11 Ways to Operate Out of the Power of the Holy Spirit

 

ARE YOU LIVING A SPIRIT FUELED AND FILLED LIFE?

Galatians 5:22-23New International Version (NIV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Have you ever seen a steam engine? They billow smoke from everywhere. Smoke shoots up and out of the top of the engine, it seethes out all over the tracks. Steam trains run by using fire to heat coal. The steam then powers the engine.

A more simplified version of a steam engine is a tea kettle. The fire heats up the water, which then produces steam. You know the water is getting hot because the tea kettle emits steam from the top of its spout.

What causes the steam in both instances is the fire. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is compared to a fire. The Bible says the Holy Spirit is like a fire raging inside of you.  He is the source of the heat, and we need to keep “fanning the flames” (2 Timothy 1:6).

How much steam do you emit during the day? Is it obvious that the Holy Spirit is fueling your day and at work in your life? Are you using him to draw strength from throughout the day?

In Galatians, Paul talks about the fruits of the Spirit. The fruits are, “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). Galatians says that we will be known by the fruits we display. (Mathew 7:15-20)

How do we start showing these fruits, and letting out the steam that shows that we have a holy fire from Him? By welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives.

One of my favorite songs is Holy Spirit by Francesca Batistelli:

Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord

How many of you experience the Holy Spirit’s strengthening, abiding, and reassuring Spirit throughout the day? How many of you draw on the Holy Spirit in times of exhaustion, trial, and the daily rhythms of life?

The Holy Spirit desires to lighten your load, and direct your paths. God sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. Are you letting the Holy Spirit work in these ways?

1. The Holy Spirit TRANSFORMS(2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
   You are a work in progress, and the Holy Spirit is the one that convicts you of sin, and helps you move forward into the fruits of the Spirit such as love, patience, and self-control (Galatians 5:18-23). He is the one that moves you from GLORY to GLORY.

2. The Holy Spirit gives you WISDOM and GUIDANCE
   The Holy Spirit helps you discern difficult situations. He helps to guide you and give you wisdom for big and little decisions. He helps you walk in truth. (1 Corinthians 2:12) The Holy Spirit guides you through the word of God. He illuminates your mind so that you can understand, and hear what God is pressing upon your heart. (John 16:13) He is our teacher. (1 John 2:27)

3. The Holy Spirit gives you STRENGTH
   The Holy Spirit equips you with the strength, and power to do the things for which we have been called. He equips you to turn away a harsh answer with a kind word, to respond to criticism with love, and to respond gently to your child who is testing your patience. He gives you the power to preach, proclaim, and use your gifting’s for him. (Luke 24:49)

4. The Holy Spirit CONVICTS you
   The Holy Spirit will convict you of wrongdoing. He is the one that nudges you towards righteousness, and keeps you attentive to his leading. He helps you not to stray from the upright path. (John 16:7-11)

5. The Holy Spirit HELPS you
   The Holy Spirit helps you, lives alongside you and in you. He is the one who “brings to remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

6. The Holy Spirit COMFORTS you
   He exhorts you when you are feeling tired or weary. He encourages you in a forsaken land, and gives you joy. (1 Thessalonians 1:6) He is the one who gives you hope, and nourishes your heart.
7. The Holy Spirit gives GIFTS
   The Holy Spirit imparts gifts to believers. 1 Corinthians 12 is very specific that the Holy Spirit is the one that gives us our gifting’s, “⁸ To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. ⁹ To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. ¹⁰ To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. ¹¹ All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.” (1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
8. The Holy Spirit ASSISTS IN PRAYER
   The Holy Spirit helps us to know when, and how to pray. He helps us to be aware of our weaknesses and need for the almighty God.(Jude 20:20)
9. The Holy Spirit INTERCEDES
   The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray or what to do. He goes before us, and prays the prayers that we don’t even know we need to pray, he “…helps us in our weaknesses.” (Romans 8:26-27)
10. The Holy Spirit GUARDS and GUARANTEES salvation
    The Holy Spirit is the one that opens the heart and guarantees salvation. He begins to dwell in us, and marks us as a believer. He the gives us the confidence that we are children of God. (Ephesians 1:13) It is through the Holy Spirit that we experience conversion.
11. The Holy Spirit UNIFIES
    For we become ONE body through the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we can all operate within our gifting’s but support each other and admonish each other towards Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

Seven ways to call on the Holy Spirit DAILY:

1. Depending on him DAILY
   Walking with him daily by studying scripture, praying, and meditating. Looking towards him when we are overwhelmed and unsure.
2. Prayerfully asking for WISDOM and INSIGHT
   When you are feeling unsure or anxious, ask him to give you insight and knowledge. Ask him to press upon your heart the right decision.
3. Asking that he might FILL you before you start your day
   Asking that the Holy Spirit would FILL your day with his presence. His JOY. His STRENGTH. His INSIGHT. He has so much to offer.(Ephesians 5:18)
4. Ask him to keep you CALM instead of responding in ANGER
   The Holy Spirit is the one that gives us the strength to respond with a peaceful word instead of anger when we have been rebuked.
5. Asking that he might COMFORT you
   When you are feeling down and out, ask the Holy Spirit to come alongside you and encourage you.
6. Asking that he might INSTILL you with his POWER
   If you are feeling week, ask him to give you the power and strength to make it through the day.
7. When you don’t know what to do; ask him to PRAY for you.
   When you feel totally stuck, ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you in ways that you wouldn’t have even thought of.

To cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we must depend on Him and look towards him in our day to day lives. We must keep quiet spaces throughout our day so that he can work and speak. We can turn to him for whatever we face during each new day.

Are you using the HOLY SPIRIT to FUEL your day, are you ASKING him to FILL YOU? Are you making use of all his resources?

Christ said he came so that we would have peace in him, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33)

May, you live in peace by taking advantage of the Holy Spirit throughout your day.