Do you want to live a spirit-filled life? If that’s what you truly desire, Jonathan Cahn says you shouldn’t focus your attention solely on the gifts of the Spirit or the moving of the Spirit.
Cahn says that, much like there must be the atonement of Yom Kippur before the Feast of Tabernacles can be celebrated, you must have rain before you can bear fruit in your life.
In a recent sermon, Cahn says that in order to live a Spirit-filled life, you must focus first on Messiah and your salvation—the price that was paid for you and the “love of God that was the amazing grace of God that saved a wretch like us.”
Once you do that, then comes the Spirit-led living that will produce God’s desired fruit for your life.
“Ground your heart and your emotions—everything in your life—on your salvation, the cross, the love of God,” Cahn says. “Get that into every part of your life and you’re going to be open to all that the Spirit has for you.”
Until that happens, he says, it’s impossible to live a Spirit-filled life. The first must come before the second.
“There is no righteousness without the Spirit of God. There is no real love without the Spirit of God,” Cahn says. “You cannot force fruits. You cannot create fruit. You can’t manufacture fruit. The rain gives the fruit. The Spirit gives you the fruits of God.
“I don’t care what your denomination is; whether you’re a Pentecostal or a Baptist. It doesn’t matter. We all need the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God brings all things into the will of God. If you’re filled by the Spirit, if you move by the Spirit, you will do everything you need to do for God. You will fulfill the calling that God has for you and you’ll become what God has called you to become.
“The Feast of Tabernacles comes after Yom Kippur. That’s not an accident. It’s got to be that way. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, brings in the Feast of Tabernacles. What does that mean? It’s similar to another thing that happens in the year earlier, in the spring, Passover. And what do they have in common? Passover and Yom Kippur both center on the sacrifice. The key is the sacrifice because it brings in the Spirit.”
For the believer, Cahn says, God saves the greatest celebration for the end of the year. In essence, God saves His best for last.
“If you’re growing in the Lord and living in the Spirit, you are moving to the best,” Cahn says. “The joy always comes at the end of the world. In the world, the joy might come in the beginning and then it goes, it fades away. But with God, the joy, the celebration—everything is heading to joy and celebration.” {eoa}
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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
