The Power of the Holy Spirit

The Lord has really been speaking to me a great deal about the Holy Spirit.  I am currently writing “Ten Steps to Move Into God’s Plan for Your Life.” If you have read much of my stuff, this is my greatest passion.  I love that faith in Christ gives us our place in Heaven, but I am constantly reminded that Christ said He came that we might have a “life more abundantly” (John 10:10).  I want to walk in His plan for my life and I want to help anyone and everyone who will listen to do the same. What makes this life possible is the Holy Spirit. If we never learn to live in the Spirit or keep in step with the Spirit as Paul said (Galatians 5:25), we will never, NEVER live out God’s beautiful plan for our life.  Today, I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at our Verse of the Day.

Matthew 12:18

18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

(NIV)

Every word in Scripture is weighty with meaning and significance and this passage is pregnant with so much.  This is a quote in the Gospel of Matthew of the prophet Isaiah foretelling the Christ. It is God the Father explaining that when Jesus comes, though He is also God, He will live as a man and the Holy Spirit will be upon Him.  

How did Jesus NEVER sin…?

This is so powerful.  As a man, Jesus was tempted as we are (Hebrews 4:15), yet resisted sin.  I have to pause right here. We cannot simply glance over this. He never sinned.  When did you first sin? When was the first time you lied to your parents? When was the first time you said something unholy in your anger?  My earliest memory of purposely doing something I knew was not only wrong but sinful was in 2nd grade. Don’t get me wrong. I am sure I had done many things wrong long before that moment, but it was at this age that I had gained an understanding of sin being an act against the will of God.  When was your first sin?

Jesus never sinned.  Not once, did He have a sinful thought, a sinful act.  He never shaded the truth, even as a boy. He was never jealous.  He never told a lie. At the age of twelve, he had great knowledge of the Torah and never sinned.  This is absolutely amazing.  

The Holy Spirit can do the same for us…

The reason I remind you that Jesus was tempted is to help you see that His sinless life did not happen because He was God.  He chose to live as a man and was tempted in every way the Bible says so this sinless life came as a result of resisting every temptation, being purified through suffering (Hebrews 2:10).  Jesus is a picture-perfect example of extreme self-discipline, extreme. It is important to note that if He had this self-discipline, we can as well. I know. Some of you are thinking, “What?!?!?!  How can we have the same self-discipline as Jesus?” The reason is that He made Himself just like us, but He received the Spirit and kept in step with the Spirit. Look at this Scripture:

2 Timothy 1:6-7

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

(NIV)

The ability to resist sin comes from the power we receive from the Holy Spirit.  He gives us greater strength to resist and as we keep in step with Him, this same power purifies us so that temptations become less and less.  The sinless life of Jesus reveals to us His passion for us that He would hold so tightly to the Holy Spirit sacrificing His own desires, even to the point of death (Luke 22:42).  And it reveals the incredible power of the Holy Spirit to give Christ, living as a man, the ability to do this. The purity of His life was the combination of His dedication to the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today, and forever…

Well, the Holy Spirit is God and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  He can do for us what He did for Christ. He can help us resist sin in every temptation. The issue is our dedication to the Lord.  When we sin, we take our eyes off of Christ. Like Eve, we see that sin is good to the taste, pleasing to the eye, and seemingly beneficial for us in the moment.  But if we will keep our eyes on Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit for help, He will help us in the moment.  

But let’s go further.  Jesus equated faith with miracles (John 14:12-13).  What is a miracle? It is anything that happens that requires supernatural power.  For more about miracles, check out the book “Miracles” by Eric Metaxes. It is an excellent Biblical book on miracles.  But my point is that when I live by faith, God can do miraculous things through me. Don’t be like Simon the Sorcerer who craved the power of the Holy Spirit with selfish ambition (Acts 8:9-24).  If you want to walk around and spit in people’s eyes so that they have 20/20 vision so that they will shout your name, don’t expect anything from the Holy Spirit. And don’t expect that God’s will in every situation requires a physical miracle of healing.  But, we do learn from Christ in the Gospel of John that supernatural power at work within us correlates directly with our faith.

Supernatural power and faith in Christ go together

Now faith of a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20).  We know God can do instantaneous miracles, but let’s look deeper into what it means to have mustard seed faith.  We know that faith grows and strengthens (Acts 16:5). A seed also grows. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds but can produce mighty trees.  This is the point. Our faith must grow. As our faith grows, there is greater power to move mountains just as a large tree moves the earth and a large grove moves a mountain.  Our faith must increase. The more I have faith in God and trust in His ways, the Holy Spirit releases power not only to resist sin, but power for miracles, changed lives and changed hearts.  This is for you and me. Let’s keep in step, tight step, with the Holy Spirit and we shall see what God does.

Live Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Pastor Lee is a pastor and Biblical life coach.  He has been helping people through counseling, pastoring, teaching, and preaching for 20+ years.  His ministry focuses on helping people overcome the strongholds of the past and press on into God’s plan for an abundant life.  He has been married to his wife, Amy for 28 years.  He has three sons and one daughter-in-love.  For more about Pastor Lee or to get some Biblical advice, go to the About page.