(RuachHaKodesh, Session 18a) What does it mean to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit? A Spirit-filled life should not be just a passive enterprise. Our desire should be to serve God in a Spirit-empowered way. Unfortunately, however, there are many competing visions of what that looks like. Sadly, there are people out there who claim to be empowered by the Spirit to do things that are unbiblical and unedifying. How can we be discerning without quenching our zeal and hunger for more of God’s presence in our lives? This session begins by looking at Scriptural descriptions of Spirit-driven power ..read more

(RuachHaKodesh, Session 17b) What role does our intellect play in our walk with God? Is the use of our rational thought processes or common sense at odds with God’s Spirit? Some people have a view of the Holy Spirit that is antithetical to human intellect, effort, and preparation. This is often related to the tendency to emphasize feeling over thinking, and for some people leads to anti-intellectualism. The problem is that both feelings and thoughts can be misguided or deceptive. What is the proper use of our intellectual capacity in a Spirit-filled life? This episode continues our discussion ..read more

(Ruach HaKodesh, Session 21) This is the final session in the Ruach HaKodesh series. In this session we start off by reviewing the last seven sessions of the series. We talk about what it means to live by the Spirit. Paul uses this and similar phrases in his letters, such as “walking by the Spirit.” We discuss holiness, conviction, and the importance of obedience. We also discuss prayer and take time to evaluate our personal prayer life. We finish this session by emphasizing the need for discipline in prayer, and the connection between prayer and the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. For an out ..read more

(Ruach HaKodesh, Session 20b) In the last session we defined revival as “a God-empowered widespread move of repentance.” We can also add a sense of renewal to that. It is a situation in which people turn their lives to Yeshua and away from sin in unusually high numbers. It is also a time when believers are rekindled in their passion for God. Revival has fruit of long-term believers; it is not just a fad. This begs the questions: Is it possible to always have revival? What conditions are necessary for God to send revival? Who is to blame for our lack of revival? Here we discuss what condition ..read more

(Ruach HaKodesh, Session 20a) We have talked about the power of God’s Spirit working in us as individuals, but sometimes the Holy Spirit works on a large scale. Just as your body without your spirit is dead, so the Body of Messiah without the Spirit of Messiah is dead. The Holy Spirit is the life-force of the Kehillah. In this session, we look at revival. We discuss revival and define what this word means. What makes a revival? And what is not a revival? Revivals stand out in history. We look at some of those times of revival in the past, from Biblical times, such as Hezekiah’s reform, to more ..read more

(Ruach HaKodesh, Session 19b) In the Gospels we see Yeshua exercising authority over demonic powers and giving his disciples that same authority. But what does that look like in our world today? What methods or tactics are believers supposed to use as they battle against the forces of sin and darkness? In this episode, we continue the discussion from part one as we seek to obtain a Biblical perspective on spiritual warfare and assess common ideas among Christians today. We examine the practice of deliverance ministries and note the similarities and differences from what we see in Scripture. We ..read more

(RuachHaKodesh, Session 19a) The Bible depicts an unseen struggle between good and evil that takes place in our hearts and in the world around us. While the phrase “spiritual warfare” is not found verbatim in Scripture, the concept is clearly expressed in passages like Ephesians 6:10–18. Here, Paul uses the metaphor of physical armour and warfare to describe the spiritual battle that we are in as believers. We have an enemy, and this world is currently under his domain. Our job is to overcome sin in our lives and darkness in the world around us as we serve the true King, Yeshua. In this two-pa ..read more

(RuachHaKodesh, Session 18b) How can we tell the difference between the power of the Holy Spirit and man-made sensationalism? That is the question this episode seeks to address. It is necessary for us to hunger for more of God’s presence in our lives, but it is also necessary to exercise discernment. In part 1 of this topic, we looked at the Biblical basis for desiring God’s power in our lives, and then we touched on the topic of signs and wonders. This current episode continues the conversation, beginning with a look at the role of emotions. Like thoughts, emotions can be good or bad. The Spi ..read more

(RuachHaKodesh, Session 17c) Is there an inherent antithesis between Torah and the Spirit? Some believers read 2 Corinthians 3 and conclude that the answer is “yes.” In this passage, Paul seems to contrast the Holy Spirit with Old Testament legislation. The implication for some interpreters is that any attempt to follow Torah (the “Letter”) is a failure to walk in God’s Spirit. But is that really what Paul is saying? This episode is the third installment of a three-part session addressing passages in Scripture that contrast the “Letter” with the “Spirit.” In part 1, we looked at the danger of ..read more

(RuachHaKodesh, Session 17a) What exactly is legalism? While that term gets thrown around a lot, it is not always clearly defined. Different people use it to mean different things. For some, legalism means salvation by works. For others, it is any attempt to follow a list of rules, no matter what list that might be. No one wants to be legalistic, but how would you know if you were? What does the Bible say about the topic? This episode of the RuachHaKodesh series looks at three passages in Paul’s letters where he contrasts “the letter” with “the Spirit”: Romans 2:29, Romans 7:6, and 2 Corinthia ..read more