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Do you have trouble living this Christian life like you think you should?
Do you go to bed at night and lay there disappointed in yourself and frustrated because you didn’t live up to all the things a Christian is supposed to?
Maybe you’re emotionally and spiritually exhausted from just trying so hard to do and be everything the Bible tells us we should do and be.
If this is you, you’ve come to the right place, because today we’re going to get free from all of that!
Jesus is in His final days on earth and is trying to explain to the disciples that He is going away.
But they’re not getting it.
For some reason, although they acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, their minds can’t seem to wrap around fact that He is not of this world and that He has to return to the Father.
It’s like they get halfway through the equation and their brain misfires.
We see this confusion in the following verses:
John 13:36-37
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”
John 14:5-10
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?
From there, Jesus goes on to explain to them that while He is leaving them physically, He is sending the Holy Spirit who will enable them, empower them, and equip them to fulfill the mission God has ordained for them.
The Holy Spirit.
I feel that while a portion of the body of Christ has never wanted to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit functions today, or at least not to the extent that it did in the New Testament, the Pentecostal arm of the body of Christ – which has historically been known for it’s embracing of the Holy Spirit – has all but shelved its former practices and rarely talks about the daily need for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives today.
And make no mistake: without the power and unction of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are powerless
It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power and ability to do the will of God.
4 Reasons Why You Need the Holy Spirit
1. We need the Holy Spirit in order to do the works that Jesus did.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” John 14:12
Jesus was about to return to His Father; but not before He commissioned His disciples and let them know that the works that He’d done among them were not going to stop in His absence.
In truth, He wouldn’t be absent.
He was sending the Holy Spirit that would give them the power to do the same works that He did, but to a greater degree because He was multiplying Himself a million-fold through every person who believed on Him!
Now it wouldn’t be just Jesus preaching the gospel, healing the sick, cleansing the leper, and casting out demons, now it would be all of His followers spread all over the world doing these things a million-fold.
And we have that commission today.
But without the Holy Spirit, we do not have the power to do these works.
We don’t have the power to change lives, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise the dead.
There is nothing in us that gives us the power to do that, until we have the Holy Spirit operating through us in His mighty power.
“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 mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11
2. We need the Holy Spirit in order to keep Christ’s commands
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
For many years I tried so hard to live up to my own expectations of what a Christian should look and act like.
Not just my expectations, but also others’ expectations and what the Bible said.
And you know what?
I exhausted myself. I frustrated myself. I was daily disappointed in myself.
I would recite the verse, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
But I didn’t understand that Jesus didn’t define word “perfect” in this verse the way we define perfect. Webster defines perfect as being flawless and satisfying all requirements.
But the Greek word for perfect in this verse is teleios and means finished, complete, mature.
One requires an effort on our part flawlessly satisfy all of the rules and principles we see in God’s Word. The other requires a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
- Completing us by God’s grace
- Finishing that good work He began in us through Christ
- Maturing us through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit!
We can’t keep Christ’s commands on our own. We need the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace daily empowering us and enabling us to live pleasing to God.
3. We need the Holy Spirit to stand in the face of rejection
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause. But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.” John 15:18-16:4
There are a few things we can pull out of this passage.
a) The world will hate us.
Sadly, the church today is angered and frustrated by the fact that world hates us; and I believe that is because the church truly wants the world to accept her.
It’s like we feel we are the step-children of the world and we’re saying, “Look at us! We can be just as good as you are.” But that isn’t our mission.
But the world will never accept the church. Jesus, Himself, warned us that we’d be hated, rejected, and persecuted. This is normal.
b) The religious people will hate us.
In my post “Beware of the Modern Judaizers“, I talk about a segment of the church that is not only teaching a false gospel, but that is trying to shut out those who do not adhere to their false gospel. Jesus said this would happen.
c) The Holy Spirit will testify of the Father through us.
This leads to the final reason why we need the Holy Spirit. He will grant us supernatural boldness to speak the truth in the face of persecution, rejection and hatred.
Look at Peter in the gospels, and then look at Peter in Acts, after the Holy Spirit was poured out. They are like two different men.
And indeed they are!
Peter in the gospels is insecure, arrogant (which is how he covered up his insecurity), and impulsive. In Acts he is bold, decisive, and resolute.
The Holy Spirit gave him the power and courage to fulfill the mission God had ordained for him.
4. We need the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel
“And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. John 16:8-15
The Holy Spirit not only empowers us to do the works that Christ did, keep His commands, and stand in the face of hatred and rejection, but He fills our mouth with the words we need to boldly proclaim the truth.
We don’t save anyone.
It is the the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, confirming the words He has spoken through us in the heart of the listener, to soften their heart and acknowledge that those words are true.
We need the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We must not suppose we can live this Christian life and fulfill the mission God ordained for us without the power and strength of the Holy Spirit in us, enabling, empowering, and equipping us to live this life and do the works of Christ.
It is impossible!
Cry out to Him now and ask Him to fill you with His presence, His might, and His power.
I also invite you to check out this incredible study written by Dr. Hackett (also my father), about the Holy Spirit. It is a simple but powerful handbook.
Join me and over 200 women from all over the world in reading and studying God’s Word, cover to cover just one chapter a day.
Here is where you can find our online Bible study group: Good Morning Girls in the Word
This post is part of the Blogging Through the Bible series with Good Morning GirlsMore Articles on the Book of John:What Does It Mean To Be Born AgainWho Is Jesus Christ?
Other posts in this series
Covid-19 and the Canceling of the Church
3 Things the World Needs From the Church Right Now
3 Powerful Reasons We Need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Now More Than Ever
3 Things That Have Made the Church Powerless In This Culture
- Is It Ever Okay for a Christian to Offend? - September 23, 2020
- 7 Ways to Defeat Fear EveryTime - September 21, 2020
- Why Do You Want to Lose Weight? - September 18, 2020
Vicki W Lewis says
Rosilind, I feel a kinship with you because – once again – your message is SO timely in my life! “We must not suppose we can live this Christian life and fulfill the mission God ordained for us without the power and strength of the Holy Spirit in us, enabling, empowering, and equipping us to live this life and do the works of Christ.” I have been praying for a long while that God would show me plainly what direction He would have me go in my life. Last Sunday the head of the Christian Academy asked for prayers to help the pre-school discern if it should add kindergarten at this time. Immediately I was filled with the Holy Spirit! I couldn’t miss that answer from God! I needed to wait for Him. It was hard. The answer was unexpected that’s for sure! Going to sit in on some classes this Friday to see where I fit it. They have many needs!