“Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
2 CORINTHIANS 3:16-18
The Holy Spirit should not be confused with His gifts and works. The Holy Spirit is greater than His effect on us or even the world. His presence in our lives is greater than His gifts. The Holy Spirit does not come just so we can speak with tongues, but when He is there, tongues are an evidence. All His gifts are there to foster His relationship with us and with the world.
A BRIDE DOESN’T MARRY THE BRIDEGROOM FOR HIS RING but for him. God is not a show-off. His purpose is always love—to love us, to gain our love and to be with us in dynamic fellowship. He works upon us, through us and with us. He is the strength of our arm and the unquenchable fire in our soul. He brings us spiritual gifts, spiritual fruit and unity (1 Corinthians 12). He first applies the blood of Christ to wipe out the stain of our sin, then brings us to new birth and much more. However, quite apart from what He does, the Spirit comes as Himself, for that is what He is—our great gift. It is the desire for God that makes a true Christian, not merely signs and wonders.
We are designed to be dependent on the grace and power of God. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Our sufficiency is of Him (2 Corinthians 3:5). God puts His Spirit in us, because we need Him to comfort, to guide and even to correct us. He activates His gifts and power in us because we need it for His mission–spiritual equipment for a spiritual assignment.
WE ARE NOT SET UP IN BUSINESS ALL ON OUR OWN WITH A lump sum of spiritual capital and power resources making us independent. We are not self-sufficient little “christs.” We receive, moment by moment, “out of” Christ’s fullness our fullness, like the branches of a vine receive sap. We are not vines unto ourselves, living separate existences, but we are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).
We are not called to go into the entire world with our own little power plant so that people will think how wonderful we are. We could parade our own charisma and make the sparks fly for an hour; but soon our personal power plant will run out of fuel. We are not generators; we are but conductors of His power. Ephesians 1:22 and 23 describes “ . . . the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” He is to fill us and move through us. We are channels not the source. Jesus declared, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).
Be buoyant in the Spirit. You are designed to float in the waters of the Holy Spirit. Don’t resist, don’t fight, just relax. Let go, and let the great and glorious currents of the Holy Spirit carry you into your destiny.
ONE DAY, GOD SAID TO ME, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS to swim?” I’m a good swimmer, so I thought I knew. But did I? The Holy Spirit helped me to see something I didn’t appreciate before. He said, “When you are swimming, you are in another element, and a new law operates. You must let go and rest fully upon the waters of the river. Those waters carry you.” I understood what He was saying. As I swim in the Holy Spirit, His waters carry me. The Spirit lifts me, just as swimming takes the weight off my feet, giving my back a holiday and my joints a vacation. He does the work. What, then, is the real handicap? The real handicap is relying upon yourself. Depend on your own energy and ability, and you will be trudging along the river bank, right beside the very waters which could bear you up and carry you along with minimum effort.