Holy Spirit Power

Photo by Alex Woods on Unsplash

Dear born again, blood bought, Spirit filled child of God. So far you know that…

You have eternal life.

(John 6:47)

Your sins have been forgiven.

(Col 1:13-14)

You are a citizen of Heaven.

(Phil 3:20-21)

Your name is written in the Book of Life.

(Rev 3:5)

You are his newly created masterpiece.

(Eph 2:10)

You belong to the Almighty

(2Cor 1:21-22)

To refresh your memory you can read the previous two blog posts here:  Who are you? and What do you hope for?

Now it’s time to look at the next two statements about who you are in Christ:

I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, He lives in me.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,” 1Co 6:19 ESV

Yes, you are not your own. You have been bought at a very high price. The very blood of God Himself. You belong to Him. All of you belong to Him. That includes your body. He has decided to dwell in your body!

Because we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we cannot live like the world anymore. We are not in the flesh but in the Spirit (Rom 8:9). We are able to overcome our sins because He that lives in us is greater than the ruler of this world (1Jo 4:4).

How do we do that? By crying out to Him whenever temptation or afflictions come our way. He will provide a way out and help you to overcome whatever temptations and afflictions you might experience (1Cor. 10:13, Ps. 34:19).

I have power

“For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” 1Cor 4:20 ESV

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,” Acts 1:8a ESV

“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2Ti 1:7 ESV

The Bible makes it clear that we have the power of God working through us as Christians (Eph 1:19-20, Jhn 14:12, Mat 21:21-22, Phil 4:13).

The question is not: “Do we have power?” That part is clear. No, the question is: “Why do we have this power?”

Why did God give us this power through his Spirit? Is it for showing off and entertaining crowds?

No. The main reason for this power are found in Acts 1:8b: “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

We need Holy Spirit power to be witnesses and to execute the great commission (Mat. 28:19). Paul told the Corinthians: “and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” (1Cor. 2:4 ESV)

You can have a lot of knowledge about the Bible. You can complete courses in evangelism. You can be witty and persuasive with your words. You can be a gifted teacher or actor or musician or writer.  

But, you cannot work redemption in somebody. You cannot cause them to be born again. You cannot make them new. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.

That is why you need the power of the Holy Spirit.

This power works through the supernatural Spiritual gifts that we are given. In my next blog post we will do an in depth look at the Gifts of the Spirit. For now, just know this, the more you yield to the Spirit, the more power you will have.

Imagine yourself standing in a river at ankle depth. You are in the river, but you are still in control. The river will not sweep you off your feet and you will not move with the current. You will not experience the full power of the river.

But, if you choose to go deeper into the river and allow the current to sweep you along, you will experience the power of the river and move with it. That is exactly how it works with the Holy Spirit. You will not experience the full power of the Holy Spirit if you choose to stay in control.

If you take the great commission seriously you should be willing to yield to the Spirit.

He dwells within you, and you need His power.

God Bless

Madeleine