Taffi Dollar - How The Holy Spirit Helps Us Change
We wanna continue on this grace for change, and this will be our last installment tonight. We wanna talk about how the Holy Spirit helps us to change and experience personal and practical changes in our everyday life. And that’s the benefit of having him on the inside, because up to this point in the Old Covenant they had what the Spirit was upon them. But now in Christ, the Spirit is in us and we have him within. And as a result of us being in him, then we can experience change from the inside out. It’s not change that comes from the outside in, but change from the inside out.
So Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says, «I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service». We talked about how once we understand how God sees the body versus how we saw it before we came into the things of God, we have to change our minds. We have to change our mindset in terms of what the temple of the Lord is and how we should treat the temple and how God wants to use this body as a living sacrifice is how God sees it.
So we have to renew our minds and not just use it for how we want it to benefit us, but to see how God wants it to benefit him and how he wants us to begin to see it. And then we can change and renew our minds and operate in the line with his words. So he says, «I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God to make a decisive dedication». So it makes a quality decision. A decision of quality. Life is a series of decisions, and when we make dedications, we’re making decisions, and our decisions should be that of quality. And so the abundant life is a life that is both qualitative and it is a life that is quantitative. The Bible talks about how he would give us the abundant life, life to the full that would overflow, and that life would be super abundant in quantity and it also would abound in quality.
So it’s talking about the fruit of the Spirit in the realm of the Spirit. And then it’s talking about the quantitative life, which is the natural life where there are physical needs and material provisions and things of that nature. So God has already made provisions for everything that we need through the abundant life that we have in Christ. He says the thief is the one who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But he says, «I have come to give you life,» and that life is abundant. It is qualitative and it is quantitative. And So the thief is talking about klepto where we get the word kleptomaniac. He’s the thief. He’s the one who wants to rob from us the quality of life and the decisive life that Jesus came to give us.
That is us dedicating ourselves as a living sacrifice every day of our life, being mindful of what God wants to do and willing to change our mindset that we’re no longer living for ourselves, but as Jesus lived and sacrificed to do the will of God, so it is in this body, as Jesus lived in his body, it was to sacrifice to do what God wanted him to do. And so we’re conscious of this temple and we’re conscious of the Holy Spirit that we have on the inside of us and we’re mindful of how he wants us to exist in this natural realm.
Now, what I wanna look at tonight is the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit helps us change. I don’t know about you. I wanna look at some things that are not just focused on pressuring our flesh to try to do things through willpower. Not putting so much emphasis on our natural ability to be able to do things, but tapping into the supernatural ability. And that’s what I’m believing God will take place in your life, that supernatural change will begin to kick in in your life. And so we wanna look at this.
Let’s look in John chapter 14. Let’s just start there and then we’re gonna look at a couple of scriptures on the mind of Christ and how we can draw out things from the inside through the Holy Ghost. John chapter 14, verse 26. Verse 25 says, «These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you». These things I’ve spoken, being yet present with you. So Jesus was with them at the time and he was preparing them for a time in which we he would not be present with them. So it says in verse 26, «But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things».
Think of that. You have a teacher of all things. You have a built in tutor, you have a built in instructor, you have a built in professor who wants to teach you everything. He’s continuously wanting you to be taught. And you have to, as I mentioned weeks ago, continuously put yourself in a position where you allow yourself to be one who is teachable. You’re pupil of the Word of God, a pupil of the Comforter. He says, «But the Comforter whom the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things».
So there are things that the Holy Spirit wants to teach us and bring all things to your remembrance. I was at home today and preparing for tonight and all of a sudden, I was thinking about things pertaining to work and other situations that were going on. And all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit just dropped a situation on the inside of me that I was wondering about certain things, you know, as far as work and teams and why certain individuals doing a certain type of thing. And then the Holy Spirit said, «You remember X, Y, and Z»? And then all of a sudden the light bulb just came open and revealed to me why this particular situation was going on. And he said, «You remember when this was submitted several weeks ago,» and so forth and so on.
And so I thank the Lord for that, because I wasn’t even thinking about that at the time. I wasn’t thinking about any particular situation or I was thinking about the situation, but I was thinking about the individual that was a part of it. But even in the midst of that, it was the Lord, and he shows you things. He will bring things to your remembrance. There may be things that you’ve forgotten about that maybe has happened weeks ago or months ago or even years ago. And you can find a person doing a certain thing and you’re trying to figure out why is this happening, what’s going on? And then all of a sudden he’ll just reveal it to you. Even as a parent, you may have children who are doing certain things and then the Holy Spirit will say, «They’re doing that because of this».
And as a result, as a parent, you can begin to pray over that situation and ask the Holy Spirit, «How should I address it»? Maybe with your spouse and you’re trying to figure out, okay, why is this going on or at work or why is this particular person treat me this kind of way or what’s going on here? What’s going on there? And then the Holy Spirit, he says, «He’ll bring things to your remembrance and he will teach you all things». He says, «Whatsoever I have said unto you». And so say this with me, «Holy Spirit, bring all things to my remembrance. I am teachable, and I desire to be taught by you, taught all things pertaining to life and godliness».
Now in the Amplified, it says, «But the Comforter» and the Comforter is described as the counselor, this is all that you have on the inside of you. The Helper, so he counsels, he advises, he enlightens, he listens. The Comforter, the Counselor, Helper, the Intercessor, your Advocate, you have one who stands and fights your case and pleads your case. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He stands in the gap and he pleads on your behalf and puts the things that are in the will and in the plan of God and establishes the test state of Jesus’s Word in our life.
So he says, the Counselor, he counsels us, he advises us. He helps us maybe when situations are strenuous in our life and we have to go through change or things that we’re dealing with, he will enable us to go through things, making us strong when maybe we’re feeling weak, he helps us in those areas. He pleads on our behalf is what the Intercessor does. Stands in the gap. He’s a strengthener and he’s a stand by. And so even when you feel as if you’re handling situations, probably not in the best way, thank God for the Holy Spirit that he’ll be your strengthener. That he will strengthen you to stand strong. To be able to stand flat footed and just dare to deal with situations in our life. I made up in my mind a long time ago, there were things that were seemingly bigger and mountains and all kinds of things, but you know what? Don’t give up, don’t cave in, and don’t quit.
Even if you have to do it afraid, I’m telling you move forward. If your knees are buckling and you’re, you know, you feel like you’re about to pass out, God is with you, amen. Because when we are weak, that is when he has his mighty strength to be able to show up on our behalf. And so he stands with us, he stands on the inside of us. We don’t have to stand alone in the transitions and in the changes that are taking place in life, because change is going to happen regardless. And so whatever situations or whatever transition there is, because we have a helper, a strengthener, we have a stand by, a counselor, all the things that the Holy Spirit provides for us that we can go through it. He says, «Whom the Father will send in My name in My place».
So Jesus was preparing the disciples because he knew that he would have to leave. He wouldn’t be with them. He wouldn’t be able to comfort them like he was before in their life. At this point, they had to rely on the Holy Spirit. There was no physical tangible person in the natural who would be with them. But he says, I’m gonna send the Holy Ghost back and he will stand in my place. Glory be to God. «To represent Me and act on My behalf». And he says, «He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of)». Glory be to God. «He will bring to your remembrance everything that I have told you».
And so thank God for the Holy Spirit. And then he says here, how his peace that he will leave with us. And so when we receive Jesus into our life, we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit has the mind of Christ that comes on the inside of us. And so when we receive Jesus as our Lord, the born again spirit comes with the mind of Christ. You’re born again spirit. When you become born again, when as we read the Holy Spirit comes on the inside of you, you have the mind of Christ. We’re not talking about, you know, some foolishness or, you know, crazy thinking, but we’re talking about Christ’s mind on the inside.
Look at what it says here in Colossians chapter 2, verse 16, glory be to God. So it just gets better and better. Your mind just getting sounder and sounder. You’re not getting crazy and losing your mind and losing yourself because of the Holy Spirit that abides on the inside of you, amen. A sound mind. He says here in… I’m sorry, 1 Corinthians, not Colossians. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 16, okay. It says, «For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ». Say, «I have the mind of Christ».
So that means in the Amplified, we have the mind of Christ, we hold the thoughts, feelings, and purposes of his heart. Now, in the natural realm, when you have, you know, your soul is comprised of your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, your will, and so in the natural realm, that’s what the natural mind and the natural soul does. But when the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ comes on the inside of you, you have the thoughts of God, you have the feelings of God, you have the will of God. You have all of this when you become born again.
So when you are born again, the Holy Spirit came with the mind of Christ. And in your spirit, there’s a mind that already knows all things. Already knows all things. And when that happens, you experience what’s called revelation knowledge. Revelation or revealed knowledge. And so it is in the natural, our physical mind or our soul has to be trained, educated, informed, enlightened, but unlike the Holy Spirit or our spiritual mind or the mind of Christ already comes full of knowledge. Didn’t have to be trained, didn’t have to be educated, it doesn’t have to be informed, but it has to be received on the inside. And as we receive the Holy Spirit, then we can begin to function from now our innermost being from the mind of Christ versus how we were before according to the natural mind and the mind’s way of doing things, the natural mind of doing things.
And 1 Corinthians chapter 13, look at what it says here in verse 9 and verse 10. Because in the natural «For we know in part,» we are one third perfect when we receive Christ and receive the mind of Christ on the inside of us, but the other parts of us have to be renewed and revealed. «For we know in part, and we prophesy in part». The Amplified says, «For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). But when that, which is perfect is come,» when you receive Jesus into your life, that which is perfect has come on the inside of you. And so a third of you is perfect. A third of you is full Holy Spirit and then that which is in part shall be done away.
So the natural mind is mentioned here that has to be renewed as in the process of being renewed. And what is perfect will line up with that which is all in one. And so we understand here that when we don’t renew our minds and our minds that isn’t renewed and we try to be led by it and it contradicts what the Holy Spirit wants to do on the inside of us, that’s what’s called the double mindedness. Two minds.
And I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced that in many instances, it was as if my mind would think certain things in the natural based on the past, based on the fears and circumstances and situations or the world’s way of thinking and apprehension and anxiety, but yet I knew the Holy Spirit wanted to be free from all of that and just says, «Move forward». And so we have to understand that as we continue to renew our minds that the Holy Spirit will begin to be that which outweighs and overrules the unrenewed mind. And then we’ll become one and then as a result, as spirit, soul, and body that we can begin to do the will of God and see things manifested in areas of our life that God wants to do. Supernaturally, we can experience process and progress in our life.
So the key to the Christian life is training your physical mind to agree with your spirit mind, which is the mind of Christ. The key is training your physical mind, training it, disciplining it where it doesn’t waiver, it doesn’t hesitate, but it’s conditioned. I have programmed my mind. I have programmed my body to think right, to believe right. And as a result, I live right. Your spirit mind always thinks the way God thinks. Your spirit mind will think always the way that God thinks. The Word perfectly represents what you think in your spirit. But if your physical mind agrees, then you’ll see supernatural power and ability through your soul into your body, which produces results in the physical realm.
And so that’s what revelation is. Is when your physical mind agrees with your spirit and then as a result, things are revealed to you. Man, it just begins to explode. There’s an empowerment, there’s an enablement, and then as a result, it produces result even in the physical realm. But if your physical mind disagrees, then you’re double minded and you’ll receive nothing from the Lord. And so the physical mind is the biggest enemy to revelation. The double mindedness is that which robs and prevents the revelation knowledge. But single mindedness brings stability, double mindedness causes instability. Single mindedness brings stability, double mindedness instability. The mind of Christ is in your spirit, but your soul doesn’t automatically think that way. So it takes an effort to renew your physical mind to agree with your spirit.