The Spirit´s Power

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

The effects of an ice storm led to the loss of electricity to my house one morning. Late that night, as we returned home from showering in a nearby leisure centre, we pulled into our street and saw our lights were back on. Yes! We hadn´t realized how dependent we were on electric power until we lost it, and we resolved not to take it for granted again.

The episode reminded me of the Holy Spirit, who is the power of God in our lives. He is God Himself, the third Person of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19), and He dwells within all of us who believe in Jesus. We are travelling temples, for our bodies are "the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in [us]" (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Spirit baptises us into the body of Christ, joining us with other believers who "share the same Spirit" (12:13) so that we become one united "temple of God" (3:16-17).

The Spirit made us alive when we were dead in sin (Titus 3:5), then sealed us to guarantee that we will persevere to the end (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22). The Spirit "shows us God´s deep secrets... so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us" (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). He groans for us when we don´t know what to pray (Romans 8:26), and He fills us so we may understand God´s word and obey (Ephesians 5:18; Philippians 2:12-13).

There isn´t enough space in this article to discuss how He gifts us to serve His church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:11), but from the above thoughts we can understand why Jesus said it was better that He leave us and send the Spirit to take His place. It´s easy to take teh unassuming yet dependable Spirit for granted, but it´s impossibly hard to live without Him - Mike Wittmer

Read
John 16: 1-33
" All this I have told you so that you will no go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you."

"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth : It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgement, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."

" I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."

"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

Some of his disciples said to one another "What does he mean by saying 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don´t understand what he is saying."

Jesus saw that they wante to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'? I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you : Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving that world and going back to the Father."

Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God."

"You believe at last!" Jesus answered. "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."


2 Corinthians 3:7-18
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not bee removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord´s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Questions to Ponder
Where do you need the Spirit´s help today?
Tell Him you´re counting on Him, and don´t forget to include areas you might take for granted.

** Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Sept - Nov 2014 issue.