“4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 NIV
The history of the church is centered around God’s Presence.
“8 ‘Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.’”
Exodus 25:8 NIV
From the moment of creation and the Garden of Eden, through the salvation of the Israelites from Egypt, the time in the promised land, through King David’s reign and into Jesus’ ministry, God has sought to make a dwelling place among His people. That has continued to today. God longs for us to be with Him so that we can be led by Him, helped by Him, and protected by Him. Through Christ, we can have this leading, helping, protecting, perfect Presence of God with us forever - the Holy Spirit.
At Crestview, prayer precedes and influences meetings, decisions, hirings, sermons, worship sets, and much more. When we, as followers of Christ, pray, we are bringing our situations to the Lord with trust and confidence in His guidance and provision. The Holy Spirit helps us voice our prayers and helps us recognize the answer from God. Because God wants us to be with Him, and because He is good, He gives us what we need to follow Him well.
The Holy Spirit will help you follow Jesus.
The passage in 1 Peter 2 tells us that we are being built into a spiritual house. We are made alive by God, and then with this new life, we are formed into an increasingly pleasing temple for God’s presence. We don’t form ourselves into worthy vessels before we receive the Holy Spirit. We are saved by Christ and receive the Holy Spirit, and then we are changed throughout our lives to become more like Jesus. It is only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit that we bear the fruit of the Spirit. We can’t expect the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives before we are filled with God’s Spirit.
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
To follow Jesus is to bear fruit for the Lord’s Kingdom. This happens as we abide with Christ and rely on Him to lead us. He does that in our lives through the Word and the Holy Spirit within us.
“4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
John 15:4 NIV
God doesn’t leave us on our own for how we follow Jesus. He provides the Helper, the Advocate, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us into producing more fruit, building us up as living stones in His temple to follow Christ more and more closely in our lives. It is my prayer for you that you will look for and recognize the Holy Spirit’s promptings in your life, so that you follow Jesus in increasing measure.
