Romans 8:26 (NLT) “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”
Our Heavenly Father never intended Jesus Christ to accomplish His mission without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 9:14(NLT) tells us, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.” Jesus Christ didn’t do anything alone; the Holy Spirit was always with him. Because of this truth, we mustn’t think that we can do anything in this life without God’s precious Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our Teacher, Comforter, Friend, and Guide, and we desperately need him to help us navigate the rocky terrain of life on earth.
In John 20:21-22(NLT), our Lord and Savior taught the disciples how to receive the Holy Spirit. These verses tell us, “21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Before this moment, it was not available to receive God’s gift of Holy Spirit. When Adam sinned, the Holy Spirit could no longer abide in him. Humanity then lost that most intimate connection to God through His Holy Spirit. Adam made a catastrophic mistake by disobeying God, yet none of us nipped sin in the bud, but kept on sinning. We were heading down satan’s dark and destructive path, but God had a plan to save us through Jesus Christ. He sent His only begotten Son on a mission to earth to rescue us, and through God’s plan for the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit again returned to earth to dwell in us.
The return of the Holy Spirit to dwell in those that are born again in Christ fulfilled the prophecy of Joel 2:28(NLT), when God said, “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” We could not earn the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. God gave him to us by His grace, mercy, and unyielding love for us all.
God, through His infinite wisdom and unyielding love, always intended life to be more than abundant. He never intended it to be as fragmented and chaotic as we are witnessing today. He didn’t want divisions between nations, families, and groups. He wanted life to be orderly, energetic, peaceful, and full of love and faith just as it is in Heaven. All of this wonderfully laid out and brilliant plan is achieved by a connection to God that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Adam sinned against God. He took the word of satan over the Word and instruction that God had given him. Because he bowed to satan in this way, Adam lost the connection between us and our Heavenly Father, but praise the Lord, Jesus Christ restored it!
Because of what God accomplished through Jesus Christ, we are now God’s children of light. We carry His Spirit within us, now we can walk through life with spiritual power. Jesus Christ declared in John 16:13(NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” Without the Spirit’s guidance, we’re continually walking into walls, overstepping God’s plan for us, and heading down the wrong path, but with the Spirit’s guidance, we walk in truth! We walk the path that God has set before us, and there’s no greater thing in all the earth to do than this.
We’ve seen or heard stories of parents kicking out their young teenagers because of their rebellion or wrong decision making. Often the parents and the teenagers have not followed the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit, but instead have walked outside the boundaries of His love and forfeited the benefit of His wisdom and blessings. The darkness of their anger, disappointment, fear, and sadness is without the light of Christ, and this is where many people are today. They choose to live without the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power because they will not learn about him in God’s Word.
Even though it was not available to have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of people during Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit still has influence on those that honored and loved God. King David was such a person, and he prayed to God in Psalm 51:11(NLT) “Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.” The psalmist understood the power and life of living by the Holy Spirit, and he could not fathom living without the Spirit. We should feel the same way.
There’s no success outside of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to live a successful Christian life without his guidance and revelation. We can see very clearly that the devil is busy, stirring up trouble in the world and stirring trouble in our own lives. Some of us are going to the Father and asking, “Father what should I do?” God’s answer is for us to make more room for His power in our lives through the person of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:26 makes it crystal clear that sometimes we don’t know how to pray, and this places us at a disadvantage. There are details that need to be prayed about, but we can’t see or know about them. Well, the Holy Spirit sees and knows all things, and he knows everything there is to know about us. We are weak, but the Spirit is strong. He helps us in our weakness and prays perfectly with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. God commands us in Galatians 5:16(NLT), “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” Let the Holy Spirit lead you to a successful Christian life. Receive this precious and powerful gift that God has for you and pray that He will strengthen and transform you through His precious Holy Spirit.■
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“There’s No Success Outside of the Holy Spirit”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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