Message Library

The Work of the Holy Spirit

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If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 14:15-17

According to the scripture above the person of the Holy Spirit is always with us and lives within us. It is the Spirit that gives us the power to overcome the world and molds us to have the mind and heart of Christ. Our Lord guides us through life via the Holy Spirit and promises life to the full. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

From scripture we will see the work that the Holy Spirit does for us.

  • The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand the Word, making the Word alive to us. The more we understand the Word, which is the language of God, the more we understand the Spirit.
  • The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you (John 4:26). Again this verse helps us to learn the ways of God from scripture that are to be revealed in our lives. The Spirit will guide us when ministering to others and will bring scriptures to our minds.
  • In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26). We pray through the Spirit telling God our concerns and feelings. The Holy Spirit takes our words and presents our hearts to Christ.
  • Because of what Christ Jesus has done, you are free. You are now controlled by the law of the Holy Spirit who gives you life. The law of the Spirit frees you from the law of sin that brings death (Romans 8:2). We are now controlled by the Spirit who changes our hearts, and through forgiveness in Christ we fulfill the law. Through forgiveness Christ presents us to the Father as perfect.
  • But you are not ruled by the power of sin. Instead, the Holy Spirit rules over you. This is true if the Spirit of God lives in you (Romans 8:9). The Spirit renews our minds and our hearts making us more Christ-like. We now seek to walk in God’s love and wisdom to overcome the world.
  • Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14). But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). When we receive the Holy Spirit we are in the family of God, where God protects our souls from the evil one and his angels are with us. He ordains us as Royal Priests and calls us his special possessions. This is our new identity.

 

  • Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (Ephesians 3:20). It is the Holy Spirit and the Word that gives us the power to let God change us and to overcome the world. The Lord guides us to overcome anything in life, and he goes with us and before us.

Today live by the Spirit and recognize his guidance by conviction and by scripture. Seek to be obedient to the Lord’s loving will and you will be more sensitive to the Spirit. Over many years of walking in the Spirit, your soul and the Spirit continually approach being one. This is what makes us more Christ-like, as our minds and hearts change.

Let’s Pray: Lord thank you for the Holy Spirit who changes me and guides me. Help me to follow your guidance and reflect your love and compassion to everyone. In Jesus name, Amen.