For those of you who have been wondering where you’d get the strength to continue offering your life to your Lord Jesus Christ on a daily basis in the face of those odd and old habits you had in times past, I’ve got good news for you.
You see, the very moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, something powerful happens,
Colossians 1:13 says,
“It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son (Weymouth)”
That’s right! You were delivered from the power of darkness. You were delivered from the forces of evil urges and desires. You were delivered from their sphere of influence. You were totally delivered. You were set free from their authority, jurisdiction, power, right and strength over you.
Then, you were also transferred, translated, carried and exchanged into the realm and rule of Jesus Christ’s royalty! You are now in God’s Kingdom!
How can I be so sure of this? You may ask,
Well, John 14:18a says,
“I will not leave you comfortless…”
These are the powerful words of Jesus Christ that hold a profound truth. Yes, you’ve made the decision to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. However, it is quite obvious to your rational mind that Jesus Christ is not physically present on the earth now.
Yet, Christ’s Words to you are, “I will not leave you comfortless…”
He’s telling you that He honors His Word and He would not leave you alone in your battle against the old urges and evil desires whenever they rear up their ugly heads.
Christ is telling you that He would never leave you, neither would He forsake you.
And to show you that He means whatever proceeds out of His Mouth, Jesus Christ proves it by saying,
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever…
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 14:16a; 16:13-14 KJV)”
That is the Ministry of the Holy Spirit.
That is Jesus fulfilling His Promise not to leave you comfortless.
And you know what? That’s not all!!!
Once you’ve made up your mind to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, making your heart His abode.
1 Corinthians 3:16 says,
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (KJV)”
Remember, Jesus Christ is your Lord. He owns you and you belong to Him. And He has sent the Comforter to dwell within you. Christ has ensured that you have a choice not to turn your back on Him and all He’s done for you. You are in His Kingdom now. You are God’s temple now; and His Holy Spirit dwells inside you now!
Romans 8:9a goes on to reveal,
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. (KJV)”
God’s Own Spirit dwells within you and you can’t fulfill the desires that your body would naturally give in to. But there’s still more,
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Rom 8:11 KJV)”
God’s Own Spirit resides in you! He occupies you as a house! You are His dwelling place! These statements simply cannot be overemphasized! God’s Own Spirit dwells inside you and He is going to ‘quicken’ your mortal body. That word ‘quicken’ as used in the passage means to ‘make alive, revitalize, give life to’. In essence, the passage is saying that the Holy Spirit would make your body alive to fulfill God’s Ideals and Perfect Will for your life. It implies that the Holy Spirit would make you realize that your body – God’s Temple – was made for far more important things than evil habits and urges. You were living in dead works before, just merely existing. Now, He would make really alive, fulfilling your inherent potential.
2 Corinthians 1:22 says,
“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (KJV)”
That’s right! God Himself, the Almighty Potentate, has sealed you for Himself. He has stamped you with His private Personal mark of identification. He has marked you as His Belonging, or better still, His Kinsman. And He’s given you His Spirit in your heart!
I could go on and on to describe the role of the Holy Spirit in helping you overcome that habit you are struggling with.
You’re not alone, left out to hang and dry.
No! You are now much more than a conqueror!
You can now walk with your head held high.
You can now walk without a single iota of doubt or fear of slipping back into your habit.
You know why?
Jesus had made it clear that there’s only one way you can please Him and make Him happy: Keeping His Commandments!
Furthermore, there is only one way you can keep His commandments,
“If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. (John 14:15 AMP Emphasis mine)”
That’s right! Love!
The only proof of our love for our Lord and Savior, the Redeemer of our souls, is to keep His commandments.
And you know what the Holy Spirit does?
Check out Romans 5:5,
“We’re not ashamed to have this confidence, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (GOD’S WORD)“
The Holy Spirit’s Presence in our hearts stirs up Love for our Savior and Lord within us. And in turn, the Love for our Savior and Lord would prod us into keeping His Commandments.
It’s so simple.
It’s so straightforward.
If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My Commands.
Note that that the verse does not say ‘you must keep My Commands’. Neither does it say ‘you shall or you have to keep My Commands’. It says ‘you will keep My Commands’. It’s a simple natural order similar to the gentle and graceful flow of a river along its course. No struggles. No tug-of-war. Just the gentle flow.
If you love Him, you will keep His Commands.
If you love Him, you will want to make Him happy.
If you love Him, you won’t yield to that evil habit or odd urge you are struggling with.
And all this is possible via the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
“There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (Phil 1:6 THE MESSAGE)”
