[ecko_quote source="Zechariah 4:6"]Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.[/ecko_quote]
The Holy Spirit’s ministry is so vital to the work of a Church and an individual's life. Holy Spirit motivates, gives the strength to obey, helps us honour Christ as our Lord, provides us with power, and spiritual gifts for carrying out His will in our lives.
Before ascension of Jesus, He gave the great commission to His disciples saying "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned" ( Mark 16:15). This was an enormous task, and therefore it has been rightly named as the "great commission". However, Beware; Jesus specifically "commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father" ( Gift of the Holy Spirit) - Acts 1:4-5. Jesus was very much aware of the fact that they needed power (Acts 1:8) from above to carry out the Great Commission. He knew, It would be unreasonable to assign them with such a great commission without providing them with someone who can help them carry out that task faithfully. Just like apostles who waited for the power from above, we also need the Holy Spirit's power to spread the Gospel. We should never venture into spreading the Gospel without the power of the Spirit.
We need His power to live a holy life (Roman 8:13). Please refer to my previous devotion for full analysis. Furthermore, we need the Holy Spirit God to provide us with a direction, counselling and help ( John 14:26) to continue our faithful Christian journey in this challenging world. Our Lord commanded us to "love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength and love our neighbour...and there are no other commandments greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). Since our natural love is defective and selfish, these commandments would be impossible to put into practice with our strength. Therefore, we need the Holy Spirit, who pours into our hearts the love of God (Roman 5:5) and then, only then, can we love the Lord with all our hearts and show love to our neighbours.
Apostle Paul said we do not know how to pray. This is why we need the Spirit of God. The Word of God in Roman 8:26 states that "Likewise the Holy Spirit also helps in our weakness for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us".
Although there are several vital areas of our lives where we need the Holy Spirit, one of the most important areas is our resurrection. The Word of God states in Roman 8:11 that "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortified bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you". Our resurrection will be fully assured only when we wholly live and move by the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life.
Therefore my dear ones, we need the Holy Spirit God. Jesus said in Luke 11:13, "if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!". Dear ones...ask of Him and God will surely bless us with Him - The Holy Spirit.
He is such a precious gift - Never take Him for granted. Always remember, we don't choose Him to work in certain parts of our lives according to our will. He choose us when He wants to and How he wants to.
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