SPIRIT 4/50
Cambodia
Basic English Series
Ref: NIRV.
Slideshow available
1. What
is Spirit?
The Hebrew and Greek words are translated as 'spirit' or 'wind' or
'breath'. You cannot see spirit, wind or breath but you can see their effect.
For example a flag moves when the wind blows.
When a person has a bad spirit or way of behaving you can see their
action but not their bad thoughts. You can sometimes see the way someone is
thinking by looking at their face.
2.
Spirit
Can Mean Person’s State of Mind.
Paul had no peace of mind (rest in his spirit. KJV.) because he could not find his friend
Titus.
2 Corinthians 2:13.But
I still had no peace of mind. I couldn’t find my brother Titus there. So I said
good-bye to the believers at Troas and went on to Macedonia.
The
spirit of Titus was refreshed when he visited the saints in Corinth. 2
Corinthians 7:13.All of that cheers us
up. We
were also very glad to see how happy Titus was. You have all renewed his spirit.
(spirit=how he
3. ‘Spirit’ Can Also Describe a Person’s Attitude.
We cannot see someone’s attitude but we can see
their actions. A child who does not want to listen to his parents may have a
bad attitude. The way you speak or the way you work can show a good or bad attitude.
People who choose to follow Jesus learn to have a peaceful spirit or way of thinking (attitude). (spirit/attitude = how people see their
situation).
2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally,
brothers and sisters, good-bye. Try to be perfect. Pay attention to what I’m
saying. Agree with one another. Live in peace. And the God who gives love and peace will be with you.
The Bible
teaches that we need to change the way we think.
Ephesians 4:23. You were taught to be made new in your
thinking.
We can learn
to have the same mind as Jesus.
Philippians 2:5. You should think in the same way Christ Jesus does.
4.
Energy.
'Spirit' sometimes refers to a person’s level of energy. Jacob thought
his son was dead. He felt much better when he knew his son Joseph was still alive.
Genesis
45:27 So
they told him everything Joseph had said to them.
Jacob saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back. That
gave new life to their father Jacob.
In Judges
15:18-19 Samson thought he was
going to die of thirst. God provided him
with water and he drank, ‘his spirit returned, and he revived’.
5. Evil Spirits.
Throughout the Gospels, we read of people
having evil spirits.
Mark 9:17‑18.
A man in the crowd answered. “Teacher,”
he said, “I brought you my son. He is controlled by a spirit. Because of this,
my son can’t speak anymore. 18 When
the spirit takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the
mouth. He grinds his teeth. And his body becomes stiff. I asked your disciples
to drive out the spirit. But they couldn’t do it.”
The evil spirit that the
boy had was a mental illness called epilepsy. Many mental diseases stop people
from hearing or speaking. The problem can not be seen with our eyes like a broken
leg or a fever. It is inside the person’s brain.
Mark 9:25. Jesus saw that a crowd was running over
to see what was happening. Then he ordered the evil spirit to leave the boy.
“You spirit that makes him unable to hear and speak!” he said. “I command you,
come out of him. Never enter him again.”
6. God's Spirit.
God's Spirit is His power and character. He
used His spirit to create everything (see Lesson 6: Creation).
Job 33:4. The
Spirit of God has made me. The breath
of the Mighty One gives me life.
Ecclesiastes
11:5 You
don’t know the path the wind takes. You don’t know how a baby is made inside
its mother. So you can’t understand how God works either. He made everything.
God gave His spirit to people in Bible times to do
special things for Him.
Judges 14:6,19. Then
the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson
with power. He tore the lion apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as
he might have torn a young goat apart. But he didn’t tell his father or mother
what he had done.
Acts 4:31. After they prayed, the place where they
were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They were
bold when they spoke God’s word.
‘The spirit’ often refers to God's power or way of thinking .
Romans 8:5. Don’t live
under the control of your sinful nature. If you do, you will think about what
your sinful nature wants. Live under the control of the Holy Spirit. If you do,
you will think about what the Spirit wants.
7. God’s Spirit Can Grow in Us.
We have a constant battle between natural and spiritual thinking, or our
own thinking and God's thinking.
Galatians 5:17. The sinful nature does not want
what the Spirit delights in. And the Spirit does not want what the sinful
nature delights in. The two are at war with each other. That’s what makes you
do what you don’t want to do.
Galatians 5:22-23. But the
fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patient,
kind and good. It is being faithful 23 and
gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that
kind.
We
recommend that candidates study Learn to Read the Bible Effectively and God’s
Plan With Man (Cambodia friendly versions) before
preparing for baptism. Slideshows and translated
versions of these are also available. See Lessons 13 and 14:
Maps.
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