The Spirit of the Lord is upon us
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON US
As believers we are called to Live a Life that makes a Difference.
At the recent Pastor’s Prayer time there was a lot of prayer encouraging RISK.
To live a Life that makes a Difference we must go through to victory; we must take RISKS and TRUST God.
We must be Word People; have wisdom and understanding; to walk the walk with consistency.
All this we can do because our Heavenly Father has made it all possible – Jesus said:
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Jesus took up the book of Isaiah, read these words and informed them that the words had come to pass.
I believe God wants us to come to that place where we know - the Spirit of the Lord is upon us.
God’s Word reminds us that Jesus said:
John 14:16 … I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, Counsellor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby, that He may remain with you forever — AMP
After John the Baptist had prophesied:
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you in (with) water because of repentance; that is, because of your changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. - AMP
Because the Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus; and Jesus is alive in us; we too can operate in the same anointing; in other words; the Spirit of the Lord is upon us.
But notice that the Holy Spirit is called the HELPER by Jesus.
He is not the doer, we are the doers, He is the HELPER, He will help us do.
The devil will try to cause us to lose our victory by tricking us into not doing.
But the truth is that the HELPER has come and He has come to stay.
Are we going to let the devil defeat us?
NO!! Because the Spirit of the Lord is upon us and there is no limit to what we may become if we will but live and move in the Holy Spirit and Fire.
In the Spirit, by prayer we are taken into heaven, to make our supplications before the Throne of Grace.
In the Spirit, the Word of God unfolds in a wonderful way, revealing Jesus to our understanding.
In the Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts enabling us to love others as Jesus loves the church.
In the Spirit, we can endure all things being counted worthy to share in the sufferings of Christ.
OUR LIVES WILL BE LIVES OF POWER IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
What a wonderful privilege it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and Fire.
But what does it mean to be filled in the Spirit?
It means HELP to live a life of power that we could not obtain even if we had all human reasoning and all human knowledge.
It means HELP to have God’s thoughts instead of our thoughts; to walk in His ways instead of ours.
It means HELP to pray as we ought; praying light for darkness, love for hate and hope for despair.
It means HELP to live as Jesus lived, with evidence that we are in Christ; as we do His works.
Mark 16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
But it can only happen because the Spirit of the Lord is upon us.
IN THE SPIRIT WE HAVE AUTHORITY WE HAVE NOT YET REALLY EXERCISED.
Matthew 16:19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
When are we able to bind and loose - only in the Holy Spirit.
We cannot bind things in the physical or with the natural mind and we cannot bind the flesh.
Although in Christ there was no lack of Holy Spirit power, that is not so in His church.
More than at any other time we must come to the realisation that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us.
We must never waiver from the fact that we are members of the body of Christ and by the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit we are partakers of His divine nature.
HOW DO WE GET THAT NATURE?
Matthew 19:26 … "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
I pray to God that our spirit, soul and body will be preserved holy, and that we will always be on Fire, and always ready with the anointing of the Holy Spirit in us.
The spirit of the Lord is upon us.
There was a reason why the Spirit was upon Jesus and the same reason why the Spirit is upon us.
He was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor; we are anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.
He was anointed to heal the broken-hearted; we are anointed to heal the broken-hearted.
He was anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; we are anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.
He was anointed to set at liberty those who are oppressed; we are anointed to set at liberty those who are oppressed.
The wonderful Spirit of the Lord that was upon Jesus is now upon us.
WHERE DO WE START; WE START WITH OUR CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE.
Jesus gave this instruction to His disciples:
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Start in Jerusalem then to Judea then to Samaria then to all the world; it is an ever increasing circle of influence.
Who are the poor closest to us; who are the broken-hearted closest to us; who are the captives the blind the oppressed who are closest to us?
There is our immediate missionary field and as we go there the Spirit of the Lord will be upon us.
Sometimes we can be guilty of wanting to go across the seas rather than go across the road.
We are anointed to carry on the ministry that Jesus started and we must do so until it is finished; just as He did and He started at home.
We are filled with the Living God to be His labourers in His field that is white for harvest.
Filled with God and pardoned; filled with God and cleansed; filled with God and glory.
Filled with God means there is no room for doubting, fearing or worrying.
Filled with God means being emptied of self.
Filled with God means no fear, for when we are filled with God we are filled with love.
THERE IS A MISSION FIELD BEYOND THE WALLS OF THIS BUILDING AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON US TO GO INTO THAT FIELD AND REAP A HARVEST TO THE GLORY OF GOD.