Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 12-17-2023 -- 12-23-2023

Walking In Harmony With the Holy Spirit (Part 2)

"I know that those who seek after spiritual realities are digging deep for the treasures of Heaven; they are led by the Holy Spirit."

~Kevin Zadai

So now every righteous requirement of the law can fulfilled through the Anointed One living His life in us. And we are free to live, not according to our flesh, but by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit!
—Romans 8:4 TPT

DISCUSSION:
Welcome to part two of our study on walking in harmony with the Holy Spirit. In the previous session, we discussed some verses from Romans 8 and a couple of other scriptures. This week, we will dive even deeper into this study, as we continue to discuss Romans 8.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
—Romans 8:11 NLT

Last week, we discussed how Jesus replaced us on the cross, sacrificing His body, which accomplished all we needed; it was enough. We also discussed how the Holy Spirit has been given to us; the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead now lives inside us. I can't say this enough: We are completely set free, but we have to receive that freedom from our past. We cannot allow feelings of guilt and thoughts of our past condition to in any way influence us anymore. You must shut that down; it will be a fight for some of you, but you've got to do it. Once you establish this, then you can start gaining momentum.

WE CHOOSE TO YIELD TO THE FLESH OR THE SPIRIT
Romans 8:4 says that “every righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled through the Anointed One living His life in us.” If it's fulfilled, it's because of His life in us. In other words, Jesus is literally living His righteous life through us now because of the anointing that's flowing. I want you to notice that there is the positional status of not guilty, but then there's a life flow in a relational type of encounter with God every day. The Holy Spirit has been given to comfort, talk to, and help us in these situations.

The power that has set us free is in us; therefore, we don't have to give in to the flesh. We are no longer obligated to live according to our flesh because we live by the Spirit now. So, it's already been set up. If you're born again, and the Spirit of God has caused you to be a new creation in Christ, He comes in and dwells inside your spirit. Then it says that you don't have an obligation to yield to the flesh or, in other words, to live by the flesh.

It is not emphasized enough these days that you must choose to yield to the Holy Spirit. He wants to help you and synchronize you with the spirit realm, or the heavenly realm, and God's righteous requirements, but it's through the Spirit, not through just good works. If the Holy Spirit is in you, which He is, you still could yield to the flesh or the Spirit; however, you are not obligated to the flesh. In other words, there's a choice; it’s not automatic. This is not being taught enough.

I was initially taught that some advantages would be automatic now that I'm born again. For example, I was told that the devil cannot do certain things to me. I was also taught, “If you give, you're going to get,” so if you said certain things so many times, it would come to you. I learned this was automatic because I was born again and in a covenant. Yet, what they didn't emphasize is that there's still free will. There's still this ability for us to choose not to yield to the Spirit in any situation. If you just give in to one thing, it causes a weakness that allows other things to start to happen in your life. When you make the choice to yield to the flesh, you begin to weaken.

o Why is it important to understand that yielding to the Holy Spirit is a choice?

EXAMINE YOUR MOTIVES
Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities.
—Romans 8:5 TPT

The Holy Spirit wants to pursue the things of God because He is God. Paul explained in Romans 8:5 that those who are motivated by the flesh pursue only what benefits themselves. Initially, that sounded strange and selfish since he was talking to Christians in this verse. Yet I know many people like that, and I even have to check myself. Sometimes, I ask myself, why am I doing this? Or Am I doing this to benefit myself? That’s how you can judge if you are motivated by the Spirit or the flesh. Those motivated by the flesh only pursue those things that benefit themselves. You just have to mark it down because that's how it is.

If you see a manifestation where people are doing something to benefit themselves, you know, it's the flesh. Those who are led by the impulses or the mindset of the Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities. Paul essentially said that the flesh will make Christians just do things to benefit themselves, whereas the Spirit will cause a person to seek spiritual realities; that's how you can tell the difference. If you just use this simple formula, it'll identify where people are in your life or your church.
It'll also reveal your own motives.

For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace.
—Romans 8:6 TPT

The Holy Spirit wants to harmonize or synchronize with you; the manifestations of your actions are evidence that you are living in that truth. As mentioned, if people are selfish and always doing things with an agenda to benefit themselves, then I know they are operating in the flesh; that’s how I can tell. On the other hand, I know that those who seek after spiritual realities are digging deep for the treasures of Heaven; they are led by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:6 states that the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset controlled by the spirit finds life and peace. The end result of the flesh is death, while the mindset that's controlled by the Spirit is going to find Shalom, or peace, where nothing is missing or broken. We know what is operating by the day-to-day manifestations and the end result. Remember that Paul was talking to Christians in this passage. The result should be that the Spirit brings us into life and peace.

Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 12-17-2023 -- 12-23-2023

THE FLESH FIGHTS GOD’S PLAN

In fact, the mind-set focused on the flesh fights God’s plan and refuses to submit to His direction, because it cannot! For no matter how hard they try, God finds no pleasure with those who are controlled by the flesh.

—Romans 8:7–8 TPT

Romans 8:7 says that the mindset focused on the flesh fights God's plan and refuses to submit to His direction.

• I observe Christians operating in the flesh and resisting God all the time.

• The bottom line is that, as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit inside us and are obligated to obey Him.

• We are not obligated to obey the flesh.

• We should not feed or obey the flesh; we shouldn’t work against God.

• When you yield to the flesh, you work against the Holy Spirit.

Again, the mindset focused on the flesh fights God's plan, period. As we have discussed, when you encounter people with an agenda, you will notice they have this angle where they're doing things to benefit themselves. Romans 8:7 explains that they are actually working against God. Even if they are a Christian, a person who does that works against God's plan; they're fighting God. I often encounter this, and I know you probably do, too. You may meet people where you feel like their motivation is wrong because of their agenda or their angle. You can sense them working against God's plan. They often think God is with them, yet He is not with them because they refuse to submit to God's direction and plan. Again, verse 7 says they're fighting God's plan. Can you imagine this?

People often fight against God’s plan, which happens way more than it should. Notice that the body of Christ is lukewarm because of this very issue. Even though these people may desire to please God, the scripture says they cannot, no matter how hard they try, because He finds no pleasure in those who are controlled by the flesh. This is not being taught much because it chases people away who don't want to submit to God's plan. They work against God's plan and other believers, such as you and I.

You must remember that if people have selfish agendas and are doing things for the wrong motives, such as gaining money, attention, or popularity, as a believer who is walking in Spirit, you will feel them working against you in your heart because they're working against God; the Holy Spirit in you will sense that. Sadly, this is what's happening in ministries all over the world today.

THE TEMPERATURE IS RISING IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

As you grow and develop in the word of God, you will start to become more sensitive in the Spirit. As each one of us matures, it will cause the temperature to rise in the body of Christ. However, when that occurs, the standard that was always supposed to be there will become more evident, and then we will realize how far we've gotten off track. This happened in my own life: Over the years, as I started to learn what God is saying to us in His Word, I was embarrassed at what I didn’t see before. I was in the dark about so many things.

Today, the temperature is rising in the body of Christ, and we are experiencing that process of maturity. We must understand the mindset of the Spirit versus the flesh. Remember, if we are in the flesh, we can't please God and are actually working against Him by resisting His plan. God finds no pleasure in those who are controlled by the flesh.

But when the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, you are not dominated by the flesh but by the Spirit. And if you are not joined to the Spirit of the Anointed One, you are not of Him.

—Romans 8:9 TPT

Romans 8:9 says that when the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, empowers your life, He empowers you in your spirit; you are not dominated by the flesh, but led by the Spirit. That's the truth. It is still the absolute truth, even if it's not happening in your life. Let’s believe God together that the spiritual temperature increases in our lives.

We should have such a strong standard that we become dominated by the Spirit of God, not the flesh.

PRAYER:

Father, thank You for this fellowship and my family all over the world. Father, empower us, as You said in Your word—that You've empowered us by Jesus Christ indwelling in us. The life flow of the Spirit is the dominant power that rose Jesus from the dead. It also causes us to be controlled by the Spirit and puts to death the misdeeds of the body and the acts of the flesh. Thank You, Father, that we are pleasing to You because we yield to the Spirit and are not dominated by the flesh. I break the power of the enemy and any curses against my family, in Jesus's name. Thank You for freedom, Lord. I speak healing power into their bodies and deliverance power into their lives by the name of Jesus and by His blood. Thank You, Lord, for the Spirit of God becoming so real that we become synchronized with Him. Let us be in such harmony with the Holy Spirit that we start to walk in the power of miracles and the supernatural. In Jesus’s name, amen.

1. Discuss how the righteous requirement of the law was already fulfilled. What does that mean for us personally, as believers?

2. According to Romans 8:11, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells on the inside of us. Why is it essential that we receive this truth?

3. Describe the difference between those who are led by the Spirit versus the flesh, according to Romans 8. Discuss the choice that we have concerning which we will follow.

4. What does Romans 8:7–8 say about those whose mindset is dominated by the flesh?

5. What happens when the Holy Spirit empowers your life? What can we do to cause our spiritual temperature to rise?