Going Strong Through Adversity

“One of the ways you know the Holy Spirit is taking over is that you are being Christian when nobody is telling you to be Christian.¹”

Having the Holy Spirit in your heart means that you are becoming someone new…

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:7

It doesn’t mean that you, by your own doing, will change your behavior because of rules or regulations, or because someone is making you; this means that you won’t have the desire to do what you did before. You will have the desire to change your behavior because of the change that has happened in your heart.

It is this same Spirit that gives us the power to live for Christ, to live according to God’s will, to live unashamed, to be used by God to expand the Kingdom of Heaven.

Many times I wonder what a non-Christian, or atheist, would think about what I write, about this blog. For sure they would think I’ve lost my mind, “Holy Spirit?” “Kingdom of Heaven?” “That’s crazy talk!” Yet, you know what, that doesn’t discourage me. They can think what they want; I am 100% sure I am living for a God that’s real and has made Himself real to those who will hear and see.

If it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, Christians would have given up a long time ago. But, here they are, still going strong, being missionaries in communist countries and muslim countries, becoming martyrs to spread the Word of God where the government and other religions have prohibited Christianity. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit.

Changed Inside-Out

I’ve heard many stories from christians about random people that come up to them and tell them that they’re different, they get asked why they’re so happy all the time, why they handle situations differently, or have such a different outlook on life. The answer: it is because of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit changes lives; he changes personalities. While Jesus was on Earth, the disciples were followers, they were shy in admitting that they were part of Jesus’ crew. After Jesus left Earth, something inside of them changed, something made them bolder for Christ, unafraid, willing to go against tide and wind to spread the Word of God, to expand God’s Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit gives us power that we didn’t think capable of having. Some examples are: power to do God’s will when everyone around us seems opposed to the path God is calling us to take, power to overcome a constant temptation or sin in your life, power to spread the Gospel without fear of man.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power.

2 Timothy 1:7

The main purpose of the Holy Spirit is to build God’s Kingdom.

“If what you are doing is not building God’s kingdom, the Holy Spirit is not interested in empowering you.¹”

¹ Evans, T. (1995). Kingdom Builder. Time To Get Serious (pp. 250). Illinois: Crossway Books.

There Is Power

“The coming of the Holy Spirit to permanently indwell God’s people means that we have unlimited power and spiritual resources available to us.¹”

The Holy Spirit allows us to experience the fullness of Christ. We never saw Jesus in person, nor talked to him face to face; yet through the Spirit we experience fellowship with Him. Because the Spirit and Jesus are the same person in different forms, and with different functions.

The Holy Spirit is the one that gives us power. He intercedes for us in our prayers, as I mentioned yesterday. The Holy Spirit gives us life. When we accept Jesus’ salvation through the cross, we accept the Holy Spirit in our hearts. He then welcomes us into the spiritual realm where we have power through the Spirit.

What kind of power? The power to achieve anything under God’s will, even when it goes against what the world believes.

The Holy Spirit

Have you ever wondered how it is that we communicate with God, that we have the power to do God’s will, specially when God’s will goes against our desires and instincts? It is by the Holy Spirit.

God, the Father is the Almighty being, He is not physical, He has utmost authority. Jesus, the Son of God, is God in body, he is a physical and tangible being. The Holy Spirit is…a Spirit, not physical, he is called our Advocate, Comforter, Encourager, Counselor.

When we talked about prayer, we learned that the Holy Spirit is through whom we can have direct communication with God. Well, he is not only a channel for communication, he is also a channel for power. It is when the Holy Spirit is in us, in our hearts, that we are empowered to follow God’s way through every trial and every roadblock. He empowers us to resist temptation, he gives us discernment to make the right decisions.

In order for the Holy Spirit to be with us, we have to ask God for it. We have to know the Spirit’s attributes just as we know God’s attributes and Jesus’ attributes.

He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

John 14:17