By My Spirit
Zechariah 4:6
The world-renowned evangelist Dr. Billy Graham once beautifully said, ‘you need the Lord Jesus for your eternal life and the Holy Spirit for your internal life.’ Every believer in Jesus Christ needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18). It is impossible to live victoriously and serve the Lord effectively without relying on the Holy Spirit’s power. The divine standard that God has set for Christian living and service is so high that it is impossible to reach that standard without the enabling ministry of the Holy Spirit. Human ability and human genius are quite inadequate. It is “not my might nor by power; but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty (Zechariah 4:6)! Let us see briefly the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
1. He is the SECRET of the Christian’s victory
The Christian life should not be one of failure but a life of victory and triumph. The One who lives this life out in us is the Holy Spirit, so that we are able, through His empowering to be victorious over sin, self and Satan. The Bible says, `live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Gal. 5:16). Days are becoming more and more difficult to live holy. But God has made full provision for a victorious life in giving us His Spirit. Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 brings the ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers into clear focus. Prior to this chapter, the Holy Spirit is mentioned only one other time in the entire epistle (Romans 5:5). But here in chapter 8, he is referred to nearly 19 times. Paul says that the Holy Spirit frees us, enables us, revives us, leads us, bears witness for us, intercedes for us and makes us more than conquerors (8:2, 4, 11, 13-15, 26, 37).He transforms us more and more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). By His Spirit, we have victory!
2. He is the SPRING of the Christian’s joy
The Holy Spirit brings joy unspeakable. He is called the oil of joy, the oil of gladness (Isaiah 61:3; Psalms 45:7; 1 Peter 1:8). He turns our mourning into dancing. He lives within us to make us joyful, happy, radiant people. One of the fruit of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22). The disciples were filled with joy in the midst of adverse circumstances because of their walk in the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:41; 13:52; 16:25). The Holy Spirit comes in to lubricate your spiritual life, to make this life interesting and exciting. The Christian life will become a frustrating religion without the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, ‘The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking…but it is joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14:17)!By His Spirit, we have great joy!
3. He is the SOURCE of the Christian’s knowledge
Jesus said, `the Holy Spirit will teach you all things’ (John 14: 26). The Holy Spirit is the best teacher of the bible because he is the author (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Tim. 3:16). The Holy Spirit teaches us all that we need to know concerning our walk and our work, what we are and what we are to do (John 16:13). This does not mean we don’t need people and study materials. The Holy Spirit will turn all information into inspiration. When we study the Bible with the help of the Spirit, He will open your eyes to get a grasp of His Word (Neh. 9:20,30). He will illuminate our minds to understand the difficult passages of the Scriptures (Eph. 1:17, 18). He will quicken our understanding and give revelations from the Word of God. He will teach us comparing the spiritual things with the spiritual (1 Cor. 2:13; 1 John 2:27). How wonderful to have the divine Teacher instructing and guiding us into the truth, in order to please the Lord.By His Spirit, we have deep understanding of God’s Word!
4. He is SUCCOURER of the Christian’s Faith
The Bible says that we are to live by faith (Romans 1:17; Hebrews 11:6). Therefore the Devil attacks our faith (Luke 22:31-32). We are subject to many trials and temptations, overwhelmed by sorrow (John 16:33), but the Holy Spirit is within us to succour us at such times.The Holy Spirit is called a Helper (John 14:26). One of His primary helps is in the area of prayer, because we are all weak in it. We do not know at times what to and how to pray for. In those times, the Holy Spirit not only helps is in our prayer but also intercedes for us and through us (Rom. 8:26, 27). Apostle Peter who faltered in his faith and failed in his prayer life (Matthew 26:40; 69-74) became a mighty man of faith and prayer after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 3:1, 6). By His Spirit, we become mighty in faith and prayer!
5. He is the STRENGTH of the Christian’s Service and Ministry
We are all saved to serve, but Christian service is impossible in our own strength. In Old Testament times God called people to serve Him, giving them special anointing of the Holy Spirit to make them effective in service. Bezalel was filled with the Spirit of God and so he became an extraordinarily skilled craftsman (Exo. 35:30, 35). Daniel and Joseph prospered in the strange lands which were hostile to their holy convictions because the excellent Spirit of God was upon them (Dan. 5:11; 6:3; Gen. 49:23-25; 41:38). Yes, when you are filled with the Spirit, you will be able to do your work exceptionally and extraordinarily well. A spirit-filled doctor will treat better, a Spirit-filled engineer will build better, a Spirit-filled teacher will teach better and a Spirit-filled student will study better! When a person is filled with the Spirit of God, even his seniors and superiors will come to him for counsel and guidance (Gen. 41:37-40).
The Lord Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit when He began His public ministry (Luke 3:21-22; 4:18). The last recorded words of Jesus before His ascension was the promise of the Spirit’s power for global evangelization (Acts 1:8). About the early Christians we read, `they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly’ (Acts 4:31). The Spirit-filled believers are powerful means in the hands of God to convince and convict the sinners (Acts 2:36, 37). The Holy Spirit gives us the courage, charisma and charismata (spiritual gifts- 1 Cor. 12: 7-11) to witness for Him. He empowers us to emancipate those who are under the bondage of sin, sickness and Satan (Acts 10:38). Hegives us strength and power to accomplish God’s purpose in our lives. By His Spirit, we shall do valiantly (Psalm 60:12; 108:13)!
