How The Holy Spirit Works

Key Verse: Zechariah 4:6
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Question: What does the key verse mean to you?

LESSON:

We know that great things can be accomplished through God’s Spirit but often feel inadequate. The key verse gives us a real clue as to where the problem lies, not by your might, nor by your power, but BY God’s Spirit. When a person receives the Spirit of God at baptism he now has two power sources dwelling within, the flesh, and the Spirit of God. He has always depended upon the flesh and is totally familiar with it. He is totally unfamiliar with the spirit and is very reluctant to trust something he cannot experience through the five senses.

The hardest thing to accomplish is to bring the flesh into full compliance with the Spirit of God that is dwelling in us. Jesus said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, again the scriptures tell us, “What your corrupt nature wants is contrary to what your spiritual nature wants, and what your spiritual nature wants is contrary to what your corrupt nature wants. They are opposed to each other. As a result, you don’t always do what you intend to do.” (Galatians 5:17 GW).

We have all questioned ourselves concerning the Spirit of God. The person who confidently says I know I have the Spirit of God may be self deceived. Receiving God’s Spirit is an absolute promise and God stands behind His promises (Acts 2:38-39). We should not question God’s promise to give us His Holy Spirit. Our real concern should be, are we allowing the spirit to work in our lives the way God intended? Have you ever gone around the house flipping on the light switch during a power outage? You knew the power still existed, the problem was that there was a disconnect between the home and the transformer. In the spiritual realm when a disconnect occurs we sense the spirit is not working in our lives the way God intended. We know the power of God is still there, the problem is there has been a disconnect. Just like a transformer may be blown causing a power outage in your home, we Christians often blow it, causing the Holy Spirit to no longer work in our lives.

How do we reconnect to God’s Spirit? We must first identify the problem and it will always be with the corrupt nature. “The corrupt nature is obvious, illicit sex, perversion, promiscuity, idolatry, drug use, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambition, conflict, fractions, envy, drunkenness, wild partying.” (Galatians 5:19-21 GW). Once we have identified the problem we must confess, repent, and turn from the corrupt nature. The treadmill routine of sin and confess will not establish the connection we need. A lackadaisical approach towards forsaking our sins to establish the connection we need with God’s Spirit will not get the job done. A half hearted effort to reestablish a blown relationship with our maker is not enough! We must show God that we mean business in order to be reconnected with the Spirit of God. (Isaiah 66:2).

How can we know that we have been reconnected to God’s Spirit? When connected, “The spiritual nature produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 GW). If we lack these fruits of the spirit it is a sign that we are still disconnected with God’s Spirit.

God has placed His Spirit within us for a reason. It was not put there to convince us what good boys and girls we have been, God’s Spirit has been placed within us for reproof and correction. When we have blown it, when we have hurt other people, even people that we love, when we judge wrongly, when we have been a hypocrite, when we have made a complete fool of ourselves, God’s Spirit grieves our conscience and we feel terrible about who and what we are. THIS IS GOOD. Reproof and correction are a sign that God has not given up on you and that He still loves you enough to correct you (Hebrews 12:6-8). We often forget that if God’s Spirit is within us it will involve suffering. Reproof and correction are painful and admitting that we have been wrong can be a painful experience for the flesh (Hebrews 12:11).

Christians have been called out of this world into a fascinating journey that involves transforming the corrupt nature into the divine. The journey is both joyous and painful, bittersweet. Most of us have spent years trusting our own strength and depending on the flesh to meet all of our needs, now we have been called to blaze new territory, the spirit filled life.