The Power of the Spirit (3)

Dearly beloved, I trust this finds you well and bubbling in the Lord. We continue looking at Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The letter was written while he was in prison and he had assured them that his imprisonment was beneficial to the gospel. He then goes on to mention the power of prayer and the Spirit of God by saying “ I am going to keep on being glad, for I know that as you pray for me, and as the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good” (Philippians  1v19, TPT).

We consider again how the Holy Spirit empowers us to bring about God’s purposes. In 1 Corinthians 12v3-11, we see specific things that the Holy Spirit does for example the Spirit is the One who helps us to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and is also the source of special abilities. The Holy Spirit gives the special abilities for the good and profit of the entire church and determines whom to give them to. John 14v26 tells us that the Holy Spirit teaches us all things and brings to remembrance everything Jesus has told us. John 16v13-15 lets us know that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, and He won’t present His own ideas, but that of the Father and the Son; He will also glorify Jesus and reveal that which is Jesus to us. Hallelujah.

Supplementary Text

1 Corinthians 12v3-11 (TLB): “But now you are meeting people who claim to speak messages from the Spirit of God. How can you know whether they are really inspired by God or whether they are fakes? Here is the test: no one speaking by the power of the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” and really mean it, unless the Holy Spirit is helping him. Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are his. The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; someone else may be especially good at studying and teaching, and this is his gift from the same Spirit. He gives special faith to another, and to someone else the power to heal the sick.  He gives power for doing miracles to some, and to others power to prophesy and preach. He gives someone else the power to know whether evil spirits are speaking through those who claim to be giving God’s messages—or whether it is really the Spirit of God who is speaking. Still another person is able to speak in languages he never learned; and others, who do not know the language either, are given power to understand what he is saying. It is the same and only Holy Spirit who gives all these gifts and powers, deciding which each one of us should have.”

Prayer

Father, we thank You so much for Your Spirit in us and with us. We thank You for His comfort, empowerment and enablement. We thank You for Your love o God. Thank You for everything. We yield ourselves to You Holy Spirit to do Your work in us, and we pray we will be sensitive to Your every leading in Jesus name, amen. Spirit of God, pour out Your special abilities on the church, that the whole church might benefit from it, in Jesus name, amen.