Holy Spirit-Bigger and Better

Holy Spirit

Bigger and Better

Acts 1:4-8

Question: Have you ever been told that you could be better if you tried something new?

Growing up the first summer of baseball that I remember was the summer of 1998. For those of you who are not baseball junkies, 1998 was the year that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa made a run at the all time home run record. It was the summer for the quest of 62. As September hit, it was evident that 62 was not only in reach, but also considered to be smashed by both sluggers. McGwire broke the record on September 8th that year and Sosa actually passed him for the lead shortly later. McGwire finished with 70 home runs and Sosa finished with 66.

On the day that McGwire broke the record, I was so excited that I asked my father if I could call Grandma Farm to see if she watched it happen. In my excitement, I dialed the wrong number. It was such a pivotal moment in my childhood. However, it was a short time later that I realized that both used performance enhancing drugs. It was devastating to my view of my childhood heroes.

What they did was only meant to enhance their already high-end God given ability. While they were good players, they wanted to be great. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual enhancement. While I am not comparing the Holy Spirit to PEDs, the Holy Spirit is God’s way to enhance our spiritual walk beyond what we are capable of on our merit. His role is to increase our ability to impact the world around us because it is no longer our own accord, but the authority and power of God living through us.

Acts 1:4-8: 4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Waiting Game: 

Waiting may be the hardest thing for us to do in life. We live in a microwave society, and we are consistently wanting everything now. At the start of this passage we see that the disciples and other Christ followers were told to wait. Waiting is not fun. Jesus told them that there is a promise that God has for them. A word I heard from a pastor once was that you may not be receiving the Holy Spirit due to your heart position.

Jesus desired the disciples to begin to turn their attention from their own authority to the authority of God. The Holy Spirit (in this case the baptism of the Holy Spirit) is not meant to be a spiritual checkmark, a badge that we earn in our walk in Christ. We are not Boy Scouts trying to earn merit badges. The Holy Spirit’s anointing is a gift so we can benefit others and the growth of the Kingdom of God. Jesus explains that this is a gift of power. 

The Holy Spirit is something that makes us better. He is the very spirit of God living inside of us and this makes us better Christians and more able to fulfill God’s commands. The Jeremiah Study Bible states, “Any attempted work of the church is doomed to failure without the Spirit.” We cannot fulfill God’s purpose without the Holy Spirit. Without it, we will attempt to do God’s work without His anointing and power. A screwdriver can put a screw into a wall, but a drill is more efficient. Be willing to wait for the power and anointing that God has for each one of us through the provision of the Holy Spirit.

Witnesses 

Lebron James had an ad campaign with Nike declared, “We are Witnesses.” The idea of this campaign was that we are all witnessing the greatness of the king that was Lebron. This “witness” was the symbolic influence of the greatness of one individual. Nike was the voice pushing people towards the greatness of Lebron.

The Holy Spirit is the voice that is pointing people towards the greatness of God. The instrument that the Holy Spirit uses is the willingness of His disciples to commit to a Holy Spirit-led life. Like the disciples, we must be willing to wait for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told them that His Father has a great gift in store for them. This gift is not about worldly influence but eternal influence.

As we pursue the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we must recognize that we are seeking supernatural influence for God to have a supernatural influence on humanity. The Holy Spirit is not just for us to remember the individual witness of Jesus on our own lives, but to share in the witness that Christ is great and He is who He claims to be in that He is the risen Son of God.

Rejoice in the Lord for He has done great things. We are to be witnesses to the love, attributes, and miraculous signs of Christ. The Holy Spirit is our reminder, our advocate, our authority, and our power source. Our witness is increased when we allow the anointing of God to flow through us. Part of this witness is taking the power of Jesus with you and sharing it with others so they too can witness God’s power. This means by word, by deed, and by action. Being a witness means sharing how God’s power has changed your life and that He can change the lives of others as well.

Closing

How many of you can say that you are followers of Christ, but you still try do things on your own? You try and try, but you can’t figure it out. Well, that’s not what we are called to do or be. We must wait on God and trust Him with our lives. The Holy Spirit was put in place so that we can hear God’s voice and have God’s power to change us. Don’t let yourselves and your shortcomings get in the way of how God wants to make you bigger and better.