Often when we read the Bible we tend to read it with historical perspective. Apostolic perspective brings present reality. If Jesus asks his disciples, 'What kind of spirit do you have?' we need to answer Him as if He is talking to us right now.
Here is a study on that subject that will not only help you answer that question but also to search your heart. The true answer does not lie in yourself. There is a divine secret revealed in this study. Be ready to have a mind-set change and to reform your thinking for good!What kind of Spirit do you have?
Apostle Andre Pelser
2003/04/24

Luke 9:51-56
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ?Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did??
55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ?You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.56 ?For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men?s lives but to save them.? And they went to another village.

Jesus? disciples were upset that the Samaritans did not receive Jesus so they wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy them. Jesus rebuked them and said they did not know what Spirit they were of. This incident begs the question what kind of spirit you and I have. If we are honest we need to answer it privately and find out what kind of spirit a ?son of God? should display to the world.
We are spiritual beings and if our spirit is at the core of our being then we must make sure that we operate in the right spirit.
Some Protestant, Pentecostal as well as Charismatic teachers would have us believe that our spirits are untouchable and that it is always perfect. If we believe that we will be deceived because apostolic doctrine differs from that view point.

2 Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

What kind of spirit do you have? What controls your thinking?

2 Timothy 1:7
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Although our position in Christ secures a spirit of power, love and a sound mind it is not automatically manifested because we know about it. Why do so many Christians still live with a spirit of fear dominating their lives? Why does weakness and infirmity prevail? Why are people?s minds so confused and yet they are professing spirit-filled Christians?

The answer lies in our spirits: we have to cleanse our spirits from all filthiness to perfect holiness in the fear of God. By utilizing the great promises of God we partake of His divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3,4
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Daniel and his friends Shadrach Meshach and Abednego had excellent spirits. They were not in pursuit of excellence through selfish ambitions, their spirits were excellent. That is what we want for our youth: we want them to walk with God ? in the lion?s den and through the fire if they have to: confident that the God they serve is able to save them!

Caleb and Joshua had a different spirit than all the other ten spies that went to spy out the Promised Land. They majority had a defeatist attitude and saw themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of the Giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb predicted just the reverse: they are like grasshoppers in our sight and we are well able to take the land for God is with us!

God said that Caleb and Joshua followed Him wholeheartedly for they had spirits of faith! Paul also explains that we have a spirit of faith. We believe and therefore we speak.

The angel that appeared to the apostle John on the isle of Patmos explained to him that the spirit of Christ is a spirit of prophecy. The testimony of Christ is the spirit of prophecy.

John Edwards and other spiritual mediums that now appear on TV and deceive multitudes are in touch with evil spirits that can only tell them about things concerning dead people, never anything about the future. Only God knows the future. God does not want us to seek advice from anybody else except from Him. He is a jealous God. He hates it if we look to monthly prognosticators and fortune tellers for guidance.

He says: ?Ask me anything!? We are too scared to ask and sometimes too scared to hear the true answer. We have ideas about what we would like to hear. So instead of spoiling our little mind-game we refuse to ask in faith.

He invites parents to ask him concerning their children: ?Ask me concerning your sons!? Samson?s parents asked the Angel of the Lord to tell them how to raise their son, what to give him to eat and what the child?s occupation would be so that they could raise him accordingly! Isn?t that all we need to know about our children? People read too many books about psychology and get confused. They watch too many Oprah Winfrey programmes instead of reading the bible and seeking God in prayer concerning their children!

The Holy Spirit is a spirit that brings holiness into our lives. He exposes everything in our spirits that is unholy. This is a painful process that begins with conviction and then he makes you hate the very thing he wants to remove. In fact he makes it surface in such a way that you are astonished at what is really in your spirit. He has to get jealousy and envy out because it leads to hatred and murder. He has to remove lust for it leads to adultery. He has to remove the works of the flesh that are embedded in your spirit for out of the heart of man springs evil and wicked things.

Thank God for His blessed Holy Spirit. Without Him where would we be? He is our friend and our helper ? the blessed Paraclete.

He is a spirit of Grace and Truth. Our spirits should be filled with grace and truth as well. Our words should always be gracious seasoned with salt so that we should know how to answer everyman who asks concerning the hope that is within us.