Present Spirit

In last week’s offerings, it was most obvious that Strength was not just linked with Spirit, but it was clear that Spirit and Strength were one and the same, with our Lord and Master. We believe that when God the Holy Spirit dwells in us, when He is with us, we have His Strength. It is in His Strength that all who know the Spirit’s indwelling, not only do mighty things, which no human power can do, but this Strength is evidenced in speech also. It is in the Strength of the Spirit that words are spoken to the honour and glory of Father God.

On this first day of the final week of the first month in the New Year 2025, we come asking, seeking and offering our entire beings to God, the Holy Spirit, to continue breathing and living in Him and Him alone. We need the Spirit, as Jesus, our Lord and Master needed Him, so that with the Spirit upon us, His servants, we too will know our Master’s Strength. We recall the words of Scripture which Jesus read and in reading them, how He gave life to every word.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4: 18 – 19. Jesus made the words on the scroll live, become flesh in Him, so that the eyes of all in the synagogue, on that Sabbath day, were glued to Him. I guarantee you that every single person in that synagogue had heard the exact Scripture from the scroll of prophet Isaiah, read several times over. In fact, many of them would have read that same text in that very synagogue. However, when Jesus read it to them - note! Jesus did not recite it by heart, as a learned piece of Scripture – they were all struck. The Words of Sovereign, Almighty, Creator God, written on parchment, took on breath and became alive before the amazed eyes of all the people present. They could not help but fix their eyes on Jesus.

Jesus did not just speak the words, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, but He showed it to be so, in His speaking and doing. Don’t you see Strength in our Lord’s speaking? I mean, what He was repeating or reading from an age old scroll, words written long before He was born of woman, were now present words to Him. Has not the Holy Spirit given Him the Strength to live and be the words He is speaking? As Jesus’ followers, can we claim the same in our reading and our speaking of the words of Scripture? Where is our Strength? Where is our Spirit?

We look to the writings of the Psalmists, open their writings and as we read them, pray to Almighty, Father God for His Holy Spirit. We too need Strength of Spirit to speak words which are not new. We need God, the Holy Spirit, to grant us strength to give life to these well-known and often used words of the Psalms.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28: 7.

These are the words of David. If indeed, the Spirit has given life to these words which we have just spoken out aloud, or spoken silently, then all eyes will be on us. Eyes will be fastened on us, as the Spirit truly becomes our strength and shield. It means that we will be free and confident, as we go through all situations which would easily cripple and overtake us, had it not been for God’s Spirit in us.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73: 26.

These are the words of Asaph. Truly, if the Spirit has activated these words in us, then all eyes and ears will be turned to us. Many will fix their attention on us, weak, frail human beings, who know and show strength of heart, in the Spirit. It means that even though we are human, we can receive superhuman strength in the Omnipotent Holy Spirit. We are then enabled and empowered to be as God desires us to be in Him.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1.

These are the words of the sons of Korah. Here is a collective voice, the voices of people who all share one common fact about Almighty, Sovereign God. They all know God as their refuge and their Strength. Definitely, if the Spirit has made these words real and alive in us, then eyes, hearts and minds will attend to us in our times of trouble. They will see and come to know the faithfulness and sturdiness of our refuge. The Spirit’s Strength is our one and only perfect refuge and He keeps safe one, as well as many. It means that regardless of what happens upon the earth, we will have no fear, because the Spirit is our perfect refuge and strength.