I Love a True Story |
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The Power of the Holy Spirit
Jesus returned to Galilee
in the power of the Spirit. —Luke 4:14
This is a very interesting verse because it shows us that it was the Holy Spirit that enabled Jesus to do all that He did.
Similarly Luke 5:17 says, "One day as he was teaching, the Pharisees and
teachers of the law ... were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was
present for him to heal them." It was the power of
the Holy Spirit that enabled Him. This is a hint to all of us.
Our difficulty
is that we want to hold on to our own gift. I have observed time and again some
very talented people not being used because they wanted the praise of men. I
have noticed ministers who had a marvelous gift but who were so afraid that it
would not be recognized that their pride destroyed them. It could happen to any
of us.
But with
Jesus, He actually said, "The Son can do nothing by Himself." That
meant that the Holy Spirit vindicated Jesus. Do you want the Holy Spirit to use you? Then let the Spirit do it.
Jesus received
His joy from the Holy Spirit. This is the reason He
was able to handle rejection. This is why He could cope with the way people
talked about Him. He did not take it personally; He knew it was their problem, because His joy was
from the Spirit. Finally, on the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came down, Jesus was
vindicated again.
This could
happen because the essential function of the work of the Spirit is to point men
to Christ. Therefore, after Peter said, "God has made this Jesus ... both
Lord and Christ," great conviction swept over the
crowd and they began to cry, "What shall we do?" Three thousand were converted, and all because of the Spirit's power.
Excerpted from Meekness and
Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992,
2000).
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You might enjoy this weeks
posts from my Blog “A Joyful Noise"
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3 comments:
This passage from Kendall really spoke to my heart today, Hazel. Thanks for posting it & for hosting, & God bless!
Thanks Laurie, Originally I had something else for that space but at the last minute found this wonderful devotional. It also spoke volumes to me.
Enjoyed the devotion, Hazel. Blessings!
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