Releasing the power within you
2022-03-08Philippians 2:13 CEV
The engine in a car is its power source, and it’s activated when you put the car in gear. Only then do you have the momentum you need to get where you need to go. One of the dangers in seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit is that we can reduce it down to an ‘experience’, rather than ‘putting it in gear’ to achieve great things for God.
In the New Testament, when someone was filled with the Holy Spirit, things happened! People turned to Christ. Healings took place. Lives were turned around. They didn’t just celebrate in church. Celebration was everywhere. In Scripture, the first picture we have of God is of Him in His creative role. He creates us in His image, breathes life into us, then tells us, ‘Go out and become productive’ (see Genesis 1:28).
If we’re praying for someone to come along, give us all the answers, and change our circumstances, it won’t happen. We’re not helpless onlookers. What God has placed inside us will change what’s outside us – but we have to put it to work. What’s within us is greater than all the difficulties we’ve been through, the situations we’re in now, or the obstacles that lie ahead in our paths.
When everything around us is saying no and something within us is saying yes, that’s ‘God…working in you to make you willing and able to obey him’. The ‘willing’ is our part; the ‘able’ is His part. When we get those two things working in sync, we’ll see amazing change in our lives.