top of page
Search

The Work of the Holy Spirit

  • 47 minutes ago
  • 3 min read
CitySitesUrbanMedia.com

One of the best exercises I have done in evaluating my spiritual journey, is to process what I believe. I know that may sound too exhaustive for most of us, but it can change your life. Like so many things, life becomes routine, the same ole same ole, and nothing really excites you anymore.

 

I read something the other day that described evangelism as the silent segment of Christianity. No one likes to share anymore because there are so many opinions on everything that the witnessing speech gets no traction. However, when I analyzed what I believe about the Holy Spirit, I discovered that He does some of His best work outside of the Church building. I remember a song we sang for years in Church, ‘Holy Spirit You are Welcome Here,’ which should be sung on Monday mornings going to work. Let me just say … when you discover who the Holy Spirit is, and what He does, nothing can be routine again.

 

Here is a confession. I realized that I had an idea about the Holy Spirit, even a theology about Him, but the dirty little secret is … He never impacted me like He wanted. So, through analyzing what I believed about Him, I started to realize I have been living a Christian life without His assistance. No wonder my faith was routine. 

 

Discovery

 

What I discovered is that the Holy Spirit is active in four categories. First let’s start with His protection against evil through the Armor of God (Ephesians 6). These defenses protect us against the evil that is overwhelming our culture. I won’t list all six of these defenses, but they operate like the ‘Iron Dome’ over Israel, they protect against the incoming arrows of evil.  Once we realize how these work in keeping our lives healthy for Christ, it’s all the Holy Spirit who administers them.

 

Next, we discover that the Holy Spirit gives us nine gifts of the spirit. These are supernatural in nature so we can do ministry on His behalf (1 Corinthians 12). Again, read about these nine, they are all given and directed by the Holy Spirit. You cannot just do these gifts, they are guided and directed by Him. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you know about these nine, but the big question is, do any of them operate in your life? Why are they available if we don’t use them? The Holy Spirit is eager to distribute them to those who pursue Him, so is our problem in our pursuit?

 

The third discovery is about the five leadership gifts to train the Church (Ephesians 4:11-12). Through these five gifts, the Holy Spirit leads leadership to train the Church to become a witness for Christ, to defend against evil, and to strengthen the Church to live for Christ. I believe these five is where God calls men and women to all kinds of leadership positions, to teach and train people to do the work of the ministry. These five are like five coaches who specially use their calling as a pastor, teacher, apostle, evangelist or prophet … all designed to equip the Church to do ministry in our world.

 

Lastly, the Holy Spirit teaches us the value of character … His character. We commonly call these character traits ‘the fruit of the Spirit,’ but in reality, they are His personality. There are nine character traits or personality traits, found in Galatians 5:22-23, and they all represent the nature of the Holy Spirit.

 

Let Me Conclude This Way

 

The Holy Spirit has the ministry of conviction. He convicts us of sin, righteous, and judgement, all making us aware that God has a plan for this world, and the Holy Spirit remains here to instruct us about that plan. So, naturally, in His kind but convicting way, He would ask, “Are you equipped with the armor? Do you have any supernatural gifts? Are you called to the leadership gifts for training the Church? Are you displaying the character traits of His nature?

 

Simple tip … if you desire and purse Him, He will give you, His gifts.

 

Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler

 

bottom of page