Unlimited Capability
Today’s Verse:
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ~Luke 4:1
One of my dreams during my lifetime is that someone would develop an automobile that would have unlimited capability for driving, without needing fuel or maintenance. Of course, if something like this was developed, it would be incredibly expensive, given it would change the way the automobile industry does business. In our devotion this morning, our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated the unlimited capability of the Spirit life and its profound results in the lives of the people we minister to.
We see the personal imperative.
We are commanded to walk and live in the Spirit. The Spirit life is the only means for spiritual accomplishment and victory. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The walk in the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit distinguishes the spiritual man from the carnal man. There is not only the walk in the Spirit, but there is the necessity of the filling of the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit is when we are in His control and power for the work of God. Luke tells us: “Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost….” That is how He started and finished His ministry. You will never once read that Jesus was outside the control of the Holy Spirit.
We see the passionate import.
The fullness of the Spirit is the unction from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). His indwelling is God’s gift to us at salvation. His filling, on the other hand, is God’s power from on high. His anointing and unction is available to a believer who is completely yielded to Him, is saturated with God’s Word, and spends durations of time in prayer. An intense prayer life has always been a key criterion for the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was praying and fasting for forty days in the wilderness. God enables His servants as we show that we are faithful and mean business in getting His power into our lives.
We see the permeating influence.
The fullness of the Spirit must permeate our entire life. When we read through Luke 4, Jesus is in the fullness of the Spirit, is led of the Spirit, speaks and preaches in the Spirit, confronts difficult situations in the Spirit, serves in the Spirit; and endures resistance and pushback in the Spirit. He is so filled with the Spirit that He is influencing lives at different locations. We are told of His fame, His gracious words, and His authority over demons and diseases. Even though Jesus is God, we can have a similar permeating influence of the Spirit in our life and ministry as well.
We see the powerful impact.
There is unlimited capacity of the Spirit’s power in our life. Jesus powerfully overcame an attack from Satan. He made life-changing impact in the synagogues, the villages, and the personal lives of people. Peter’s mother-in-law was healed of a fever. A man filled with demons was met head-on by the Spirit-filled Son of God. There is an unusual boldness that the fullness of the spirit gives us. God gives us a capacity to withstand the powers of darkness and obstinate people. God gives us the capability to win souls, start new ministries, produce change, and make a difference. It is time for us to have such a fullness of the Spirit that God will trust us with an unlimited capability. Can He trust you with this type of capability?
Have a Spirit-endued God Morning!
Bible Reading: Luke 1