
“Let us be
concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works. Do not stray away from the meetings of the
community, as some do, but encourage each other to go.”
(Heb. 10:24-25)
Study
This week the two chapters we will read are about the
resurrection of Jesus and our resurrection.
John
20; Revelations 21.
