Just Right

  An adaptation of an illustration by Chuck Swindoll is useful to describe the way believers will experience and enjoy Life by the Spirit.
   Turbines at Grand Coulee, Rocky Reach, Rock Island, Bonneville, Wanapum and other dams produce billions of kilowatts of electricity which become hundreds of thousands of volts.  Power lines take the electricity and distribute it throughout the Pacific Northwest and even into the Southwest.  In theory, a person could follow the power lines that connect into Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake.  As one would follow the power lines, there would be various substations with all kinds of warning signs—“Danger!  High Voltage”  “No trespassing!  Violators will be prosecuted.”  The warnings are stern because the threat of being electrocuted by thousands of volts is very real.  In fact, no one needs thousands of volts coming into their home or office. So the engineers put “transformers” in the power lines that reduce the volts into the amount that people need—110 volts or 220 (or 221—whatever!)  These transformers are on power poles above ground and in vaults below ground.
    Nearly everybody, however, uses transformers within their homes.  Why?  Because if one were to connect the dead battery of a cell phone to the 110 volts coming out of a regular wall socket, the unit would buzz loudly for a second, make a pzzzttt sound, flash blue sparks and burn to a crisp.  Cell phones only need a handful of volts to be charged.  What people call a “charger” is really a transformer.   Computers, printers, game systems and camcorders—most all electronic gadgets—need much less than 110 volts.
    When the Holy Spirit (the Transformer) comes to live in a believer, the Spirit will then take the majestic truths of Scripture, the power of Christ, the guidance of the Lord, and everything else God gives a believer, and dispense them in just the amount needed—as much as a believer can handle, take or use.  It is the Spirit’s delight to take the fullness of the God of the Universe and make one thing meaningful to this woman, and another thing useful to that woman.  He works one way in this guy here, and does something very different in that guy over there.  It is the way the Spirit works, and His work is flawless.  He gives to each believer just what is necessary.
   But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  (John 14:26 ESV)
   Don’t ever stop pursuing living Life by the Spirit.  It is the wonder and joy of life in Christ!  Pursue it always.  Live secure in His presence and seek His filling daily. He will provide just what is needed for every situation of life!
    That’s all for now!

Power! ­ Part Two

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 ESV)

   The spectacular works of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the first church has caused people in the modern church to ask: “What about us?  How come the Holy Spirit doesn’t perform miracles now like He did then?”
   Many believers have become  discouraged when comparing their ordinary, simple, down-to-earth life of faith with the lives of ancient believers.  When these feelings are taken to extreme, brothers and sisters in the faith have questioned whether the Holy Spirit really does dwell in them; have wondered whether they have missed some secret key for unlocking the Spirit’s power; have simply ignored His power and promptings as meaningless; or have tried to live Christian life without the Holy Spirit.
    While these approaches deny the believer the blessing of Life by the Spirit, they are very real emotions and experiences. It is so tempting to read into the Bible that extraordinary works of the Holy Spirit were customary and usual. However, when the whole of New Testament record is considered, the Spirit’s miracles must be considered rare.
    Consider the words of Jesus…did He really promise miracle-a-minute lives for believers when He said believers would receive the Holy Spirit? (Acts 1:8)  Not even the disciples lived life like that!  After the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13 ESV), the Bible records that the first disciples lived ordinary lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, and only occasionally witnessed extra-ordinary demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s power.
    Consider the life of the Apostle Paul.  He was slandered, libeled, assaulted, beaten, stoned, stalked throughout his work for the Kingdom in Palestine, Asia Minor and lower Europe.  In the midst of Paul’s difficulties, however, the power of the Holy Spirit was evident—not in transporting him away from the tribulation—but in the provision of the Lord’s strength and confidence for Paul as he traveled the deep valleys of persecution.  What a fabulous display of the Spirit’s power!
   Believers today can have real hope that the Spirit may do the miraculous (Pray for it!) and realistic expectations that He will provide His power in the daily, ordinary and routine. Yet, believers see the Spirit doing miracles when He…
     ·     Speaks through a believer who proclaims the Gospel.

        ·     Transforms a bitter, angry believer into a miracle of forgiveness and grace.

        ·     Heals a believer from serious disease and protects him or her spiritually.

        ·     Gives the believer the freedom to call God, “Abba, Father” in prayer.

        ·     Brings a wandering son or daughter back to love Jesus again.

        ·     Provides joy in the midst of life difficulties or persecution for Jesus’ sake.

    God is the Lord of the miraculous, supernatural and mysterious.  Grasping this truth, how then, should believers live?
   More to come!

Power!

         The normal Christian life—Life by the Spirit—is full of contrasts, even seeming contradictions.  For instance, the way God works is thought to be foolishness to the person who doesn’t know the Lord, yet His ways have proven again and again to be fantastically wise.  God says that the poor will be the rich, the weak will be the strong, and the powerless will be used in mightyways.

         Many have rejected faith in Christ simply because it is rather offensive that God would work through the overlooked, the lowly, the disdained, and even despised.  It is the natural desire of humanity to want a role, a sense of significance, and a reason to boast about achievement.  Yet God makes it clear that all the glory of what He has done, is doing and will do in the world belongs to He and He alone.

         How, then, does the Lord involve people in what he is doing in the world? He does it through the power of the Holy Spirit in His people.

It is both the Lord’s promise and plan to empower believers through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus told thedisciples: And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  (Luke 24:49 ESV emphasis added)  Before Jesus departed earth for heaven, He told the first church: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you....  (Acts 1:8 ESV)

It might be best to say that there is an exchange required for those who desire to live life by the Spirit.  When a believer releases his or her dependence on mere human strength to accomplish and achieve, then the Holy Spirit uses His power in and through the person.  The churches in Galatia resisted this truth, and so Paul asked them this question: Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith…?  (Galatians 3:5 ESV)

The answer is obvious.  When a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, he or she will experience the empowering of the Holy Spirit in amazing ways.  A few of the works of the Holy Spirit’s power in believers (The stuff that mere human power can’t do) include:

·      An inner peace in the midst of crisis.

·      The ability to love unconditionally and receive love.

·      The boldness and clarity to proclaim the Gospel.

·      A capacity to forgive repeatedly.

·      A positive attitude with selflessness, humility, and sacrifice.

·      The ability to discern truth and falsehood, good and evil.

·      The competence to grasp the deep things of God revealed in the Bible.

The normal Christian life is empowered by the Holy Spirit!  What other works of power will the Holy Spirit do in believers?

More to come!