The person who dedicates his all as a living sacrifice in absolute surrender (the term Andrew Murry loved to use) and asks for and trusts for the Spirit's infilling is given a new dimension of spiritual life.
The Holy Spirit cleanses and makes one pure in the inner person to a degree he never knew before, and in the same moment fills with a divinely greater power. (Google image, Couple praying).
After one is filled with the Spirit, as one walks in the light of the Word as guided by the Spirit, he seeks constantly to please the Lord. Moment by moment he depends on the Spirit who indwells, and the Spirit enables him to be victorious over temptation.
Through the Spirit's help purity can be preserved. In some sense we can keep ourselves pure (1 Tim. 5:22) by careful obedience to the Spirit (1 John 3:3), by testing everything, holding to the good and avoiding the evil (1 Thess. 5:21-22). We thus help to keep ourselves from being soiled and spotted by sin (2 Peter 3:14).
But spiritual power is different. Spiritual power cannot be preserved indefinitely. The power of the Spirit is His energy flowing into and through our spirits. Energy gets used up. Power must be renewed. This spiritual secret is beautifully symbolized in Zechariah 4.
God gave an important vision to Zechariah to strengthen and encourage the two God-anointed leaders who were rebuilding the temple after the captivity—Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the governor. Great opposition had delayed the work for twenty years.
God used symbolism to illustrate and confirm His pithy dictum: "This is the word of the LORD . . . 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty" (Zech. 4:6).
God showed Zechariah a vision of a gold lampstand furnishing light through a bowl that channeled olive oil to seven lamps (symbolizing fullness of light).
The oil supply to the bowl came from two golden pipes that received oil from a living olive tree. The lamps burned and gave light as long as oil flowed.
The Spirit's power is the great essential for doing God's work, but is expended by use. We cannot minister today in yesterday's power. We cannot accomplish God's full purpose on memories of past blessing and empowering. God does not want us to live in the past, but in a moment-by-moment present appropriation of His power.
There may be rare occasions when God uses us in spite of ourselves. That was probably the way He used Samson, Balaam, and King Saul on occasions. But the rule of God is that we can give only what we receive.
God wants us to be daily empowered so that we are daily usable for His glory. God forgive us if the only time He uses us mightily is when He is compelled to work in spite of our spiritual condition.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
#21 Depleted Spiritual Power Can Be Renewed
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel(pp. 83 - 85) ZondervanPublishingHouse
Our prayer today-
I want to be cleansed and made pure in my innermost being, so I can receive divine power to serve You.
I have come to understand that your Holy Spirit's power is energy flowing into me, to enable me to continually walk a sanctified life with Jesus.
Help me remember that it's necessary that my time spent with You for the infilling Spirit-power must occur daily to do Your work, as it will be expended by use. I must not minister to others with yesterday's power, or even try to.
I ask for the commitment to wait on Your Spirit to empower me for the tasks ahead of me, and pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to
all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—
has been born . . . For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might
be saved.” Luke 2:10-11 (NLT), John 3:16-17 (NKJV).
Is. 54:17 (KJV)"No weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in
judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me,
saith the LORD."
Jer. 7:23 (KJV) "But this thing commanded I thee, saying,
'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my
people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded
you, that it my be well unto you.' "
~ Andrew Murray- "What is the reason many thousands of Christian workers in the world have not greater influence? Nothing save this - the prayerlessness of their service. In the midst of all their zeal in the study, and in the work of the church, of all their faithfulness in preaching and conversation with the people, they lack that ceaseless prayer which has attached to it the sure promise of the Spirit, and the power from on high.
It is nothing but the sin of prayerlessness which is the cause of the lack of a powerful spiritual life. The indispensable thing is not preaching, not pastoral visitation, not church work, but fellowship with God in prayer until we are clothed with power from on high! (Luke 11:1-13; Acts 1:8).
~ "Samuel Brengle had learned the laws of ultimacy, priority, sequence, order, timing, and placing which are the means of spiritual efficiency and effectiveness. In short, Brengle had learned the secret of making one's time count, for in waiting on Him, no time is ever lost - it is redeemed!"
[Both taken from Herald of His Coming Newspaper, Vol. 76 No. 12 (912), December 2017, p. 4, used by permission.]
Today's question-
Can we find Christ too?
As God gives us a sense of what He's up to, we can know Him! Like the wise men who pursued the Christ child and found Him, we too can find Him. We'll need to stay focused, as they did, in our desire to know Him today.
These men had a long and hazardous journey to travel, but they were determined to succeed. Our journey may also seem a long one, but God will guide us in our pursuit if we really care to find Christ, and if we develop a hunger of heart to really know Him for ourselves.
Seekers of Truth, through their determination, will learn to submit to the Holy Spirit's guidance. Others' lives will be touched by our commitment to find Jesus, so we may see them encouraged to seek Him too. Some may not be interested, as it may not make sense to them.
We'll find that they'll have to also want to know Him, as it doesn't just come automatically. The wise men had to make every effort to find the Christ child, and so will we. To pray for friends and family to come to church, may take some definite time, as our prayers will enable God's Spirit the freedom to draw them to ask questions, and even come to church.
Continue to seek God! Respond to His urgings through His Word, the Bible, and ask humbly for His help.
Upcoming posts-
#22 How Spiritual Power is Depleted or Lost 1-4
28th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
Multiplied Generosity
30th- Saturday's post by Sheridan Voysey
#23 How Spiritual Power is Depleted or Lost 5-9
1/2- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#24 Love - The Secret of Your Leadership
4th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
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