What do I mean by a Holy Ghost attitude adjustment? Well, perhaps you've been looking down, but you need to start looking up. Or maybe you need to bury the ghost of the past so you can launch out onto a fresh path in your life.
But Jesus Christ has told us that the only way to bury the ghost of the past is to call on the Holy Spirit! In John 7:37, the Lord gives us the Bible-formula for making a Holy Ghost attitude adjustment.
This scene takes place on the last great day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, when Jesus did something that had never been done before. And, as usual, He did it in a rare and an emphatic way.
Jesus broke all tradition when He stopped the processional and shouted: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39 NKJV)
Jesus was saying, "If anyone is grappling with a problem, if anyone needs to make an attitude adjustment, if anyone thirsts to get from where he is to where he wants to be, let him come to Me!"
You know, God makes the answer so clear! It's so simple that it's profound. Now this dramatic event took place before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Thank God, we're living in the day when the Spirit of God has already been poured out, and His Spirit does not need to be poured out a second time! He is here where I am, and He's there where you are. He's ready to flood your whole being with the wonder-working power of God!
You see, if we want to make it through the hellish situations of life, we've got to plunge into the river of God's Spirit. If we want to leave the past behind and make a fresh, new start in our lives, we've got to learn how to open up the tap so the Spirit of God can FLOW THROUGH!
Back in the days of the Old West, when tragedy struck a man or a woman's life, they would simply jump on their horse or buy a ticket on the nearest stagecoach and relocate in some other town where they were not known.
In those days there were no televisions and no radio stations. So most of the time no one would recognize them, and their names were usually not known. In the Old West, it was common to hear someone say that a cowboy was "riding with a secret." That meant there was something in his past that he wanted to overcome, so he was looking for a new place to start afresh.
Friend, "today is the time" and "where you are" is the place for you to start your life anew. You may be thinking, Richard, you don't know about my past! And that's true. But it's time to put the past in the past! It's time to bury the ghost of the past and call upon the Holy Ghost!
A lot of people today are walking around with a secret. A deep, dark secret may be lodged within your heart. Nobody else knows about it. But you and God know about it, and you're wondering if life is ever going to be any different. It's only going to be different if you have an attitude adjustment by the power of God's Spirit!
The apostle Paul declared, "There's not one single thing I can do about the past. All I can do is give it to the Lord. Then I can lift my head up and press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (see Philippians 3:13-14).
There is a prize out there, and it's a prize worth attaining. But in order to lay hold of the prize, we're going to have to keep our attitudes right!
The Holy Spirit Can Help You Make the Right Choice
Is God's spiritual river flowing in your life today? Are you being refreshed in the Spirit, or are you stale in the Spirit? Are you being filled with the Spirit, or are you thirsty, dry, and crusty on the inside?
Are you free in the Spirit, or are you hindering the flow of God's Spirit? Are you overflowing in the Spirit, or are you stagnant in the Spirit?
Let me illustrate in geographical terms what I'm talking about here. In the nation of Israel, the Sea of Galilee is a magnificent body of water, a huge inland sea that's teeming with life. Why? Because water flows freely into it and also gushes out of it.
If you follow its main inlet and outlet, the Jordan River, to the place where it empties into the Dead Sea, you'll notice that the water pours in, but nothing pours out. That's why it's called dead. And because it's dead, it has a bad odor.
In the same way, some of us Christians smell bad because we're old and dry and crusty in our spirits. We may be 18, 45, 65, or any age on the outside, but we can still be old and dry and crusty on the inside no matter what our age is.
Now I want to ask you another question today. Is anything jamming up the flow of God's Spirit in your life - things like unconfessed sin, pride, anger toward God or toward other people, unforgiveness, bitterness, depression, or just a general feeling of being down on yourself?
You may be thinking, Richard, I can't seem to get over this problem, this attitude. No, you can't do it by yourself. You need the active, energizing power of the Holy Spirit to help you!
Jesus declared, "Are any of you thirsty? Are any of you dry, and you feel like you're about to have a crackup? Are you hurting? Alone? Troubled? Is there any sickness, heartache, loneliness? Are there money problems? Family problems? Relationship problems?" Then He added, "Come to Me and drink. Step into the river!"
Why do my dad and I talk so much about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Friend, the Holy Spirit - the divine Paraclete - is the only One who can empower you to overcome your problems!
I pray in tongues - the prayer language of the Spirit - every day of my life because I need help. I'm hit with a barrage of decisions each day, and many times I don't have a clue as to what I should do.
Aren't there times when you wish someone would tell you which path to take - to say, "Go this way," "Do this," or, "Do that"?
Maybe there's a decision hanging out there in front of you, and your heart is tugging you in one direction, while your mind is pulling you in another direction. That's when the Holy Spirit comes in to help you make the right choice!
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Richard is a man on fire for God and consumed by the compassion of Jesus for sick and hurting people. His meetings across the United States and around the world are marked by a tremendous move of the Spirit, resulting in all types of physical, mental, emotional, financial, and spiritual healings. Richard says, “Jesus was born to step into a world of trouble and bring healing and deliverance, and that’s the call of God upon my own life—to reach out to people in their troubles and heartaches, to pray and believe God, and to bring them His Word of hope and healing.”
