Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): How can we make it through life with peace and joy, especially as we see devastation all around us? Are the assurances in scripture merely words, or do we take God at His word and rely on the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day lives? That's our topic on today's Power Walk Ministries broadcast with author and speaker Reverend Paul Cannings. Pastor Cannings begins a new series today titled "Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit." Here he is now with today's message, "The Spirit of Life." Let's listen.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Many times it is very easy to not rely on the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's easy to rely on the capabilities that over time God has established in your life, or the resources that God has placed in our lives. So it is easy many times for us to go from past experiences, to look at life from how we have lived it before, or do church based on what we've grown accustomed to be church. We come to the scriptures and do devotions because we know how to do devotions. We've been doing devotions, or we pray because we have all the right words to pray, but not necessarily pray in the Spirit of God.

So it is easy because of some people who have been saved a while to just not necessarily lean on the Spirit of God like the Bible is encouraging us to, so that we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Because that battle is real. And some people may say, "Well, oh yes, I'm always in the Spirit. I feel excited. I feel a joy in my heart, and we have an excellent, vivacious worship service." It doesn't necessarily mean that because the service was spirited that the Spirit of God was reigning in it because there are people at football and basketball games or going to nightclubs that are jumping up and down and feeling spirited.

There are some people that drink alcohol or do drugs and feel spirited. So we can't go with excitement and say that excitement automatically means that we have the Spirit. Matter of fact, when Christ would say to the Samaritan woman, "Worship me in spirit and in truth," it was a small "s". He was saying come because of Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 47 through verse 48. God is saying when we come to worship, there should be a sense of appreciation for all He's done. How faithful He has been. How committed He has been to us in sustaining and keeping us, and watching over us, and helping us to recover from grieving, helping us to recover from surgeries, helping us and watching over us as we travel and go about. God has kept us in the midst of all of this.

He expects us to come to church with a commitment and an attitude that is a gladness in our hearts to be in His presence, worshipping Him. The Bible is literally saying that should bring us to a point of just gladness. And that's why He's saying in Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 47 through verse 48 that He's not happy when we don't value His worth, His value. That's what "worth-ship" means. It's His value. That's why it's worship. It's how valuable He is. He's telling the Samaritan woman, "Come in spirit," but keep the truth alive.

He's saying something else when He comes to talk about the ministry of the Holy Spirit right there. So He's talking about the human spirit and the Holy Spirit because the Bible says the primary function of the Holy Spirit is to expose truth. It's not to make us jump up and down. We should decide that on our own. We don't need the Holy Spirit to move us when God has been blessing us. So we want to spend some time talking about the Spirit. His primary purpose is to guide us into what Christ is teaching us from the Word so that it becomes truth. And that's why that's pivotal. It is pivotal because Christ came to give us life and life abundantly.

In order for that to become a reality, the truth is the pivotal process in it all. It is the spindle in the wheel. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. In other words, in order for us to experience this abundant life that He said He came to provide in John chapter 10, we have to come to the truth. we have to come to a full experience of the Holy Spirit. We have to experience that to experience the life. And the Holy Spirit, the Bible says, is the helper of Christ to get us there. So let's turn to John before we spend some time in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and John chapter 14, because this is critical.

If a person is not saved, there is no possibility that they have the Holy Spirit in their lives. None. Zero. There's no possibility that the Holy Spirit is in their lives. The Bible says that a person—that's why this word truth is huge—from the way, salvation, to the truth, then there's life. A full experience of what life means and what life is all about in our day-to-day living. So no matter what we are going through, Paul teaches us what it's like when we become Christ and less of ourselves. He says, "I no longer live, it is Christ." Paul taught us I could be content no matter what situations are going on.

They could be talking about killing me and I can be anxious for nothing. They can cause me to suffer, and the sufferings of this present time will not compare. They can tell me what I can't do, but I can still do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Paul is telling us that we are on a whole other level when the Spirit of God is dominating our lives. So He tells us that because the Holy Spirit, who's the helper of Christ, moves us to become like Christ, so that we end up having the attributes of Christ manifested through us as we would talk about down the road in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 through verse 11.

The nature of Christ comes out: how we act, how we function, the things we do, the things we don't do comes out in us because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit that makes us look like Christ. That's why the Bible says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You could see Christ operating in the lives of people through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That's why Paul was saying, "I no longer live, it is Christ that lives in me." So the people during the day and the time of Paul could see the nature and character of Christ in Paul. So He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Now understand, at the point of salvation—and this is huge, I want to stop for a minute because we can act like we have the Holy Spirit or believe we have the Holy Spirit, speak as if we have the Holy Spirit, but it doesn't necessarily mean we do have the Holy Spirit. We can go to church for 50 years and still not have the Holy Spirit. Church does not bring the Holy Spirit. Church is because we have the Holy Spirit, so we can have worship. Here is an important principle found in Matthew 7: salvation is not alone a confession of Christ. Many, many said, "Lord, Lord," but few will enter into the Kingdom of God. Many said it.

The issue is in Romans 10:9, believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins (1 John 4:2), then confessing with our mouth, but believing in our heart. What is this big deal about the heart? In the Old Testament, the heart is life. In their minds, if the heart stops, the person doesn't have a life. The Bible also sees the heart as the point of the mind. In other words, if a person's heart is so going all over the place, it controls how the person thinks. So they would look at the heart as also representing the will of the person because it's influencing the mind of the person.

So when we look at this word "heart," it is fundamentally talking about the life of the person being transformed. Because if they became a brand new creation and the Holy Spirit is constantly working on their heart, the person's will is to do what God wants. The person's wisdom is to seek to apply the biblical principles of life into the day-to-day life of what Christ wants. This person's life is committed to do the things of God because the Holy Spirit is now driving them to do those things. So if a person is saying that they're saved but none of these things happen in them, 1 John chapter 3, verse 4 through verse 11 says they are not saved.

So the Holy Spirit comes in. I want to bring out this principle. I know I said let's look at John chapter 14, but let me back away from that for a minute because I want to look at this principle. Because if we're going to talk about the Holy Spirit, we have to talk about how the Holy Spirit comes. The first thing we need to look at is how the Holy Spirit comes when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, like I just explained. And when that happens, we don't have to have anyone help us get the Holy Spirit. I know that took place in the early books of Acts. I get it. In the early book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit came into people, you did see them laying hands. You did see this happening because He was establishing apostolic authority.

As you would see in the Ananias and Sapphira story, when they lied and they died before Peter. He's establishing their authority. He's letting the church know that these men are people He has left in authority to operate the church and to develop it. But later on, you don't see that. Like you don't see that when Paul accepted Christ and the Holy Spirit is poured into him at the point of salvation, you don't see all of these laying on of hands. When you see in Acts chapter 4, verse 31, you don't see all of these laying on of hands in order for the Holy Spirit to come because the Spirit is poured into us at the point of salvation.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 through 4: He has poured in, and that is the seal. Since God the Father and God the Son are Spirit beings, they see the Holy Spirit in us. That's why the Bible says we live in heavenly places. This is huge because we don't lack Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is in us. So when a person is committed to do what the Bible is saying and renew their mind and keep their life going in this direction because they truly have turned their life over to God, not just confessed them, but believed in their heart, the Bible says the Holy Spirit moves in that heart and keeps changing and adjusting that heart because all the Holy Spirit is within us.

You see this in Titus chapter 3. He says in verse 4: "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to the mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He shed on us abundantly through Christ Jesus." Watch this carefully: I can't earn this Holy Spirit into my life. I can't be so righteous. I'm in church, I'm opening up the Bible, I have all the tabs in my Bible and I can quote you scriptures left and right. The Pharisees did that, but they nailed Jesus to the cross.

A person can know the Bible left and right. The Bible says without the Spirit of God moving in them, they're just arrogant (1 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1 through 2). It's a difference when that transformation takes place in a person's life. Their focus is different. They don't come to the scriptures to be smart; they come to the scriptures to live in the will of God, to grow in the presence of God, in the power of God. They're there to serve one another. They're there to surrender their heart to Christ. See, a person that is full of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15 through 18 is the most effective worshipper you could ever see. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Friends, we have the power of the living God within us. Now if you're interested in finding out more about the Holy Spirit or what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then why not give us a call at 281-260-7402, or find us online at powerwalkministries.org. And while you're there, I want to draw your attention to Pastor Cannings' book, "Blacks in the Bible." It provides a comprehensive understanding of race in scripture. Powerwalkministries.org.

Dr. Paul Cannings: I am so excited about the Pastor's Conference coming up April the 23rd through the 25th. You cannot miss it. There's going to be such a great group of teachers teaching—well-trained, well-prepared, practice what they're teaching in their local churches. Here are some examples: Pastor and Deacons functioning under the lordship of Christ, the biblical approach to resolving conflict in the church, traits of successful leaders, effective teaching methods for children, social media, how could you make it very positive for your children, developing a counseling ministry, dealing with mental health issues in the local church, marketing, moving from traditional ministry to bibliocentric ministry, how do you grow the church through evangelism?

You cannot miss this conference April the 23rd through the 25th, 2026, at 7350 T.C. Jester Boulevard right here at Living Word Fellowship Church. I pray you go to powerwalkministries.org. Powerwalkministries.org. Be a part of this. You will not be disappointed. April the 23rd through the 25th. Look forward to seeing you.

Guest (Male): We thank you for your prayers and your financial support. And now remember, rather than being bogged down by our circumstances, we can rise above them with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.