Watch the video, “Abiding Room” (An Internet connection is required).
The 3 Levels of Life
As a believer, do you still struggle with anger or unforgiveness? Anxiety? Depression? Impatience? Envy or jealousy? Are you tired of trying to be a “good Christian” only to fall short?
Why is the divorce rate the same or higher among Christians compared to non-Christians? If believers are truly “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17) shouldn’t it be less?
Why do believers not give more to charitable causes than unbelievers? Shouldn’t we have a more charitable nature once we “have the mind of Christ”? (1 Cor 2:16 )
In short, why doesn’t Christ’s Church look that much different from the rest of the world?
The solution to these problems, as taught in the Bible, is that although believers have received salvation, very few live their lives by the power of the Holy Spirit . Few Christians are aware of what it means to live by the Spirit; to be led by the Spirit in their daily lives as God intended. (Gal. 5:16-25)
As shown in the circles above, when you received Jesus Christ as your Savior, you crossed over the line from unbeliever to believer. You received the Holy Spirit forever (Eph 4:30 ). The one-way arrow representing salvation goes in only one direction, indicating that you can never lose your salvation; you can never go back from believer to unbeliever (John 3:36 , John 14:16 ).
However, this is where most believers stop and live their lives in the outer circle. They are saved but not surrendered to be filled and led by God’s Holy Spirit. God does not want His children to live relying on own human reasoning and self effort. He wants us to abandon fruitless trying and striving to be good enough to please Him. He wants us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and experience love, peace, joy and all the rest of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) as you abide with Him in His Abiding Room.
Jesus modeled this for us when He chose 12 men for His inner circle. These men received special teaching and guidance from Jesus. They were the first group of men to be led and controlled moment-by-moment by the Holy Spirit. And God used them to change the world forever!
Note, however, that there are arrows going BOTH ways connecting the Outer Circle and the Abiding Room. These two arrows represent how we can quickly falter and go from being led by the Spirit (The Abiding Room, Romans 8:1-14) to being led by our sinful nature (Outer Circle, Romans 7:14-25). Only by surrendering continuously can we remain in Jesus’ Abiding Room and experience the life God intends for us.
I can tell you from personal experience that the power of the Holy Spirit can completely change you and your life if you are willing to let Him. (see Kevin’s Testimony).