Christians in the Bible met as a community, not as an audience — as revelators not as spectators. They met not to rejoice in things of this world, but to joyously celebrate the presence and reality of the risen Jesus.

Modern sermons tend to be sweet, but if you listen directly to Jesus, He’s going to bring up some touchy subjects. Always being a passive part of a Sunday audience has caused many members of the body of Christ to atrophy into apathy.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are quenched far more often than they’re received. The gifts of the Spirit won’t manifest if we’re unwilling to let them flow by obeying God’s inner promptings. To neglect the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to reject them.

To “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16) is to live in a state of continual awareness of and surrender to the living God. Try it!

Going through the motions of Christianity in a spiritless manner takes the joy away. For a handbook on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, search Amazon for The Joy Of Early Christianity.