Walk with the Spirit

This is a passage from A. W. Tozer's book Mystery of the Holy Spirit.
    Always remember that you will know the Spirit more intimately as you make more of Jesus Christ the Lord. For Jesus said the Holy Spirit would take the things of His and show them unto us. We walk with the Holy Ghost when we walk with Christ. For Christ will always be where He is honored. The Holy Ghost will always honor the one who honors the Savior Jesus Christ the Lord. Let us honor Him by giving Him His right title. Let us call Him Lord, let us believe He is Lord, let us call Him Christ. Let us believe He is Christ, and let us get away from this cheap Jesus dear kind of stuff that pulls Christianity down to the world of erotica and makes it half-sexy. Let's get rid of that whole silly business and remember, "God has made this Jesus, whom ye crucified, Lord and Christ; and set Him at His own right hand and put all things under His feet and made Him to be head over all things of the church; and He shall reign from the river to the ends of the earth." This is the Christ we adore and let us be careful to honor Christ; always honor Christ. Honor Him by obedience, honor Him by witness, honor Him by testimony; and as we all honor Christ, then we will fellowship with the Holy Ghost.

Christ for real

This is an excerpt from Christ For Real by Charles W. Price.
          If you would stretch your imagination, suppose I wanted to travel from London to New York by air, but after consulting a travel agent I become unhappy with the information given me. The cost is too great, and the weight allowance too small. However, I really do want what the airline is offering so I decide I will have it on my own terms. Imagine that I then go to London airport, write out a ticket myself on a piece of paper the same size as a genuine ticket, being careful to include all the detail you would find on the real thing. I then take my place in the line and with a warm smile on my face hand the ticket to the man at the check-in desk. He would probably look at it, look at me, look at it again, and then hand it back saying, "I am sorry, but you cannot travel with that." "Why not?" I protest. "It says 'London to New York,' it has the name of your airline on the top, it has the correct flight number and departure time written on it, and the correct price written on the bottom right hand side." "I am very sorry," he might say. "The information may be correct, but the ticket is not valid and you cannot travel." Imagine I then write across the back of the ticket in bright red felt pen that this particular airline is the greatest. The agent would probably smile, say, "Thank you—not many people say that. But you still cannot travel." Suppose I take the ticket back and this time I put it to music and sing it to him. Then I teach him some new songs: "Amazing plane, how sweet the sound, that carries a wretch like me. I once was walking, but now I'm flying, was at home but now I am free!" I then invite him to join in and we sing it as a round, I start off and he joins in halfway through and we really have a good sing-along. At the end of the song he will probably turn to me and say, "Thank you so much for coming and cheering me up. I haven't had such a good sing for quite a while. But I am sorry, you cannot travel. Here is your ticket, would you please now go away!" Why would I not be eligible for travel? Is it because my ticket says the wrong things? No, it may say the right things. Is it because I express the wrong sentiments? No, they might be very impressed with my praise of the airline. Is it because I sing the wrong songs? No, they might like my songs and even ask to use them in their television commercials. There is only one reason why I cannot travel, and it is a very simple one. My ticket is issued by the wrong authority. The only ticket that is valid is the one issued by the airline in response to the right conditions being met, and anything short of that is invalid. 
People can express all the right sentiments about Jesus Christ, sing the right songs, go to the right church, and use the right vocabulary, but unless they are living on God's terms, where He has issued the "ticket" and the right conditions have been met, they will have a Christianity that just won't work. They will discover that when they want to "fly," the ticket will bounce at the check-in desk. There will be no power in their lives, no consciousness of God, the Bible will remain dry, prayer will be a chore, and no one will ever see a living God being active in their lives. The terms of Christian living are not up for debate or for negotiation. I live the Christian life on God's terms, or I do not live it at all. Therefore our business is to find out God's conditions and be very careful to meet them.
There you have it.

True repentance

I was going to leave this as a comment but it was too long.
Repentance is being reconciled to God and it is the starting point of a truly regenerated person. As I went back and found this summary of what Thomas said about repentance, I also picked up on some things I didn't notice my first time reading through the book. I will read the book again maybe soon, maybe not.
My quick explanation of true repentance is to emphasize the difference between just saying something and actually being something. A lot of people say they are Christians, but that doesn't mean they've been truly transformed by Jesus Christ. Another quote by Ian Thomas is, "If this repentance is real, it will result in a Spirit produced 'hunger and thirst' to be like Jesus." A true Christian will exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
A super simplified way of thinking about it is this: a lot of people out there claim to be Batman. The truth is, however,  they don't own a bat-suit, they don't drive the Batmobile, and they don't fight crime. So guess what? They aren't Batman! 
This simple analogy does not take into account true Christians who are living in the flesh (I posted about that a few months ago). Only God can see someone's heart. I don't mean to make anyone doubt their salvation either, but I would much rather be guilty of that than to not have warned people from entering eternity, thinking their destination was secure, only for them to hear, "depart from me I never knew you."

A great place to find out about repentance is the Bible. Start in the gospel of John. Then go to 1 John. Then probably James. And then Romans. Not necessarily in that order, but maybe.

This blessed me

A story about the difference between Christ and Confucius and Buddha taken from Four-Fold Gospel by A.B. Simpson. 

A man once said, "I was down in a deep pit, half sunk in the mire and was crying for some one to help me out. As I looked up I saw a venerable, gray-haired man looking down at me. His countenance bore the marks of his pure and holy spirit. 'My son,' he said, 'this is a dreadful place.' 'Yes,' I said, 'I fell into it. Can't you help me out?' 'My son,' he said, 'I am Confucius. If you had read my books and followed what they taught, you never would have been here.' 'Yes, Father,' I said, 'but can't you help me out?' As I looked up he was gone. Soon I saw another form approaching, and another man bent over me, this time with closed eyes and folded arms. He seemed to be looking into some far-off distant place. 'My son,' he said, 'just close your eyes and fold your arms and forget all about yourself. Get into a state of perfect rest. Don't think about anything that could disturb. Get so still that nothing can move you. Then, my child, you will be in such delicious rest as I am. 'Yes, Father,' I answered, Til do that when I am above ground. Can't you help me out?' But Buddah, too, was gone. I was just beginning to sink into despair when I saw another figure above me, different from the others. He was very simple, and looked just like the rest of us, but there were the marks of suffering in His face. I cried out to Him: 'Oh, Father, can you help me.' 'My child,' he said, 'what is the matter?' Before I could answer him, he was down in the mire by my side; he folded his arms about me and lifted me up, and then he fed and rested me. When I was well, he did not say, 'Now, don't do that again,' but he said, 'We will walk on together now;' and we have been walking together until this day."

OWS

This is a shout-out to occupy Wall Street:
"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." (James 3:16 ESV)

Jealousy and selfish ambition-- fitting descriptors...

"No one can take advantage of you if you are being generous."

I do not know if I made this quote up, but I used to say it five years ago. I had almost completely forgotten about it. Even after I was reminded within the past year, my response was, "that doesn't sound like something I would say." Thankfully just tonight I remembered a situation from many years ago when I truly believed and lived like no one could take advantage of you when you're being generous. It was joyful back then and it was joyful now to remember.

Biblical virtues are not simply actions but involve a lifestyle.

This is the song Send Me/Represent by the group Amped. You should listen to the song, but I also posted the lyrics from verse two. The artist understands a life attitude of worship in his statement of, "send me; I'll go," because a life of worship is a life submitted to God. These lyrics also contribute to my post on a worldly Christian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOsBE_xbSj0

“Hey! After, 1, 000 years in the west and the church is
Get'n bigger daily without understanding worship. (say what?)

Some regenerated but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cause the block ain't changed.
And the numbers, they be getting em.

Something just ain't hit'n them.
America ain't christian they just practicing a ritual.

That's why we should be missional.
Hey, what you think I'm spit'n for?
The united states is dying
And in the east it's looking pitiful.

Some places if they catch you
They'll arrest you.
They'll serve you,
But they still need the word too.
The gospel should be heard too.
We claim we ain't ashamed,
But we ain't hit the block up.
Were in our christian bubble,
While our brotha's get'n locked up.
Lord I wanna stock up,
Pack a bag and walk up
In a country where sharing my faith may get me shot up
Anywhere I go, whether my city or far abroad,
I just wanna show them Jesus Christ the risen holy God."