The Holy Spirit changes us and gives us power to live for God.
Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
John 14:16-18 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.
Yes we live in a gospel community doing life together and helping each other but I want to talk about a much better helper that we cannot be without if we are going to grow as a disciple or if we are going to make new disciples.
The work of the Holy Spirit is a part of the process of becoming more like Jesus, his work starts with giving us life when we were spiritually dead and he helps us to move through all of the stages of spiritual growth from infants all the way to a spiritual adult.
Of all the gifts given to man by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit, He has many functions, roles, and activities so we will only take a look at a few of them:
The Holy Spirit guarantees my salvation.
Ephesians 1:13-14 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
God grants to us His Holy Spirit as the certain pledge that we are His forever and shall be saved in the last day. He has saved us and given us His Spirit to renew us and cleanse us from the desires of the flesh. He produces in our hearts the evidence that we are accepted by God, that we are regarded as His adopted children, that our hope is genuine and that our salvation is sure.
The Holy Spirit gives me power to live for God.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
The proof of the Spirit’s presence is the work that He is doing in my heart. The cold indifferent and unloving heart will become tender and compassionate and we will respond to God's commands and conform to His will for our lives.
My character will look a lot more like God's character. (Ephesians 4:21-24, John 16:7-11) The power that He provides will help me to live with the fruit of the Spirit. My life will have "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Holy Spirit helps me tell my story to people that don't know the gospel.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus disciples were appointed to tell what they had seen and what they had heard. They saw his life, his character, his suffering and his teaching. They saw His life, death and resurrection and they were about to see him ascend to heaven. Jesus had changed their lives dramatically and he wanted them to tell their story. (Acts 4:33)
Jesus also wants us to tell our story and he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us have the words, the timing for our words and the power to go and share the good news. The more we tell our story and talk about how God has intervened in our life, the more people will begin to realize that God is for real, miracles do happen, and they will see that He can change their life too.
I am not able to live the life that God wants me to live without the Holy Spirit's power, I need to remember that I don't have to be more like Jesus in my own strength, the power to be who he wants me to be can only come from Him.
Help me Lord to be serious about my mission here on earth and help me to rely on the Holy Spirit to change me and then help me spread the good news about what you have done.
