The Power of the Holy Spirit

Are you struggling with something in your life, and want the power to overcome it?  The ultimate source of power is God himself, and God gives us
his Holy Spirit to live in us (Eph. 1:13).  The Spirit's power "is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 1:19-20).  Awesome!  I need that!  Do you?  Paul explains how, in his letter to the Ephesians.  

God has identified us as his own (like putting a seal of approval on us) by giving us his Holy Spirit (1:13).  Paul prays that God will give "spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God" (1:17), through the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit's power, as we saw in 1:19-20, is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, and put him above every other power (1:21) -- which means God can do anything he needs to in us, to give us new spiritual life!  Using that "up from the dead" idea in 2:4-6, Paul says that God gave us life, while we were still dead in our sins, when he raised Jesus from the dead.  

Paul was an energetic, effective evangelist.  But Paul insists it was by "God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News" (3:7), not by his own hard work, diligence or dedication.  And so, one of his prayers to God for the church was that "from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit...And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is" (3:16-18).  Then he asks that we "experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God" (3:19). 

That power can do "infinitely more than we might ask or think" (3:20).  One thing we all need the Holy Spirit to do for us, is to help us understand and experience "the love of Christ," and have "all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."  If we understood , we wouldn't try to work things out ourselves.  We wouldn't use political maneuvering and half-truths to get others to do our will.  We wouldn't use food, pornography, alcohol, marijuana, drugs, shopping, tobacco or any other substance or activity to make us feel better about ourselves. Knowing how secure we are in Christ, through God's infinite power, would let us relax and trust God to take care of all our needs.  

God loves us without conditions and gives us his powerful Spirit freely.  It's up to us, to decide to live within the Spirit instead of struggling to succeed by ourselves.  How about praying to God, giving up the struggle, and asking him to fill you completely with his power?  Instead of struggling, you'll experience his peace, leave your cravings behind and be filled with his love instead.  Too good to be true?  You won't know unless you take that step of surrender!  Need help surrendering?  Just ask.