God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

In our last post from the book of Acts we saw how the fear of God was connected to the peace the church enjoyed. If you’re interested you can learn more here: Anxiety and Fear–Acts 9:31.

Today we’ll look at the same verse, but today I want to focus on the last part of the verse and share just a few words about the Holy Spirit.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 9:31

So the peace the church is experiencing at this point in our story, and the fruit they’re experiencing, how they multiplied, and also the comfort they’re enjoying, these experiences are associated with the fear of God and they’re also associated with the Holy Spirit.

And this is all I want to say today about the Holy Spirt.

Ask God for His Holy Spirit.

Ask.

Ask Him for His Holy Spirit right now.

Ask Him for His Holy Spirit before you go to sleep tonight.

Ask Him for His Holy Spirit in the morning when you wake up.

Ask.

Ask every day.

Just look at who Peter was before he received the Holy Spirit and then after. Before he received the Holy Spirit he rebuked Jesus, and he denied Jesus. After he received the Holy Spirit he brought thousands of people to Christ and he spoke eloquently and intelligently under pressure. After he received the Holy Spirit Peter became a different person. After he received the Holy Spirit Peter became someone who communicated the love of Jesus in amazing ways. After he received the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 16:21-23, Luke 22:54-62, Acts 2-9)

So ask.

Ask our Father to fill you with His Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells us to ask.

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:11-13

And Jesus even tells us how to ask.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

So ask.

Ask the way the way the persistent widow asked.

Join me in prayer and ask right now.

“Father, please bless me and bless the person reading this right now and give us an abundant measure of Your Holy Spirit. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit the way You did Jesus, and Peter, and John, and Stephen, and Philip, and Paul. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we can become more useful vessels for You and for Your Christ Jesus. Fill us Father, please. We need Your Holy Spirit. We want Your Holy Spirit. Fill us.

“In Jesus’ name we ask this of You.

“Amen.”

Available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)