“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:15-20 (NIV)
Christ did not leave us defenseless. The Holy Spirit indwells every true believer in sweet Jesus giving us His mighty power and equipping us with everything necessary to carry out God’s good and pleasing and perfect will. Through His power, we are enabled to rid ourselves of inbred sins – we can trust Him for the power to drive them out. We can also trust Him to curb our tempers, subdue our wrong passions, comfort our despondencies, give light to our understanding and help us in our weaknesses. Sadly, we oftentimes have no idea what the Holy Spirit can do for us and in us and through us - if allowed. He will not force His power on us – we must be wiling. We oftentimes shrink the Spirit by being doggedly determined to walk in our own weak abilities. His power is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Yet, we often find ourselves defeated because we seek to do things in our own strength – which is really no strength at all. We must trust Him Who dwells within us. We are the losers if we don’t.
It is impossible to overstate the sublime blessing of this sacred filling of the soul. He gives us grace to meet every need, cleanses us from the power of sin which always leads to death of something and sanctifies us making us more and more into the image of Jesus. He guides us in the way of righteousness, illuminates the Scriptures to us as Jesus did with His two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, and He intercedes for us, helping us in our weaknesses with groans that words cannot express. God within us – the hope of glory!
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)