Issues surrounding the Holy Spirit have polarized Christians for centuries. Some focus primarily on the Spirit and neglect the Word; others focus primarily on the Word and neglect and distrust the manifestations of the Spirit. Both have misunderstood the Trinity. The first group neglects the Father and the Son. The second group has created a new Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Bible. Cymbala moves in the middle of those polar extremes to advocate for a Spirit controlled life that is modeled on Scripture. He is right to call out the anemia of much of contemporary western Christianity and urge Christians to submit to the Spirit “so the church will be built up, the Word will be honored and the kingdom of God will be extended. For that is why He came” (p. 194).
With those convictions, Jim Cymbala’s Spirit Rising follows the patterns of his previous best-selling
books: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Fresh Faith and Fresh Power. He intersperses
chapters on Biblical teaching re: the work of the Spirit with chapters that call
Christians to live in the power of the Spirit and five story chapters that
demonstrate Spirit transformation in 5 different people’s lives.
A very readable, valuable and timely book for Christians
today.
- M. L. Codman-Wilson, Ph.D., 5/3/12
Excerpts:
“Spiritual ministry can only come by the Holy Spirit showing
himself through human beings. His power flows through human vessels” (p. 32).
This is why “God gave to each one
the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (I Cor. 12:7)… “To each one, not just to the
apostles…God has promised every one of us a manifestation – supernatural by
definition – of the Holy Spirit. It is part of being a Christian. To water that
down to mean human talent is unbelief in God the Holy Spirit” (p. 32).
“The Scriptural mandate ‘to be filled with the Spirit’ is
best understood as being controlled by the Spirit. Yet, being a Christian does not necessarily
guarantee that a person lives a life controlled by the Spirit.” (p. 38). [He cites the
church in Laodecia which was lukewarm.] “Christianity is not a self-effort
religion but rather one of power – the ability and might of the Spirit…The
Spirit is the only one who can produce self-discipline love and boldness. But
to do so, he has to control us daily. We can’t rest on a religious experience
we had years or even months ago..[Therefore,] “fan the flames of the
Spirit…prevent the fire from being extinguished, give attention to the Spirit’s
work in you because without that anointing you will never fulfill the purposes
of God for your life.” (p.
41).
A Spirit controlled life will be characterized by:
1.
An aliveness to Scripture – i.e, “Without the help of
the Holy Spirit to understand the meaning of what we read, we’re susceptible to
reading our own biases into God’s Word…When we see only what we want to see in
the Bible, it loses all power to transform us” (p. 62). As well, “Often we get our
definitions for important things not
by what the Spirit shows us in Scripture but by what we saw growing up in the
church” (p. 63).
2.
Joy that comes from God. “Paul linked our progress and
growth in the faith with the joy that increases as we mature in Christ” (Phil.1:25).
3.
A quest for Christlikeness “The Holy Spirit brings new
sensitivities and convictions to us if we are really living under his control.
Behavior, words and attitudes that are unholy cause a reaction from the Spirit
who is holy” (p. 97)…The
Spirit wants to work in the deepest level of our being – the place where our
thoughts, desires and plans are formed” (p. 99).
4.
Power – “Power to overcome sin. Power to overcome
spiritual enemies that attack us. Power to endure hardship and affliction.
Power to witness. Power to speak. Power to pray. Isn’t
more spiritual power probably the greatest need we have today?” (p. 105). “Whenever we reach out with purpose to
share the good news of salvation through Christ; whenever we are determined to
help the spiritually blind to see and to set the oppressed free, we can
prayerfully expect the Holy Spirit to work in power as promised by Jesus…Sadly,
many of us don’t experience the power of the Holy Spirit because we so seldom
do what Christ commissioned us to do” (p. 109).
5.
Love for the unlovable – “Let’s ask for a fresh baptism
of God’s love. Let’s then walk in that love so everyone encountering us can
have a peek into the heart of God” (p. 127).
6.
Victory over fear of opposition, of rejection of
suffering and failure (p.
152). “The Spirit’s invisible but powerful strength will help us live a
life worthy of our Lord” (p.
154).
7.
Powerful prayers. “In its purest form prayer has a raw
fervency and faith that prevails with God and secures answers otherwise thought
impossible” (p. 163). The Holy Spirit helps us by revealing God’s
will and granting us the faith to pray in the right direction” (p. 165). We can move mountains.
8.
A willingness to step up to the Spirit’s directive for
our lives. “It’s about hearing the Spirit’s call, surrendering to him and then
giving ourselves totally to the work he puts before us…What the Spirit lead us
to do isn’t always easy and it doesn’t always make a lot of sense, but whom God
calls, he equips” (pp.181,
187).
“Don’t easily settle for ‘church’ instead of God. Confess your need for a fresh revelation of
what his church was meant to look like…Acknowledge we need help from the Holy
Spirit…And each time the Holy Spirit prompts us to move in a new direction,
let’s obey immediately. This will help
us develop a deeper sensitivity to his voice” (p. 194).