Living in the Spirit (Part 5) – Empowerment of Holy Spirit
Why am I writing a series of devotions about Holy Spirit? I’m convicted, for that matter, deeply convicted that I need to write a series of devotions about Holy Spirit. Some of my motivation comes from teachings and practices that invoke the name of Holy Spirit but are inconsistent with the Bible. Holy Spirit often gets credit or blame for things that land outside of God’s will and His Word and, for that matter, beyond or inconsistent with the described nature and responsibility of Holy Spirit. Instead of dealing with the false claims and misunderstandings about Holy Spirit, we will deal with what is true and substantiated in the Bible.
Before proceeding, if you’d like to read the previous posts, click the following links:
Living in the Spirit (Part 1) – Holy Spirit is God
Living in the Spirit (Part 2) – Holy Spirit is a Person
Living in the Spirit (Part 3) – Function of the Holy Spirit
Living in the Spirit (Part 4) – Fruit of the Holy Spirit
As we’ve previously established, Holy Spirit is God and co-equal, co-eternal with Father and Son. To be clear, God is one, in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We call this the Trinity or Triune God Head. Further, we’ve also discussed why Holy Spirit is a person, His function in the Godhead and the fruit He produces in the life of the Christian. Now that we’ve recognized the deity, personage, function and fruit of Holy Spirit, we will examine the empowerment of Holy Spirit.
When we speak of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the following quote from Dr. Charles Stanley is helpful. Stanley writes, “spiritual empowerment is the divine energy God is willing to express in and through us and the divine authority needed to carry out the work God has called us to do.” All in all, we have all the power we ever need to carry out God’s will for our lives. I’ve heard some Christians claim that they need more of the Holy Spirit. However, let me remind us, we have all of the Holy Spirit we’re ever going to get. In other words, together with what Stanley writes, we have all the divine energy God has seen fit to unleash in and through us.
As you may have already caught on, we need His energy and His authority to be empowered. To say it another way, His energy and His authority work together. With that established, what is the Holy Spirit doing in and through us?
Holy Spirit is empowering us for:
- Obeying – GAL 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
- Witnessing – AC 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
- Loving – RO 5:5 . . . because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
- Manifesting Godly Character – GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
- Ministry – 1 COR 12L4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Now remember, you are empowered by the Holy Spirit for God’s purposes. Moreover, you have what you need to carry out God’s will. So then, what if you’re fleshly, disengaged, uninterested or avoiding God? You will not experience God’s empowerment through Holy Spirit. In fact, you are quenching the Spirit. 1 THES 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”
You may still be digesting what the Bible says about Holy Spirit. As you do, allow me to encourage you to come to grips with the deity, personage, function, fruit and empowerment of Holy Spirit. The details may still be fuzzy mainly due to a lot of false teaching with coinciding inappropriate application. However, as the evidence establishes, Holy Spirit is, first and foremost, God, as well, a person with a distinct personality, a defined function, producing recognizable fruit in the Christian and empowering the Christian for ministry. There are a lot of false claims, but instead of dealing with the false claims and misunderstandings about Holy Spirit, we will continue to focus on what is true and substantiated in the Bible. After all, Holy Spirit often gets credit or blame for things that land outside of God’s will and His Word and, for that matter, inconsistent with the described nature and responsibility of Holy Spirit.
Next week: Living in the Spirit (Part 6) – Walking in Step with the Spirit
A Work in Progress,
Pastor Gene
Who We Are