"If you are ever going to be used by God you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. And furthermore, only when you are filled with the Holy Spirit can you be used by God."
One of the saddest commentaries today is churches operating outside the power of the Holy Spirit. An even sadder commentary is most of these churches don't even know that the Holy Spirit is not present because they have been doing the work of the Lord in their own strength.
During this time of pandemic, I have conversed with so many Pastors where the ministry of the church completely shut down. The church doors closed and the people went home and sat down, my church included. Universally, the work of the church was being completed by less than 5% of the church membership. Many Pastors had to wear many different hats. The staff or volunteers continued to worked around the clock many times with no appreciation. In my sermon, "Refuse to Die" taken from 2 Kings 7 on Sunday July 27th, I spoke about the amount of criticisms and complaints I, and other Pastors were receiving as they were navigating through unchartered territory.
As I sat and listened my question was how was this possible if members were being led by the Holy Spirit? Scripture says in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” If your life is under complete control of the Holy Spirit then your life will reflect that control. Pastor G's translation - "A personal encounter with the Holy Spirit will be displayed publicly." And this display is not just about jumping and shouting.
Here are a few things that will be shown when your life is under the control of the Holy Spirit.
A true display of the Holy Spirit is shown through the kingdom work that you are active in, not for public accolades but in obedience to God, exercising the gift HE has given you. This involved teamwork and not only when it is your project. This display has nothing to do with like or dislike. It is about serving God.
A true public display of the Holy Spirit is shown in the fruit of the Spirit you show to others, i.e. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
A true public display of the Holy Spirit is shown through your active participation in the things of God outside of church attendance, i.e. prayer, Bible study, worship, meditating on God's Word.
A true public display of the Holy Spirit is shown through the application of Scripture in your life. It is about a lifestyle and not just lip service.
A true display of the Holy Spirit is seen when we evangelize the least, lost and left-out. We should not be afraid to tell anyone about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is faithfully fulfilling His role to us. The question is are you fulfilling your responsibility to the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately too many active church attendees are guilty of grieving the Holy Spirit, quenching the Holy Spirit and lying to the Holy Spirit. And then we wonder why our lives are in the shape that they are in. God is not first place. When a child of God is actively listening to and being guided by the Holy Spirit it is obvious to everyone. It is obvious, not only to the saint but also the sinner. It is obvious not only on Sunday for two hours but also after church and on Monday.
Everything we do should be guided by the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Holy Spirit should be our only guide. Just like a blind sprinter participating in the paralympics, our lives should be tethered to the Holy Spirit. And here is something to keep in mind. "It is absolutely impossible to live the Christian life being under the influence of the Holy Spirit."
So as always, I hear you thinking. "What does this mean for me Pastor G? What is the key takeaway?" My answer is simple. Pause and ask God have you been living your life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? This is not something you can evaluate alone. This question can only be answered by God. And then make a decision to change or be honest with yourself that you are fine sitting on the sideline being a Monday morning quarterback. My prayer is that you will allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and a true change first in your heart will take place and then a change in your actions will result.
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