Focus 11 Holy Spirit

Why do we need to focus on the Holy Spirit. Well for one thing, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit and if He needed the Holy Spirit’s power to function, we definitely need the Holy Spirit today! So let’s continue looking at the Holy Spirit and why we need to focus on Him!

Luke 3:16–22 The Message

16 But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. 17 He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.” 18 There was a lot more of this—words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them. The Message! 19 But Herod, the ruler, stung by John’s rebuke in the matter of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 20 capped his long string of evil deeds with this outrage: He put John in jail. 21 After all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up 22 and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”

1. The Holy Spirit solidifies our identity!

Up until the time that John baptized Jesus, He was known as the son of Joseph the carpenter. When the Holy Spirit came upon Him when He was baptized, He was identified as the Son of God in whom God was well pleased.

Remember what Jesus told His disciples that when the Holy Spirit came upon them they would be witnesses of Jesus. They would be identified as followers of Christ because they would have the power to be His witnesses.

It’s the same for us today. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we live differently. Notice the Holy Spirit was a separate event. Jesus was always both the Son of God and the Son of Man when he was born, so He didn’t have to be “born again” like we do. And yet the event that kicked off His ministry was when the Holy Spirit came on Him.

Same with the disciples. They were believers but it wasn’t until they were filled with the Holy Spirit that they were “identified” as followers because of their boldness to witness. It’s the same today. Something happens when we receive the Holy Spirit. We really can identify with our Christian heritage.

Luke 4:1–13 ESV

1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

2. The Holy Spirit give us His strength when we are weakest!

Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and being led by the Spirit He went to the wilderness.

When we are full of the Holy Spirit, God can use us into battle for people even when we are at our weakest. When we are weak, He is strong. There is nothing that can weaken God. In fact, the harder the assignment, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit will definitely bring us through to victory.

Luke 4:14–21 AMP

14 Then Jesus went back full of and under the power of the [Holy] Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of Him spread through the whole region round about. 15 And He Himself conducted [a course of] teaching in their synagogues, being recognized and honored and praised by all. 16 So He came to Nazareth, [that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read. 17 And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.] 20 Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him. 21 And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing.

3. The Holy Spirit uses us to minister to others!

When Jesus came back from the encounter with satan, He full of power! That’s what happens to us when we see God’s power free us from impossible battles!! Jesus comes back and ministers from the book of Isaiah and says that today this scripture is fulfilled.

Now I’m not in any way implying that we are Jesus but here’s what happens when we let the Holy Spirit have His way. Our lives reflect the truth found in the Word of God! we can actually have others see how true God’s word is by looking at the way we live and witnessing that today, what God says is evident in our lives. In other words today this word is fulfilled.

Acts 6:1–7 NIV

1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

4. The Holy Spirit equips everyone for service to God!

Every time there is growth taking place in God’s kingdom, which is actually all the time, more and more Christians are needed to serve. Notice what the requirement for serving is. They must be wise and full of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always needed to equip every believer to be a servant to all. Remember Jesus told us that the greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one who serves everyone. So it makes sense that the Holy Spirit would equip us to have the heart to serve.