the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
We receive the Holy Spirit first in baptism, normally. But we need him unleashed more and more in our lives.
We find ourselves in a battle. We have a real Enemy. He is not flesh and blood (cf. Eph. 6:12). But he is strong. He is strong enough that we are easily overcome when we try to face him alone. He is the highest of the angels, pure spirit, unmatched intellect, and great power, all directed at keeping captive hearts in bondage.
Praise God that the one who is in us is stronger than the one who is in the world (cf. 1 Joh. 4:4). Jesus Christ delivers us from this body of death and makes us temples of his Spirit (cf. Rom. 7:24-25). We are not strong enough because "no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man." But Jesus is more than strong enough. He himself ties up the strong man and pillages his possessions. And we ourselves are the prizes he wins: "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people" (cf. Eph. 4:8). Satan cannot stand in the face of overwhelming Strong One of Israel. And this is the very one who lives in us. This power is not something we can take for granted. We must fan the flame. To neglect the gift of the Holy Spirit is the one thing can unsure we remain in unforgiveness and sin.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin.
The Holy Spirit himself is the agent of mercy and deliverance. He is the only source of power that gives us victory.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord
But, assuming we are baptized, he does live in us. His power is here. No wonder, then, we are called to boldness. We are called to confidence. On our own, there is good reason to fear. In Jesus Christ perfect love casts out fear. How do we take advantage of this power? He do we fan it into flame and unleash it in our lives? How do we trade a spirit of cowardice for one of power and love and self-control?
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (cf. Eph. 6:18).
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (cf. Phi. 4:6-7).
When we are close to him and spend time with him (prayer) we grow in his fruit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (cf. Gal. 6:18). We can bear our share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. We can do it with boldness because when we come first to Jesus and receive his Spirit the yoke is easy and the burden is light.
We think to ourselves that we don't have time to grow any closer than we are. We think that the effort we make now is the best effort we can manage. But it is more about quality than quantity. Let us come before him with a renewed focus and with undivided hearts. He in turn wants to come with us in the busy parts of our lives. He wants to truly enable us to "pray always." When we do his life and power is fully unleashed in us. We now praise him with the boldness.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
No comments:
Post a Comment