WEEK 3 - SPIRIT EMPOWERMENT/FULLNESS
Having now turned from things that were grieving and quenching the Spirit, in this week we prayerfully welcome His fullness and power. May there be a sense of hunger and holy desperation as we pray for a fresh outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit on our lives and in our churches. Come, Holy Spirit!
DAY EIGHTEEN - THE FAILURE OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT BY JOHN STUMBO
John 7:37-39
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
God has a long history of telling His people He wants them to do and be what He knows they can’t do or be. He often places us in positions where we see our need of Him. Why? Because He knows we will experience Him most fully when we realize we need Him most completely.
His call contrasts common human thinking. “Be all you can be. Believe in yourself and unleash your full potential.” Such teaching has become so common we may not recognize its error.
The Bible teaches we are at our best not by discovering our human potential but in discovering our human limitation—believing that a divine source is available to us.
From my vantage point, the U.S. evangelical church has a decent understanding of salvation but a poor one of sanctification. Many Christians give their lives to Christ in faith but think they can live their lives for Him by works. We typically believe in sanctification by works. We delight that we are saved by grace but then despair, attempting to achieve sanctification by effort.
My brothers and sisters—be encouraged. The entrance to salvation and the pathway of sanctification are the same: humble dependence upon and faith in the One who saves and sanctifies us.
Yes, we participate. We respond, believe, accept, trust. But we don’t control or contrive.
The sanctified life is not passive (“I have no participation), nor is it a life of initiation (“It’s up to me to get this right”). It is a life of cooperation: “I yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit in my life.”
PRAYER POINTS:
1. Be thankful that God desires to live His life through us by His Spirit (see John 7:37–39).
2. Welcome the Spirit to fill you and grant you everything you need to do what He calls you to do and be who He desires you to be (see 2 Peter 1:3).