Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Spirit on Jesus and Jesus' Followers

As discussed in the previous post on the Holy Spirit, Jesus did His work by the power of the Spirit. Just before He was crucified, He gathered with His disciples and told them, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”  The disciples must have been confused; how could it be good that the Lord Jesus would leave them?  Bruce Ware explains (“Big Truths for Young Hearts,” p. 156):
“What could possibly be better than having Jesus living with you, walking alongside you day by day? Answer: having Jesus, by his Spirit, living his own life within you.”

It’s so easy for us to surround ourselves with things that keep us "safe" – money in savings, Bible study, private school or homeschooling, a stable job, attending church services, activities for kids, and so on.  And these can be good things, but for followers of Christ, there must be more.

What’s most important for Christ-followers is having the Holy Spirit in us, changing us, guiding us, and making us more like Christ.  Those other “good” things in life are empty and ineffective without the power of the Spirit.  Are you relying on the good things around you, or are you submitting to and trusting in the One who is in you?  We need to remember that the primary role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not to accomplish tasks, but to cause transformational, inside-out change.

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