What or who empowers you? What makes you feel emboldened to take on anybody or anything? Adrenaline will set us up but the rush does eventually dissipate. Uncontrolled power creates dictators. It makes people feel like they can do whatever they want but can they really? It is said that if you want to know the character of a man or woman for that matter, give them power.
Biblical power and authority has the opposite effect. It actually humbles us. It makes us appear weak to those who misuse authority. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he wanted to ascertain whether Jesus was truly the Messiah. He was seeing Him in a different light than the Majesty of heaven. Jesus had humbled Himself by putting on human flesh. He came through that experience in the power of the Spirit. Luke 4:14. Demonstrating to us that we too needed the Holy Spirit if we were ever going to serve effectively in the Kingdom of God.
In Acts chapter two, the disciples were given specific instructions to tarry or wait for the Helper. The promised Holy Spirit. Prior to that event, Peter denied Him, Judas betrayed Him and the others ran and hid in fear of their lives. The power of the Holy Spirit changes us from mere men to powerful mouthpieces for Jesus Christ. The most timid Christian who experiences baptism in the Holy Spirit is forever changed. In the Old Testament we saw proof of that, the difference though was the Holy Spirit came upon them. In the New Testament, He is inside us not occasionally but forever. John 14:17
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:4-5, 8 NKJV
This power isn’t so we can do whatever we want, or walk around with our chest puffed up. It’s power to be His witnesses. We are given power to continue His work. Preach salvation to the lost, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils and discerning of spirits. We have the power to rightly divide God’s Word. To live authentic victorious lives We are to demonstrate to the unsaved the same miracle working power Jesus had. We should never use discernment as a means of controlling people. Making them dependent on us instead of Jesus Christ. The apostles who walked in the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit, always deflected attention away from themselves to Jesus Christ.
“So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
Acts 3:12-13, 16 NKJV
“This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,”
Acts 14:9-11, 14-15 NKJV
“But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.”
Acts 5:3-5 NKJV
The power to do these miracles didn’t rest with the apostles but rather in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was the evidence that the apostles were indwelt by a power not their own. They didn’t operate pridefully but humbled themselves and submitted to His authority. The Holy Spirit is not a thing, He is the third person of the Godhead. He was present at Creation Genesis 1 and Jesus prayed that the Father would send Him to us in His place. John 14-16. There's a noticeable difference in the believer who has this Authority living inside them and those who don’t. Take Peter for an example. The Peter in the denial isn’t the same Peter after receiving the Holy Spirit. There’s a different boldness. It’s not brash and emotionally self serving. It’s submitted authority. The apostle Paul went from being a hardened zealot to a bold and humbled mouthpiece for the spreading of the gospel.
I’m sickened by those who have abused the gift of the Holy Spirit, using it for personal gain. It’s their names in light. No wonder they have resorted to gimmicks. The Holy Spirit will not be peddled or paraded as part of a freak show. He is called Holy for a reason. Jesus humbled Himself to fulfill His Father’s desires. The gift of Holy Spirit power isn’t ours, it's the Father’s, to use at His will and pleasure. There’s yet another problem. Those who have received the indwelling Holy Spirit, but operate in doubt and fear. That’s quenching the Spirit. And we’re warned against that.
“Never restrain or put out the fire of the Holy Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19 TPT
Whenever the Holy Spirit prompts or instructs us to say or do something, we must obey immediately. To hesitate is to question His authority. *We know His voice by means of obedience. The more you obey the more He speaks. Not everything He asks us to do will be pleasant, but obey we must. I’m sure Peter did not take pleasure in telling Ananias or his wife what the Holy Spirit had revealed, or John the hard messages to the Churches in Revelation, or Paul when He disrupted the use of the slave girl who was being used for monetary gain, or Stephen before he was stoned to death for telling the truth. Obeying the Holy Spirit may come at a cost, but we must never quench Him.
*“But solid food is for the mature, whose spiritual senses perceive heavenly matters. And they have been adequately trained by what they’ve experienced to emerge with understanding of the difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful.”
Hebrews 5:14 TPT
The word solid food is speaking of the Word. The more mature we are in the things of God the easier it is to perceive spiritual things. We will never mistake or misuse the power of the Gift that has been entrusted to us. We are to use them strictly for His glory. So are you using the power you have been given to accomplish His plans? Are we witnesses for Him? Are we healing the sick? Or are we limiting the Holy Spirit? He, the Spirit of Truth, helps us in our understanding of the written Word. He brings illumination to things we cannot understand on our own. The things of the Spirit aren’t intellectually discerned, but they are intellectual, because He is wisdom, knowledge and understanding personified. I like saying He makes me appear smart, and it’s true. We the body of Christ have received true power. Power so strong it restrains itself when attacked, ridiculed or persecuted. Consider Jesus, who allowed His subjects to spit in His face. If that isn’t restraint I don’t know what is.
“And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let His mindset become your motivation. He existed in the form of God, yet He gave no thought to seizing equality with God as His supreme prize. Instead He emptied Himself of His outward glory by reducing Himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled Himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in His death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion! Because of that obedience, God exalted Him and multiplied His greatness! He has now been given the greatest of all names! The authority of the Name of Jesus causes every knee to bow in reverence! Everything and everyone will one day submit to this name—in the heavenly realm, in the earthly realm, and in the demonic realm. And every tongue will proclaim in every language: “Jesus Christ is Lord Yahweh,” bringing glory and honor to God, his Father!”
Philippians 2:5-11 TPT
That’s true power, the power of the Holy Spirit. May we endeavor to walk and live in this power. So that the Kingdom and will of God the Father will come to earth and soon, in Jesus Name.
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
August 2, 2021