2020-08-28
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The supernatural powers of God are His omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience [all presence, all powerful, and all knowing]. These same powers apply no matter which of His three personalities is in action. PS 139: 5-7, 10 “You are all around me on every side; You protect me with Your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. Where could I go to escape from You? Where could I go to get away from Your presence? You would be there to lead me; You would be there to help me…” The Holy Spirit has His hand in our creation too. PS 104: 30, “But when You give them breath, they are created; You give new life to the earth.” GN 1: 1-2, “In the beginning, when God created the universe; the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.” Long years afterward, the Holy Spirit was involved in giving life to Israel’s dry bones, in EZK 37: 14. “I will put My breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then, they will know that I am their Lord; I have promised that I would do this—I will. I, the Lord, have spoken.” Job’s friend, Elihu, testified to him, in JOB 33: 4, “All my words are sincere, and I am speaking the truth. God’s Spirit made me and gave me life.” So, it’s not difficult to assume that the Holy Spirit has all the power that the other personalities of the Trinity have and works in many ways to interact with us. His action with us can happen at any time in mankind’s history, in many ways, and He lives in the souls of believers, thanks to Christ’s command at the Pentecost.
AC 2: 2-4 describes that remarkable event, which happened after Christ’s resurrection in the upper room while the apostles were gathered. “Suddenly there was a noise from the sky, which sounded like a strong wind blowing. It filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then, they saw what looked like tongues of flame touching each person there. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in languages, as the Holy Spirit enabled them to speak.” We already know that Peter gave an important speech before a large group of Jews from all over Israel. Despite that they all spoke different dialects, each one of them clearly understood what Peter was saying. That was the first widespread experience of the Holy Spirit’s remarkable power.
Let’s look at some other examples from our experience with Him. The virgin Mary had gone to bed, and she hadn’t yet fallen asleep. LK 1: 35, is when the angel Gabriel appeared to her. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and God’s power will rest on you,” the angel said. (He had already told her she would have an important child, with Whom the Lord has blessed her. This was despite her being a virgin. “For this reason, the child will be called ‘the Son of God.’” Yet another example was the Holy Spirit’s part in Christ’s Atonement. The people were ritually unclean, and up to that time, they had been purified by the sacrificial blood of animals. HE 9: 13-15, “Christ attained eternal forgiveness for us when He entered the Holy of Holies and offered His own blood, rather than that of sacrificed animals. He became the once for all, acceptable sin sacrifice for believing mankind, the Propitiation. Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals so that we may serve the living God. For this reason, Christ is the One Who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. All this can be done, because there has been a death, which sets people free from their sins while the first covenant was in effect.”
The powers of being omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent aren’t things we can hold in our hands or subject to a physical test. Rather they are experienced by people who are faithfully obeying God. The transmittal of such powers is the job of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus. That is why Christ is “the Firstborn of all creation” [COL 1: 15b], the One Who accomplishes the task of creation right from the beginning. The supernatural power to get God’s will done is that of the Holy Spirit. He is also involved in seeing to it that our prayers for openings to God’s amazing wisdom are answered. Of course, God the Father makes all the decisions that Christ and the Holy Spirit act upon. The importance, to those who believe in and profess Christ, of the Holy Spirit cannot be stressed enough! That is why it is so necessary for us to “let go and let God!”
PRAYER: O Lord, our need to be dependent on the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives really matters! Everything You have done in offering Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross is central to our spiritual lives. He stood by Your decisions, acted upon them, and transmitted Your Spirit to us as our Counselor. We were nothing without Your interaction in our lives through Him [JN 15: 5]. Without Him, we founder as if drowning in a sea of sin. Before Your Son, Jesus stood by and endured what was necessary to sacrifice His physical life, all we had was Your word on what pleased You and what didn’t. Once Christ suffered, was crucified, died, and was resurrected, there had been no Atonement. But, He did go through all of the above, even giving over His physical life in great and grievous pain, so that we could have reason today to consider what this sacrifice means to us and our lives. He made it possible for us to gain justification, eternal forgiveness for our sins, and eternal salvation. When we allow it, He guides our decisions, helps us with our challenges, opens healing, protection, and all the many blessings that come with having faith and living according to Your teaching. We are left with a great need to thank and praise You, to offer You our honor and our loyalty. Please accept these things from us and always lend Your Holy Spirit to us. PS 91: 1, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” In Christ’s holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We’ll look at the suffering Christ went through to accomplish the Atonement. In addition, we will examine why we should suffer for the sake of the faith we espouse. With blessings comes responsibility. I personally have been so richly blessed that I feel the weight of carrying out God’s will greatly. There is nothing special about me. I’m an ordinary person who happens to be a Jew, who believes in my “Yeshua” [Jesus Christ-in Hebrew]. I use myself as an example here, because I am guarding the privacy of other “Messianic Jews” I know. I do not know why the Father decided to focus on me, other than my willingness to lend Him my writing skills to obey His will and convey how His messages have impacted my life. My life has been challenged by other Jews, and there have been roadblocks thrown in my way. My faith is that God’s will shall always be done, and He will take me, hand in hand, through those roadblocks, as He teaches me what He wants me to know. The blessings have been more numerous than the roadblocks, and I’m enormously grateful for that. It is my hope that long after my physical life is over, others will read my writing and gain strength in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ too. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2020. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives