B – THE EMPOWERED CHRISTIAN – 2
As we consider that gift given to
us when we became a Christian, we must always move forward to that goal set for
us in eternity. Paul felt this as he
pressed on to that goal after leaving those things of the past behind. Phil.3:13,14 It is important that we do leave the
past behind with all of the things in our life that displeased God. Jeremiah warned the Israelites as he saw them
going backward and not forward. Jer.7:23,24 This empowerment from the Holy Spirit
comes only as we obey our Lord. Acts 5:32
As we move ahead in our new life
in Christ with the Holy Spirit within us, out thoughts, our heart, cannot go
back to the past. Satan wants us to long
for the things we have left. Our minds
must be set on things above to move forward.
Col.3:2,3 Sometimes our mind is like Jello that
has not yet “set”. We float around in
the world with the things that are worldly and become wishy-washy with no
determination to set our mind. We flounder as we walk. Gal.5:16,17 We
know but we don’t do. The Holy Spirit
can give us the power if we but walk by
the Spirit.
Our new life needs to sparkle
with the light of Jesus inside us. Peter
and John were uneducated and untrained men, yet they had confidence because
their steps were “set” in the ways of the Lord.
What a testimony they were and what an example to us! Acts
4:13 Would that those around us
could see that we live in the ways of Jesus—that
we have been with Jesus.
Paul prayed for the Christians
that they would be strengthened with power through His Spirit. Eph.3:16 Where is that Spirit? It is in our inner man that we keep pure for
the temple of His Spirit
The Holy Spirit is many things to
us. The Holy Spirit is our earnest. Many times when buying property, a person
will put down earnest money to hold it for further decisions. The Holy Spirit is our earnest as we look
forward to our final redemption. It is
interesting to look at various version of 2
Cor.1:22. KJV uses the term sealed and earnest. NASB uses the word pledge.
NIV uses seal of ownership and
Spirit in our hearts as a deposit. All of these show the importance of the
Holy Spirit to us. This is further
explained in 2 Cor.5:4,5. Paul mentions the Holy Spirit as a seal
and pledge of our inheritance to the Ephesians.
Eph.1:13,14
As we keep His commandments, He
abides in us and we in Him. We can know
this by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.
1 Jhn.3:24; 1 Jhn.4:12,13 Assurance is given to us that we are
God’s child by the Spirit that testifies with our spirit. Rom.8:16 If the Spirit is not in us, then we are
not of the children of God. Rom.8:9
As we are told to be strong in
the strength of His might and not our own (Eph.6:10),
we are given armor to withstand. Eph.6:11
The importance of that armor lies in the fact that our struggle is
against spiritual forces of wickedness. Eph.6:12
We don’t see Satan in red with a pitchfork. But his forces accost us in many ways of
temptation. A very powerful verse to
remember the extent of the power that is made available to us is found in 1 Jhn.4:4.
The Holy Spirit in us is stronger than the one in the world. When we have the Holy Spirit in us and have
the full armor of God on, then we are ready for the struggle. We know that Jesus went through the struggle
as well. Heb.2:18; Heb.4:15 We also
know that we are given a way of escape if we will take it. 1
Cor.10:13
The Holy Spirit gives us power to
fight temptations but that isn’t all. What
attitude, what character trait, what good deed performed does not begin with
love in the heart. The Holy Spirit helps
us to be rooted and grounded in that love.
Eph.3:15-19 We have seen that our bodies are to be a
temple of the Holy Spirit; however, the church is built together (not the
edifice but the corporate body of Christ) into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Eph.2:20-22
Paul was explaining to Timothy
how he had suffered for the gospel . 2 Tim.1:12
It was important that Timothy keep and guard the sound words he had
been taught by Paul. These were to be
guarded through the Holy Spirit as a treasure.
2 Tim.1:13,14 The gospel is a treasure for us to keep
as well. We must never be ashamed. Rom.1:16
No comments:
Post a Comment