THE POWERFUL SPIRIT WITHIN YOU

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When someone chooses to believe in Jesus as Savior, they receive the salvation assurance God gave through His new covenant summed up in John 3:16:

God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Now, this amazing, unmerited gift of grace sets our future but we shouldn’t overlook the other blessing we receive as soon as we accept Jesus as our Savior. Of course, I’m talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. We know this from the following words from verse 13 of Ephesians, chapter 1:

You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

This is the Holy Spirit Jesus promised would be sent by God to lead and guide His disciples as their Counselor and Advocate after He ascended (John 14:15-17a).

Now, it’s important to know that the Holy Spirit doesn’t just operate on the outside nor does He only provide advice to the Christian believer. For when we believe in Jesus, we receive the indwelling of the Spirit and that indwelling brings with it a special power to do all things that we are called to do, a power that transforms and has the potential to produce astounding results.

Consider Jesus’ first disciples. Before rising into Heaven in their plain sight, He gave them the following order:

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

And then He added:

“...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” v.8

The disciples were obedient to Jesus’ demand and on the day of Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit came upon them and provided the power Jesus spoke of (Acts 2:1-12). Following this, Peter preached the good news of the Gospel to those gathered in Jerusalem and 3,000 people made the decision to believe in Jesus, receive salvation in His name, and be baptized (Acts 2:14-41).

It didn’t take long for the disciples to witness the very power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had spoken of first-hand. This was the power that allowed the good news to spread in Jerusalem and then Judea and Samaria before moving to the ends of the earth, and we know the Apostle Paul was chief among those who participated in that latter effort.

Indeed, Paul knew all too well of the incredible power of the Holy Spirit. Over and over again, he had experienced its might and wisdom as he navigated through the missionary journeys the Lord sent him on. This is what gave him the authority to speak to Timothy on the matter in our scripture verse for today as the Apostle continues to provide encouragement and exhortation to his once young ministry protégé who had matured to be the pastor of the Ephesian church. Look again at these words here:

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

Look to the ministry of Jesus and you will find boldness. In the face of adversity from the Jewish religious leaders who sought to constantly discredit Him, Jesus was far from timid. Rather, He challenged his adversaries with power and self discipline coupled with a deep love for His Father and those He was sent to save.

Jesus wished for this same attitude to be present in all those who would go forth in His name and the Holy Spirit entering into every Christian believer was intended to make sure that happened. For when anyone submits to the leading of the Spirit, they will be far from timid for they will possess and display His power, the love of the Lord, and the self discipline needed to turn from sin and toward righteousness.

Friends, this is the power that is within us if we have professed our belief in Jesus as Savior, the very same power of the Holy Spirit that came upon the first disciples in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago. Like them, we need to not waste time getting to work carrying out the Great Commission calling Jesus has given us all (Matthew 28:18-20). For just as in His time, the harvest is plenty but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.