Acts 1:8…”Jesus said..."But, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

The Holy Spirit— the ever-living presence of God. Jesus tells us above, that when we receive the Holy Spirit we receive power. What power is He talking about? The same power that He had while He walked on earth, but what's even more amazing, is that Jesus said we will have even greater power than He had. We find this in John 14:12-14, "12) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13) And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

Whatever we ask in His name, He will do. Wow! If that's the case, than why do so many prayers go unanswered? That's because there are some conditions that need to be met for this power to flow properly. The conditions are a result of the ten commandments. We can find these conditions in Proverbs 3. Now, I am not being legalistic by bringing up the law. The apostle Paul said in Romans 3:31, "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." We are no longer subject to the law as our only way to the Father, but in order to see the Holy Spirit work to God's best in our lives, we need to uphold the law as best we can.

As we grow in the Holy Spirit through, what I call, the tools of the trade, they would be— prayer, fasting, and meditation, we will almost automatically uphold the law, because we are developing our body and soul to recognize and respond to the spiritual realm. Before receiving the Holy Spirit, this spirit realm may have been accepted as an aspect of God only, not something that was recognizable to our physical nature. But, as we allow the Holy Spirit to develop our character, the Holy Spirit also reveals to us the reality that the spirit realm is more real than the physical realm. The physical realm is only for this life as we know it, but the spiritual realm is for eternity.

Now, one of the conditions, that we need to be aware of, can be found in Proverbs 1:7, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil." We should be sure to examine our lives and to weed out any active sin in your life. Does that mean I can never sin? No! Because no one can accomplish that, only Jesus could accomplish that. What I mean by active sin is some kind of sin that is ongoing in your life. Usually this kind of sin is obvious, at least to yourself. Whatever that sin may be, you need to repent of it and get it out of your life. If you're not sure if something is sin, test it to the Word of God to see if it stands up to the test of righteousness.

You need to dedicate you life to Jesus and to study your Bible on a regular basis. Proverbs 3:1-2, says, "1) My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; 2) For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you." This is the only way to develop a godly character that will benefit from the Holy Spirit within you. Those benefits will be long life and peace. Just going to church on Sunday mornings for an hour will not cut it. God looks at your relationship to Jesus as a marriage— how many marriages do you know would work, if the husband and wife only saw each other for one hour a week?

The next condition is found in Proverbs 3:5-6, "5)Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." Let God get involved in every aspect of your life. It is not easy to do, because we are so trained to lean on our own understanding, but we must begin the process of leaning on God.

We now come to a sensitive subject, that most ministries need to mention, but get chided for mentioning it, as just looking for money. But, the principle is important to God, it is found in Proverbs 3:9, "Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase." And, in verse 10, we get the reason why, "So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine."

Believe me, God doesn't need your money. What He wants from you is for you to trust Him. What better way is there to prove to God that you trust Him than to honor Him with you hard earned money— that many of us find it hard to get enough of. When you're a little short, and you still have bills to pay that month, what do you do? Most will say, I'll make it up to God next month— but next month never comes. That's not faith! Faith, is paying God a tenth of your earnings, before you even consider your bills. That's faith!

Next, we get into an area that Jesus mentioned, and that is loving your neighbor. Proverbs 3:28-29, doesn't use the same terminology, but the principle is the same, "28) Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it, When you have it with you. 29) Do not devise evil against your neighbor, For he dwells by you for safety’s sake." The basic principle is to treat others as Jesus would. The surrounding verses confirm this principle.

All the other verses in Proverbs 3, talk about the benefits of observing these principles and committing yourself to them. When you do that you are well on your way to utilizing the full potential of the Holy Spirit and display the power and authority in your life that the Holy Spirit has to offer. 

Back to Top