Filled For Service

The Holy Spirit is at work, and God is active today in our world. Our realization of the need for the Spirit's leading and power is a step forward in our thinking about our faith walk. Many different people have tried to minimize the need for the Holy Spirit's power, but of course, we know that is a mistake, and we must repent from that irreverent thinking. When we begin to think about the Holy Spirit, some will get a little squimish, and even though they read about the Holy Spirit in scripture, they will try to explain away the movement of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1, when Mary, who is carrying Jesus in her womb, greets Elizabeth, who was carrying John the Baptist in her womb, Elizabeth felt the baby jump in her womb when the sound of Mary's greeting reached her ears and John's, the unborn baby's ears. Then scripture says that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was evident and in attendance at every move leading to the birth of John and Jesus. The Holy Spirit was present then, and He is present now to lead you and me in our faith walk. Believe in Him and follow His leading,g and God will move you into greater things than you thought possible. This further helps realize the statement of Jesus about the Holy Spirit in John 15:²⁶ “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. ²⁷ And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

When the Holy Spirit works in today's world, He is working to fulfill what Jesus said to His disciples in John 16:12: “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. ¹⁴ He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’ We can be sure that the Holy Spirit is a guiding force for our lives, so listen to Him and learn about Him in God's word. He is also a power source for our lives, as He enables us to have wisdom about future decisions and how to follow His calling on our lives.

Jesus needed to leave to go to the Father so the Holy Spirit could come, so He fulfilled everything needed for us to live a life of power and purpose, but we are able to do that through the Holy Spirit, and not ourselves. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled for serving the Lord, and He leads us in our everyday faith walk. To leave the Holy Spirit out of our faith walk is to walk blindly through our Christian life with a limited direction and a limited power source, and that is when the world jumps in to compromise that faith walk!! Since the Holy Spirit was working even in the womb of Elizabeth, how much more so is He working today in our lives as we live them! Paul wrote Ephesians 5:¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead,

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren