Dependent on the Holy Spirit

[soso]

Dependent on the Holy Spirit

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

“Jesus returned /to Galilee /in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside...

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 4:14; 5:16 NIV)

When Jesus Christ was here on earth, there was excitement /surrounding him, because miracles were happening and his name was being spread abroad; but Luke says in his gospel //that Jesus kept escaping the crowds and getting alone to pray.  Luke then recounts the story of a paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through the roof of the place where Jesus was teaching. 

* recount; To tell; narrate; to relate in detail.

The Scriptural account says that “the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick” (Luke 5:17), and the paralyzed man was indeed healed that day.  There’s no doubt that as Jesus spent time with the Father, the power of the Holy Spirit kept coming on him.

It is interesting to note that Jesus didn’t do his miracles /depending on his divinity.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin.  Although he was totally God, he was also totally human; and he lived his life /depending on the same Holy Spirit

//on whom we also have to depend.  Remember that Jesus never did a miracle or otherwise ministered or taught /until he went into the Jordan River /to be baptized. 

And as he was praying, the Holy Spirit came on him in the form of a dove.  It was from there that the Bible tells us that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led into the wilderness /to be tempted by the devil.  Then, it says that Jesus returned to Galilee /in the power of the Holy Spirit and began to minister.

Jesus was dependent /on the same power /from on high //that he told his disciples they would need /in order to effectively preach the good news /once he ascended back to heaven /after his resurrection.  The disciples already had the right message and doctrine, but [what they needed] was the power //that would come /when the Holy Spirit came /upon them /in a new way

(Luke 24:46-49); and that is exactly what happened in the New Testament book of Acts.  They received the promise of the Holy Spirit and they turned the world /upside down /in their day. 

Jesus had been an example /to his disciples /when he was still here on earth.  He would be quietly praying /on a mountain sometimes; and when he would go out from there, the power of God was with him.  That would be the rule for the early church, and it’s the same principle for every Christian today.  The more we spend time with the Lord, the more the Holy Spirit controls us and the more his power is released in our lives— power to love people, power to have insight and discernment, power to intercede for others, and power to share the good news.

Do you want to make a difference /in your world and be a blessing to others?  [The only one //who can do that] is the Holy Spirit as he ministers through you.  If we’re born again, we already have the Holy Spirit in us, according to God’s Word.  But the more control he has over our lives, the more we can do and the more effectively we can do [what he called us to do].

Let’s spend time /with the Lord today and ask him to do this deep work /in our lives /through the Holy Spirit //who lives in us!

Read Luke 3:21-22; 4:1-21.