I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
We are all like drained batteries apart from the achieving power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We can do nothing eternal in our flesh without Him. It is He Who gives us the purity of motivation and the power to do the things simply too hard for us to do. Works done through Him bring God much glory and us much good. Fleshly works are often motivated by bringing ourselves glory or at the very least building ourselves up in our own minds. It does us well to remember that the One Who gives the power is the One Who gets the glory, Amen?
All believers in sweet Jesus possess the Holy Spirit and as Paul states in Romans 8:9 (NIV):“And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” Therefore, we are to be going forth in His power, doing His good work, being full of His energy and His activity. The Spirit within us is operative and active. God is always about His work, right?
The Holy Spirit is often compared with fire in Scripture and fire is of a working nature. He softens our hearts making our hearts of stone malleable in the Potter’s Hands. It is He Who makes us fit for the impression of all good – we are not good in and of ourselves but He is the good within us. That’s why Jesus in all four Gospels tells us we are to die to self and to follow Him. The Holy Spirit equips us to do this great task of walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
We are dark creatures in and of ourselves – even the sweetest and meekest among us. Yet the fire of the Holy Spirit makes us light and equips us to walk in the light as He is in the light. Remember as well, fire always ascends upwards. If man possesses the Spirit of God, His mind and thoughts and actions are on the things above and not groveling in the earthly here below. We are not to shrink the Spirit within us living with thoughts only of selfish ambitions and vain conceits rather His effects on us are to enlighten our understanding, equipping us to walk as Jesus walked. Flesh is not capable of doing this in and of itself. May God’s infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of self-confidence.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV)