2. Transformation Produces Action and Vision
A powerless leader is a tragedy. Let me ask you a question:
Have you ever in the past been more passionate for souls and for the
presence of God in your life than you are right now? If you must
honestly answer yes, you are in trouble. How will your life
continue to impact others for Christ after you die? How would you
feel today if something you have done would be exposed and bring
great shame and discredit to all the good you have done with your
life for Christ? If you are not devastate, overwhelmed, or crushed,
by just the thought or possibility of such a thing happening then
something is really wrong with your mind.
God wants us to be more than we ever thought we could be, with a
humble and passionate destiny inside of us. The power of the Holy
Spirit will come upon us to enable us to do whatever God holds in
our destiny. The baptism in the Holy Spirit opens to the spirit filled
believer new possibilities and opportunities to live out in action and
vision the plan and purpose of God. Through the power of the
Spirit we can see God pulverize the strongholds of the devil. The
baptism in the Holy Spirit was not meant to be an emotional event
to be recorded in your journal, but to be a burning and continual
experience of the next level of transformation. Nothing can be in us
a equal substitute for the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
anoints the Gospel of Christ. Praise is wonderful and rejoicing is
great but the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Paul said
he preached Jesus in the power and the demonstration of the Spirit.
When we worship in the Spirit we might seem strange, even
fanatical to some. When the Spirit moves on us we are impacted
and there will be visible effects and manifestations. The Gospel is
about revival and renewal. It is reviving, resuscitating, quickening,
and hastening.
The book of Acts reflects the ACTION and VISION of the early
church. It is about people who were in vital contact with the Spirit.
They were connected and had discovered a resilience and power to
follow the purposes of God. Spirit filled believers, often known as
Pentecostals, have been made fun of and often rejected openly. Yet
they were serious about passion not sensation; they sought the
Giver not the gifts; they longed to be like Jesus and pay any price
for the glory and honor of Christ. Their actions were and should
always have been, a reflection of a deep spiritual transformation
that altered the very course of their lives.
The mission of the early Church seemed impossible but nothing is
impossible with God. The secret of the Church was and is the Holy
Spirit at work with power that changes everything it touches. The
Holy Spirit only glorifies the crucified and resurrected Christ, never
human personalities not sensationalism. The work of the Holy
Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are in the control of God and not
man. The greatest thing we can do is to stay full of the fire and
anointing of the Spirit and be available as God works and moves
upon us. We cannot generate the power of the Spirit by our words
or desires or techniques. The Spirit does not respond to our
commands or manipulation. We are effective when the Spirit
moves upon us for His work to enable us at that moment.
The Spirit may enable us with:
Wisdom – to edify the church
Knowledge – so we will know how God wants us to go forward
Faith – so that we will be able to have confidence in God and His
Word
Healings – to bring a touch of Heaven on earth
Miracles – for the salvation of the lost as they see the powerful
deeds of God
Prophecy – that the Word of God will be declared at that very
moment
Discernment – that we will act in true sensitivity to the Spirit
Tongues and Interpretation – so that in a heavenly prayer
language we speak mysteries as we praise God in the Spirit
as the Holy Spirit makes intercessions for us. Always for the
glory of God and the edification of the body of Christ, done
in proper order and with discernment.
The work of the Holy Spirit is about transformation and spiritual
empowerment. God has a plan for you to live out and god can
close the gap between your dreams and your reality. In Christ we
have an inheritance and a calling to the purpose of God, whereby
we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise who is the
guarantee of our inheritance to the praise of His glory.
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
AND
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!
Larry & Brenda
Hess