As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. —Acts 5:15-16
Imagine that? You are so full of the presence of God that even your shadow causes people to be healed and experience the glory of God!!! How can we be like Peter and live a life that radiates this resurrection power of our Lord Jesus?
When we become filled with the Holy Spirit, He takes up residence in our Spirit. This Holy Spirit of God is God! Everything that the Father is, He is. The same spirit that dwelt in Peter dwells in us. More importantly the same spirit that dwelt in Jesus dwells in us!!!! And it is the Holy Spirit that will help us to glorify Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the World. To walk in the spirit is to carry the light, it is to be light—that is, to reveal God to those around us.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light….
—Ephesians 5:8
God created us as tripartite beings made up of body, soul and spirit. Our spirit lives encased within our soul. Prior to being saved, we live our lives dominated by our soul (that is our mind, will and emotions). Once we are saved we begin the process and transformation of living by the spirit. Our spirit is still encased in our soul but as our spirit grows it puts pressure on our soul, causing it to come into submission to our spirit. The longer our soul rules, the thicker and harder it is for the spirit to break free. But as we mature spiritually there is a continued breaking of the soul and corresponding increase in our spirit. Our soul becomes obedient to our spirit.
Spirit Rule
The degree that we make room for the Holy Spirit is the degree that we will have power in our lives. God is only limited by the limitations that we put on Him. The stronger our spirit is, the more it allows God to do. The greater our spirit, the more in tune we are with God and the less aware of our own voice. The Holy Spirit leads us and we second guess ourselves less. The bigger the Holy Spirit is inside of us the more consuming He is and easier to hear. He guides us into fulfilling the plans and purposes that God has for us.
How does our spirit have room for such a big God? When we are first saved our spiritual house is small and weak, but as we mature spiritually the stronger it gets. The stronger it is, the more it allows the Holy Spirit to work through us.
How to Increase Your Spirit
Our Circumstances
When we look at our circumstances we need to look at them from God’s perspective. What is going on that perhaps God is using to develop us? How are we handling our situations so that the person next to us feels and experiences God? What if we are in a particular situation for something other than our own comfort?
The enemy wants to keep our focus on the soul issues—that is how we feel or think about a situation. If we keep our focus there we will miss the larger picture, our souls will grow and will eventually become the dominating force in our lives. We need to have a spirit understanding of our circumstances.
Get Over Yourself
Sometimes we just need to get over ourselves and be obedient to what God asks of us. Too often we spend too much time thinking about how we feel about a situation that is engaging the soul. For example God requires us to forgive, yet we can spend too much time thinking about how we have been hurt and being angry at what was done to us. At times like this we are feeding our soul at the expense of our spirit. When we are obedient to God and forgive, our spirit grows stronger.
Prayer
Prayer enlarges our spirit. The more we pray the more we desire to pray even more and this strengthens our spirit. By praying we become more aware of God’s presence.
Praise and Worship
When we magnify God, that is when we turn our focus from ourselves onto God through praise and worship; it causes our spirit to be transformed. It is impossible to look at God and remain unchanged. Just as it says in Psalms 103:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name”, we need to command our soul to praise God. In other words, bless the Lord oh my emotions, will and mind.
Fruit Inspections
So how big is our spirit? One way of checking is looking at the fruit of the Spirit. Where are we at with the fruit? If we are filled with the Holy Spirit we should be regularly and easily demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. If we are weak in any area God will allow things to happen so that we can grow. We need to remember that God is more interested our spirit’s development than in our comfort.
Jesus Christ said of Himself, “The Son can do nothing” (John 5:19). He had no supernatural capabilities whatsoever. While He is 100% God, He chose to live with the same limitations as man. He was completely dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit working through Him to perform miracles. The challenge for us is how dependant on the Holy Spirit are we willing to live?
Copyright © by Philippa Smyth | 0 comments
