Dependance

Ive been meaning to write this post for a while now... and I actually have no excuse other than I let everything else in the world come first and distract me- which is exactly what I let happen with my relationship with Christ... I'm sure I'm not alone- I hear a great sermon that speaks volumes to my heart and then the next day its almost as if I hadn't heard it all...
Ive been re-reading the last chapter of the book trying to ingrain it into my brain and also remind me to blog about it! its a good one- i just kept putting 'work' and stuff before. But now I am sitting here making myself write it =) part of me is pulling away because I have a list of things I need to get done before I leave town this afternoon but this is a long time coming so here we go!

Chapter 7-The Supernatural Church
this chapter speaks a lot about churches and not relying on the Holy Spirit to guide and lead... The parts that I underlined are more specific to me personally not relying on the Holy Spirit.
so that's what I will share...

"I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn't be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn't come through, I am screwed."
"I believe He is calling me-and all of us- to depend on Him for living in a way that cannot be mimicked or forged. He wants us to walk in step with His Spirit rather than depend solely on the raw talent and knowledge Hes given us."
"God cares about whether people are lovers of Him." "Perhaps I can talk people into praying a prayer, but I cannot talk anyone into falling in love with Christ. I cannot make someone understand and accept the gift of grace. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. So by every measure that actually counts, I need the Holy Spirit. Desperately"
1 Kings 18 about Elijah
"they were stunned by God. They wee in aw of His power. They knew that what they experience could not have been manipulated by Elijah. They experienced the power of God"
"Even in our daily lives we can look more like the prophets of Baal as we live our lives, running about in a frenzy, trying to fix our problems, not stopping long enough to call on the power of God Almighty. Yet as children of God, we are not called to trust in our idols or ourselves. We are made to be like Elijah, who did not question whether God would show His face that day. He prayed and asked for help and God sent down fire from heaven in response."

"whatever you need, the point is that God is aware of you and your circumstances, and He knows what you really need. He is able to bring these things, people, and circumstances into your life."
"But God is not a coercive God. and though He desires for His children to know peace and love and to have wisdom, I have noticed that often He waits for us to ask. "
"He desires to do more than 'help out' a bit. He wants to completely transform us. He wants to take a timid heart and set it ablaze with strength and courage, so much so that people know something about supernatural has taken place- life change just as miraculous as fire coming down from heaven. He wants to imbue us with His wisdom because He is the 'spirit of wisdom and revelation' (Ephesians 1:17)"

Galatians 5-fruits of the Spirit.
"You may have the list memorized. But look over those traits right now and ask yourself if you possess each to a supernatural degree. Do you exhibit more kindness and faithfulness than the Mormons you know? do you have more self control than your Muslim friends? more peace than Buddhists? more joy than atheists? If God truly lives in you, shouldn't you expect to be different from everyone else?"

"I don't know about you, but I cannot simply muster up more love. I cant manufacture patience just by gritting my teeth and determining to be more patient. we are not strong or good enough, and it doesn't work that way. None of us can 'do goodness' on our own, much less all the other elements that make up the fruit of the Spirit."
"But despite our inability to change ourselves in this way, to simply become more peaceful or joyful, we expend a great deal of effort trying. We focus on what God wants us to do and forget the kind of people He wants us to be."
"Instead of mustering up more willpower, lets focus our energies and time on asking for help from the One who has the power to change us. Lets take the time to ask God to put the fruit of His Spirit into our lives. And lets spend time with the One we want to be more like"

"It is safer to avoid situations where we need God to come through then to stake it all on Him and risk God's silence. If Elijah has not had the courage to face down the prophets of Baal that day, if he hadn't prayed, fervently and courageously, then he would not have experiences God's power in such a profound way."
"This is certainly not a call to demand that God prove Himself in each and every circumstance that we manufacture. But it is a profound reminder that God delights in showing up when His people are in desperate need of Him, because that means no one else can steal His glory."

"God wants the praise for what we do in our lives. Bit if we never pray audacious, courageous prayers, how can He answer them? If we never follow Him to positions where we need Him, how can He show up and make His presence known?
"But when I am living in a way that requires me to depend on the Holy Spirit, people respond by praising my Father in heaven"
"If you have not known and experienced God in ways you cannot deny, I would suggest that you are not living in a needy and dependant way. God delights to show up when His children call on His name and when they are trusting fully in Him to come through, whether that is in relationships, in battling sin, in strength to make sacrifices, or in endurance to be faithful in daily life. "

"without the Spirit of God in our midst, working in us, guiding us, and living and loving through us, we will never be the kind of people who make up this kind of community."
"I spent years asking God to be part of whatever I was doing. When I read the book of Acts, I see people privileged to play a part in what God was doing"

"No matter where you live and what your days look like, you have the choice each day to depend on yourself, to live safely, and to try to control your life. Or you can live as you were created to live- as a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, as a person dependant on Him, desperate for God the Spirit to show up and make a difference."