Our Helper_pt.3
What does it really mean to live a Spirit filled life?
I grew up around Pentecost, and through the years I have seen a lot of different ideas about what being filled with the Holy Spirit looks like. But I want to go back to the Word of God because being Spirit filled is about much more than an experience. It is about how I live every day.
The Holy Spirit is our Helper. He knows everything about everything. He knows every situation you are facing today. He knows your family, your finances, your health, your work, your relationships, your calling, and your future. When I am born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside me. He is also with me as my Helper, and He wants to come upon me with His power and manifested presence.
But I do not want to stop at knowing that the Holy Spirit is in me. I want to build a relationship with Him. I want to live aware of His presence, surrender to His leadership, and allow Him to change the way I think, believe, see, and lead.
You Need the Holy Spirit to Fulfill Your Mission
Every one of us has been commissioned by God, and we need the Holy Spirit to fulfill that commission.
Think about Jesus. Before He began His public ministry, He was baptized, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. Jesus did not begin His mission until after that moment. Then in Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they would become His witnesses.
If Jesus needed the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill His mission, how much more do you and I need the Holy Spirit to fulfill ours?
I cannot accomplish God's assignment for my life through talent alone. I cannot do it through education, connections, personality, experience, strategy, or willpower. Those things can be valuable, but they cannot replace the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever God has called you to do in the marketplace, your family, your church, or your community, you need your Helper. It is not by might. It is not by power. It is by His Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Gives You Power to Be a Witness
Acts 1:8 says that we receive power to become witnesses. I think sometimes we make being a witness more complicated than it needs to be. One of the greatest witnesses you can give the people around you is the way you respond when life becomes difficult.
Can you stay steady when everybody else is falling apart? Can you remain faithful when other people are quitting? Can you keep your peace when everyone around you is overwhelmed by fear? Can you keep showing up when circumstances tell you to give up?
Remember when Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee and a storm arose? The disciples were afraid, but Jesus was asleep. He had peace in the middle of the storm.
The Holy Spirit has peace for every storm you will ever go through.
Without His help, I cannot always stay calm. I cannot always stay steady. I cannot always keep my emotions under control. That is why I need the Holy Spirit. When the world around me is anxious about the future, I do not have to be dread led. When other people are quitting, compromising, blaming, or giving up, I can keep moving forward.
That is a witness.
Leadership is not only revealed when everything is working. Leadership is revealed by how you respond when the storm comes. When people see stability, faithfulness, resilience, peace, and consistency in you during difficult seasons, they are seeing the Holy Spirit at work in your life.
Stay Filled With the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:18 tells us to continually be filled with the Spirit. I believe every Christian has a responsibility to stay filled.
I cannot blame somebody else for my spiritual condition. I cannot blame my church. I cannot blame my pastor. I cannot blame the people around me. I cannot blame my circumstances. I am responsible for staying full of the Holy Spirit.
This is not something I do once and then forget about. I need Him every day.
Every morning I can say, “Holy Spirit, I welcome You. Holy Spirit, I need You. Holy Spirit, help me today.”
Help me be the leader You want me to be. Help me be the parent You want me to be. Help me be the employer or employee You want me to be. Help me represent Jesus today.
I want to live every day conscious of the fact that I am not doing life alone.
Live With an Awareness of His Presence
One of the first characteristics of a Spirit filled life is living with a daily awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Everywhere I go, He goes with me. Every meeting I walk into, He is there. Every conversation I have, He is there. Every decision I make, He is there. Every difficult situation I encounter, my Helper is with me.
That awareness should change how I live.
When I become more conscious of His presence, I begin asking different questions. Is what I am doing agreeing with Him or grieving Him? Is this decision being led by Him or only by me? Am I acknowledging His presence, or am I going through my entire day without thinking about Him?
A Spirit filled leader does not simply acknowledge God on Sunday. I want to acknowledge the Holy Spirit on Monday morning when I walk into work. I want to acknowledge Him before I enter a meeting. I want to acknowledge Him before I make the phone call, sign the agreement, hire the employee, make the investment, or have the difficult conversation.
A greater consciousness of His presence opens my life to a greater manifestation of His presence.
Live Under His Influence
What does it look like to be Spirit filled? It means I live under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
The world is constantly trying to influence us. Culture wants to influence us. Social media wants to influence us. Friends want to influence us. Fear wants to influence us. Our circumstances want to influence us.
But I want the Holy Spirit to have the greatest influence in my life.
How do I know when that is happening? One way is through the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest of the fruit reveal the character of Christ being developed in me.
The Holy Spirit is working on my character.
Being Spirit filled should make me more loving, not less loving. It should make me more patient, not less patient. It should make me easier to get along with, not harder to get along with. I should have more joy. I should have greater peace. I should become more like Jesus.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit working in my life should eventually become visible in the person I am becoming.
Surrender Daily to the Holy Spirit
A Spirit filled life is a surrendered life.
Every day, I have to learn to say yes to God.
“Yes, Lord, I will go.”
“Yes, Lord, I will serve.”
“Yes, Lord, I will give.”
“Yes, Lord, I will forgive.”
“Yes, Lord, I will change.”
“Yes, Lord, I will let go of that relationship.”
“Yes, Lord, I will take the next step.”
That is surrender.
More than fifty years ago, Kim and I had our own ideas about where we wanted to go. I wanted to go west. I did not want to come to St. Louis. But when the Holy Spirit began leading us, we had a decision to make. Would we follow our plan, or would we follow His?
We said yes.
One place. One life. Make it great.
A Spirit filled life is not simply asking God to bless what I want to do. It is surrendering what I want to do so I can fulfill what He has called me to do.
Let the Holy Spirit Shift Your Thinking
The Holy Spirit is continually working on the way I think, the way I believe, and the way I see.
That is important because how I see something affects how I respond to it.
You can walk into a situation where everything in the natural says impossible. The numbers say impossible. The circumstances say impossible. Other people say impossible. Your past experience says impossible.
But when the Holy Spirit begins changing your perspective, you can look at the impossible and begin to see what is possible with God.
That is what a Spirit filled life looks like.
I know the greater One is rising up inside me when I can walk into an impossible situation and still believe that with God all things are possible.
As leaders, we face impossible looking situations all the time. We receive reports. We face financial realities. We encounter opposition. We deal with setbacks. We hear what people say cannot be done.
I appreciate the reports. I appreciate wise counsel. I appreciate expertise. But ultimately I have to decide whose report I am going to believe.
Let the Holy Spirit change your thinking, your believing, your vision, and your perspective.
Submit to God's Commission
A Spirit filled life is submitted to the commission God has placed on my life.
That means I come to a place where I can say, “God, not my will, but Your will. Not my plan, but Your plan.”
I do not want to argue with God. I do not want to debate with God. I do not want to negotiate with God. I do not want to spend my life making excuses for why I cannot do what He has called me to do. I want to surrender. God has placed an assignment on your life. You have a race to run. You have people you are called to influence. You have something God wants you to accomplish while you are here.
The Holy Spirit knows that assignment, and He knows exactly how to help you fulfill it.
Walk With Greater Boldness
When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, Acts 1:8 says we receive power. That power produces a greater boldness and confidence. It does not mean I never experience fear. It means fear does not get to lead me. There are times when I get overwhelmed. There are times when I need help. That is exactly why I need the Holy Spirit. He strengthens me so I can keep going. Sometimes being a witness is simply being the person who keeps showing up.
You stay steady.
You stay faithful.
You stay consistent.
You fall down, but you get back up.
You experience disappointment, but you keep moving forward. You face opposition, but you do not abandon your assignment. There is power in consistency. There is power in faithfulness. In a world where so many people quit when things become difficult, somebody who keeps standing becomes a witness.
Reveal Jesus to the World
Ultimately, this is what the Holy Spirit wants to do through us. He wants to reveal Jesus to the world.
When people encounter us, they should see more and more of Christ.
Not perfection. Transformation.
Think about Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Holy Spirit came upon her, and she gave Jesus to the world. There is a picture there for you and me. The Holy Spirit comes upon us so that through our lives, Jesus can be revealed to the people around us.
Think about Gideon. He was hiding. He was afraid. He was insecure. But when the Spirit of God came upon him, he became a mighty warrior. The Holy Spirit changed what Gideon believed about himself and what he believed was possible.
That is what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us.
He wants to transform our thinking. He wants to transform our believing. He wants to transform what we see. He wants to give us boldness. He wants to give us power. He wants to make us more like Jesus.
The goal is more of Jesus and less of me.
What Does a Spirit Filled Leader Look Like?
A Spirit filled leader lives with an awareness of the Holy Spirit's presence. I live under His influence and allow Him to produce His fruit in my character. I surrender to Him daily. I allow Him to shift my thinking, believing, and vision. I submit my plans to God's commission. I walk with greater boldness and consistency. Most importantly, I reveal Jesus to the people I influence.
Being Spirit filled is not reserved for a church service. It should affect the way I lead my family, run my business, treat my employees, respond to pressure, handle setbacks, make decisions, and walk into impossible situations.
The Holy Spirit wants to help me become the person God created me to be and accomplish the assignment God created me to fulfill.
Put It Into Practice
Begin every morning this week by acknowledging your Helper. Before you reach for everything else demanding your attention, take a moment and say, “Holy Spirit, I welcome You. Holy Spirit, I need You. Holy Spirit, help me today.”
Then surrender your day to Him. Ask Him to help you with your decisions, relationships, responsibilities, and leadership. Ask Him to produce the character of Jesus in you. When you walk into something that looks impossible, do not immediately surrender to what you see in the natural. Ask the Holy Spirit to shift your thinking and help you see the situation from God's perspective.
You have an assignment to fulfill, and you were never expected to fulfill it alone. You have a Helper. Stay filled. Stay surrendered. Stay faithful. Keep getting up. Keep showing up. Let the Holy Spirit change the way you think, the way you believe, and the way you see. Then go into your world and reveal Jesus.