Thank you for listening in to the quality Christian
living podcast. Once again, I am your host and
David friend We're on a series of podcasts dealing
with the Holy Spirit and today's podcast is entitled
more Holy Spirit power podcast before this when
we talked about basically an introduction of
the power that the Holy Spirit brings into our
life, but now we're gonna see what the Lord has
to say for us in relationship to having more
power due to the relationship that we have with
the Holy Spirit, so how do we actually receive
power from the Holy Spirit and a lot to cover
today, but I believe the Holy Spirit is going
to guide and direct us, so let's get into it
right now. First, we need to pray. Heavenly Father,
thank you for your goodness, your love, and for
your kindness. I pray that you would bless this
podcast today. I ask the Holy Spirit to lead
and guide and direct it. I surrender my will
and my thoughts to you. Holy Spirit, do what
only you can do. And for those who are listening
in, I pray a very special blessing for those
who are desiring a closer walk with the Lord
and more of the Holy Spirit power in their life.
I pray you would bring this to pass now we pray
Lord in Jesus name I pray amen well the Holy
Spirit participated in raising Jesus from the
dead now That's a pretty powerful statement.
But in reality, it obviously is the moving of
the Holy Spirit that brings power into our lives.
And the Holy Spirit is the one who was living
in Jesus. And of course, since the Holy Spirit
is one of the triune God, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all three are
one God, not multiple Gods. And the power of
the Holy Spirit is that great that he actually
participated in raising Jesus from his deathbed.
The Holy Spirit will bring to us resurrection
power and power from self and to know God's will
and power to do things that we think are impossible
and quite frankly many of those things are impossible
without the help of God and the Holy Spirit.
Romans chapter 8 verses 11 through 15 in the
New International Version says this, and if the
spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead,
wait a minute, That's kind of interesting. I
know when I said that at the beginning of this,
the Holy Spirit participated in raising Jesus
from the dead, there's some people out there
that are probably saying, wait a minute, how
can that be? Well, that's why we jump right into
this particular scripture. I'll read that word
once again. It's in Romans 8, chapter 11, New
International Version. And if the Spirit of him
who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
that's the Holy Spirit Church, he who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life. to
your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who
lives in you. So isn't that a jam -packed scripture
that talks about in dealing with understanding
how to have more power from the Holy Spirit.
You can't find greater power than the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. In this scripture Paul is writing
to the church in Rome and he's telling them the
Holy Spirit has great power and he is the one
who participated, as we say, in the raising of
Jesus from the dead. And that power, that same
power is living in each in every one of us today.
So if we have that power in us, then we ought
to be able to experience the great resurrection
power of the Holy Spirit. Now everyone knows
that Jesus had unlimited power while he served
here on earth. Jesus, of course, he has unlimited
power as he's in heaven now. Jesus knew when
he was returning to the Father that his followers
needed to have power. to continue to work, to
continue the work, I should say, that Jesus started.
So Jesus said there needs to be help for these
disciples. They need to have someone to... bring
them through each day and carry them through
the challenges of life and deal with the issues
they're going to face with just like the things
that we have to face with today trials and the
challenges that we are faced with Jesus knew
that we had to have it but he knew at that time
especially that his followers needed to hear
his word needed to know what he had to say and
he knew that the Holy Spirit would remind the
disciples of the words of Jesus so there's something
recorded in John chapter 14 and verse 2 in the
New International Version that I think is very
appropriate for this particular podcast very
truly I tell you whoever believes in me will
do the works I have been doing and they will
do even greater things than these because I am
going to the Father now these are obviously the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ he's saying these
words to give comfort and help and direction
to his disciples he's also saying these words
to give help comfort and direction for followers
him of him today who will pick up the Word of
God and read it and see that he had a plan a
program in place where the Holy Spirit would
come in and bring power more power of the Holy
Spirit in the lives of his followers and so he
basically is telling us that there is greater
power more power to followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ that the Holy Spirit has for each and
every one of us that we can even imagine or think
it's total unlimited power so we need to think
about this personally we need to think about
our relationship to the Lord our relationship
to the Holy Spirit and our relationship to our
other Christian followers and our relationship
with the word of God. All of these are things
that we need to have in our life to operate in
full force in order to operate with more power
from the Holy Spirit. Everyone knows that Jesus
had unlimited power. We all know that. We all
know that that unlimited power was exhibited
throughout the time that he was on earth and
now it continues to be exhibited through the
Holy Spirit who Jesus left for each and every
one of us to have that strength. Everyone knows
that Jesus knew we needed help and we know that
we need help but he was thinking about us and
planning to help us and putting up a plan in
action to give us more strength and more power
in our walk with God. Jesus also was aware that
his disciples would question how they could do
greater things. When he said, I'm going to read
this again to you in John chapter 14 and verse
2. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes in
me will do the works I have been doing, and they
will do even greater things, greater things,
he says, than these. So, Jesus knew that. and
he knew that they would be able to have that
available to them, but that didn't mean that
the disciples just all accepted it immediately
and said, oh yeah, great, no problem, we got
this. No, they were basically wondering, how
in the world was this gonna happen? Jesus knew
the disciples would question and would wonder
and try to examine themselves and say, how in
the world can we do greater things than what
the Lord Jesus Christ did? In John chapter 14,
Jesus was telling his disciples, keep my command.
You know, a lot of time we want the promises
of God, we want the blessings of God, but we
don't live up to the conditions on the promises
of God. And Jesus is instructing his disciples
saying, keep my commands. Now, since we're reading
it today, those instructions are for us, the
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to
keep his commands. And that's key, crucial to
understand how we can have greater power through
the Holy Spirit. We see in the words of Jesus
that he's saying things like, I'm sending you
help. I'm sending you another day help. with
you. He lives in you and through his teachings
throughout various books in the Bible and the
teachings of the Apostle Paul, Jesus is telling
us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth
and that he told his disciples that he would
be in them and with them. Now all of these comments
and all these words that Jesus was speaking and
Paul is speaking about tells us that we are being
built up to be the disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ and that we're built up to be disciples,
that doesn't mean we're built up in ourselves,
in our own wisdom, our knowledge, and our understanding
knowing. What it means is that the Holy Spirit
will build us up to a greater power, a greater
level of anointing, a greater level of power
that will live in us and help us to be the hand
of Jesus extended is really what the Holy Spirit
is doing for Christians. As a Christian for many
years, I've read a lot of different people make
a lot of comments about the Holy Spirit, about
the anointing, and I love the word manifestation.
When we hear the word the manifestation of the
Holy Spirit. Well, it's the manifestation of
the Holy Spirit that anointed Jesus for his ministry.
Remember, when Jesus was baptized by John the
Baptist, the dove came down, and that was the
Holy Spirit come down and anointed him for his
ministry here on earth. Well, see that same manifestation
of the Holy Spirit to anoint Jesus anoints us
with Holy Spirit power. Now, I want you to just
take that in right now. I just want you to, whatever
you're doing, unless you're riding a bike or
driving a car, I don't want you to close your
eyes, but just take a moment. listening in and
close your eyes and invite the Holy Spirit to
come and to manifest himself in you. That means
to have him come forth with greater power and
greater wisdom and greater direction and greater
guidance and ask him to be manifested in your
life in a greater way than ever before. Invite
him in to do that and open up your heart and
your mind to allow the Holy Spirit to manifest
in you and do something greater than you've ever
imagined before so that God would receive the
glory and he she would receive all the honor
and all the praise. You know, because of the
Holy Spirit power that's in us. Now, once we
become a Christian, as soon as we receive Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior, the power of the
Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of us. Now,
for a lot of us, I know for me for a while the
Holy Spirit was there and His great power was
there, but I didn't know how to call on Him.
I didn't know how to ask Him to manifest. I didn't
know how to ask Him to anoint, to move in a special
way and to use me and to speak to me and help
me. I just kind of did one day after another.
So therefore it took time in reading the Word
of God and understanding that... Jesus gave us
the Holy Spirit so then he could lead us into
a new level of our walk with him. And so that's
what I think Christians need to do. A lot of
us have the tendency, and I have in the past
too, just simply sit back and wait for God to
do things when in reality we are to reach out
to the Holy Spirit. We're to reach out to the
Word of God and read it and see what the Holy
Spirit is telling us to do and ask him to work
in us and to use us for God's glory and to reach
out and touch. our life and the lives of those
that we're in contact with. You see, I was born
a sinner, we all are, and I lived most of my
life, the beginning of my life as someone not
serving God. I grew up, went to high school,
grade school, dated, got married, wound up in
the army, wound up going to the military, going
to Vietnam and serving in that war and coming
back and spending several more years later. And
all of a sudden I became a follower of Lord Jesus
Christ because I finally yielded and turned my
life over to Him and asked the Holy Spirit to
come in and to fill me and take over my life,
that I would surrender my will and that God would
come in and be Lord and Savior of my life. When
that took place, then I had to understand that
I didn't deserve that. That's something that
Christ did for me. He died on the cross and gave
his life for me so that I could receive the power
of the Holy Spirit that would be left by him
to the disciples who was now carried through
to all of those followers of the Lord Jesus Christ
who received Jesus. they receive the power of
the Holy Spirit, receive an anointing to do great
things, and they receive more power than they
can even imagine or even think. They receive
comfort greater than they ever thought. They
receive peace and love and joy and kindness and
gentleness and desire to reach out and help other
people and a desire to serve Jesus and to follow
him and to be an example of Christ living here
on earth, and all that is led by the Holy Spirit.
You see, our lives are all about ourselves at
first. Before I became a Christian, I was just
wrapped up in me. I don't know if that happened
to you or not, but I was wrapped up in what I
needed to do, and what I wanted to get done,
and what I thought was important, and it was
all about me, myself, and I. And so that's what
led my life. And then all of a sudden one day
I realized that I have kind of a shallow life.
I'm working, my career is going well at the bank,
things are going and married, have a wonderful
wife and have a wonderful little baby boy. And
my wife was expecting our second baby who was
a little girl. And all that was taking place
in my life. And all of a sudden one day the Holy
Spirit spoke to me and basically said, not an
audible voice, but impressed me to ask this question,
what is life all about? My wife and I sit on
the side of the bed before we're going to go
to church that day. And I said, why are we doing
this? Why are we going? We get up, we go through
this motion, we go to church. What's it all about?
I don't understand it. And I had never surrendered
my life to Jesus. And my wife was in the same
space. She was wondering also, what are we doing?
Why are we going to church? What's the purpose
in it? What's the reason for doing this? And
the Holy Spirit revealed Himself to us. My wife
received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior
before I did. But I did later on, you know, a
short time after that. And we both became followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit
gave us a hunger, an absolute, just unending
hunger to get more of God's Word in us. and be
around Christian people and go to the church
every time the doors are open and reach out to
other people and invite people to church and
talk to people about our relationship with the
Lord Jesus Christ and everything just changed
dramatically. That's because that when the power
of the Holy Spirit comes inside to dwell in his
followers that they become new people. They become
a new creation. All things change. The old passes
away and all things become new. We will have
at that time the Holy Spirit's power in us and
that power can just greater and greater as we
surrender to Him and deny our self and allow
our self and our self -desires and our own desires
for what we want in life to be secondary to what
God wants in our life and seek the leading and
the guiding of the Holy Spirit for everything
that we do. That doesn't mean we're perfect.
That doesn't mean that when we become Christians
that all of a sudden, okay, everything's wonderful
and it's perfect and we're never going to say
something wrong or do something wrong or make
a mistake. No, just the opposite. The Apostle
Paul talked about his life after he became a
follower. He said, sometimes I don't understand
that I do things that I shouldn't do and while
I'm doing the things that I'm doing, I know I
shouldn't be doing them. but I do them anyways.
I mean, that was the Apostle Paul. Matter of
fact, when I read that, it helps me to understand
that Paul wasn't perfect either. He had his challenges
that he faced with, but he always turned his
life around in the direction of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he did that by following the Holy
Spirit's leading and the anointing of the Holy
Spirit in his life to see miraculous things take
place. And I want that to take place in the lives
of each and every one of us, that we can see
a greater experience with the Holy Spirit, that
we can receive more power Holy Spirit than we
actually would think is possible. Now once again
I want to say that there's no limit to the power
in us that's the Holy Spirit power because it
is not about us it's about the Holy Spirit of
God living in us. The Holy Spirit power helps
us to understand God's Word and to help others
understand. You know, have you ever read the
Bible and read a few verses and you just don't
quite get it and you're going, I'm not sure I
know what that's about. I know I have. And when
I stop and I say, Holy Spirit, would you help
me? And would you help and clarify this? And
I get a Bible that is easy for me to read. I
don't read the Old King James much anymore. It's
a wonderful Bible, very powerful, but I don't
speak like that. That's not the words that I
use. And so that's why it's wonderful that many,
many new translations are out. Now, you got to
be careful the translations that you read. I
like particularly the New Living Translation.
I like the New International Version. I like
the New King James Version. And, you know, I
like the American Standard Version. Those are
all ones that I enjoy and that I read. So be
careful. You don't just grab some Bible written
by somebody that you don't know what their background
is or their experiences are. So find a good...
Bible with a great translation. I recommend any
of those that I mentioned. And when you read
that, it'll be speaking in language that more
relates to us today and how we speak. And a lot
of people, new Christians, need to have a Bible
that's easier to read and easier to comprehend
and understand and then ask the Holy Spirit to
help clarify what that means. We need to stop
when we're reading the Word of God and ask for
clarification of the Holy Spirit and ask the
Holy Spirit to do that. I can't tell you the
number of times that that has happened when I'm
preparing a sermon. preparing a talk or preparing
a podcast is when I stop and say, now, Holy Spirit,
would you help me have clarity and understand
exactly what that means? And many times the thought
comes in, that's the Holy Spirit. Or other times
I'll read a few more verses down and see clarity.
And so we can call upon the Holy Spirit anytime,
anytime for anything. He's living and dwelling
inside of us, so therefore we need to understand
that and know that He's ready, willing to help
us. Holy Spirit power helps us to understand
God's Word and the Holy Spirit power. is able
to help us understand the word so that we're
able to explain to others what that word means.
Now if you run into a wall and you're having
a problem understanding what a certain scripture
means then you need to find someone, a good mentor,
someone in your church that you attend to, your
pastor or one of the other associate pastors
or get into a good church Bible study that your
pastor would support. I want you to be careful
before you jump into a Bible study. Make sure
that it's underneath the covering of a local
church, a church that has pastor has approved
that teaching and approved that class that doesn't
mean the pastor has to be there it just simply
means that he is in agreement with those that
are teaching and you're sitting there listening
and hearing the right instructions that's so
important and as you're doing that allow the
Holy Spirit to help you and to clarify thoughts
and questions that you might have now let me
give you a word another word of caution that
I think it's so important that when you when
you're speaking to people about the Holy Spirit
there's a lot of people that have a lot of different
ideas about what the Holy Spirit does, who He
is, His relationship and all that stuff. And
I would be very, very careful if you get into
teachings on the Holy Spirit. Just the other
day, I had a call from someone who told me they
went to a Bible class and someone was talking
about the Holy Spirit and said the Holy Spirit
does this and the Holy Spirit does that. And
they just wanted to ask me what I thought of
that. And so I said, well, I don't know who this
person is, but I don't agree with that. That's
not what the Holy Spirit's all about. And I had
to help this this individual. And it really felt
good to be able to have someone who was seeking
help and guidance and direction on understanding
how the Holy Spirit operates. So I would encourage
you to be careful in Bible studies, be careful
in who you sit under, in any type of teaching
on the Holy Spirit or on the Word of God. I suggest
always suggest that you find someone else that
you have confidence in, that you know, that they're
underneath the covering of a good local church,
a good pastor, or the pastor himself, and you
should listen to those instructions and heed
them. You know, just make an additional comment
here. As pastor for many years, I would often
tell the congregation there's a book that I recommend
that they read. I knew that it was something
that was appropriate. I knew about the author.
I had read it myself and knew exactly what it
was saying, and I would encourage them to read
it, and I would also I also tell them before
you just pick up any book and just want to start
reading about the Holy Spirit, about your walk
with God, about Christianity, whatever, just
come to me or come to one of our pastors who
has at one time six or seven other pastors in
addition to me and go to each to one of us and
find us and be sure that they understand what
you're reading and just get some covering there
and some direction on what you're reading because
quite frankly there's a lot of stuff out there
that's being written that's kind of marginal.
Some of it is not intended for good. Others,
they're trying to do good and do well, but it's
really not being taught according to what I believe
the Holy Spirit wants to teach us in this. So
just be careful. Just to wrap that part of it,
just be careful who you listen to and what you're
reading and make sure that someone else that
you have confidence and trust in is a solid person
and understanding the Word of God can help you
with the instructions that you need. The Holy
Spirit has power to direct our steps. Now that's
power. I talked about having more power. Well,
the power to direct our steps and guide our thoughts
is something that the Holy Spirit has and we
need to yield to Him. In Proverbs chapter 16
verse 9, New International Version, it says here,
in their hearts, humans plan their course, but
the Lord establishes their steps. Another translation
says, man plans his ways, but the Lord guides
or directs their steps. They both basically mean
the same thing. So we need to understand that
if we have a plan in our life, we need to get
confirmation that it's It's properly lining up
with the Word of God. We need to understand that
if we have any plans that we should ask the Holy
Spirit to help us and that's what that scripture's
saying. It says, but the Lord establishes these
steps. He guides them and he helps us. The Holy
Spirit gives us power through the gifts of the
Spirit. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, I went through
all of those in prior podcasts. I really don't
think in this podcast I need to get into those,
but those are the power gifts. Those are gifts
that a lot of people always ask me right up front
is, what are miracles? healings and and what
is faith and what is tongues and interpretation
of tongues and prophecy and all those things
well those those gifts are explained in other
podcasts I've taken entire podcasts and just
worked on just maybe one or two of the gifts
of the Spirit but for your reference just get
the Word of God get 1st Corinthians in chapter
12 and read it and listen to the wonderful gifts
that are available to believers now remember
it's the Holy Spirit that that gives the gifts
and it's according to him alone he makes the
final decision on who gets what gifts and when
they get those gifts. And so it's important to
understand that. Do read 1 Corinthians chapter
12. I suggest the New Living Translation, the
New International Version, or the American Standard.
Those are all good translations. Now before I
close, I really believe it's important to define
the word power. The Holy Spirit does not give
us power to manipulate others or control them.
Power is a great word. It really is. But it can
also hurt others. God power is good power. Good
power always lifts up others and blesses them.
people and helps them, and directs them. Now,
it might correct them, but it's to bless them.
It's not to correct them to get even with them.
It's not to correct them to show yet, you're
wrong and I'm right, and those types of things.
No. Power, Holy Spirit power, is to bless and
to build up Christians and be believers, even
if it is in a form of correction. Evil or manipulative
power rejects God's Word, and it's a violation
of God's plan for us. So be sure and be aware
of that. That's very important to lay that out
there before I wrap this particular podcast up
today. Holy Spirit power always brings truth.
The Holy Spirit is the truth of God. It's He
is the Spirit of truth. Now, I truly believe,
I believe with all my heart that if we know anybody
who is looking for truth, they're saying, I'm
just trying to find the truth. I'm just trying
to find out what's really true in life. Just
get the word of God out that tells them that
the Holy Spirit is truth. of truth and if people
are truly looking for truth they will eventually
find the Holy Spirit they'll find Jesus Christ
because Jesus Christ was the only truth that
lived on this earth everything else falls far
below what Jesus has to offer so people truly
looking for truth will eventually be experiencing
the power of the Holy Spirit and that power of
the Holy Spirit will lead them to a relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ so let me just wrap
this up by praying for you and just kind of asking
the Holy Spirit to kind of bring this together
so that we can receive exactly what he had intended
for each and every one of us. Heavenly Father,
once again I thank you for the opportunity I
have and I pray that you would bless those listening
in. I pray for those who are seeking the Holy
Spirit that they'll not just seek the power but
they'll seek the Spirit who delivers the power.
That if they need something in their lives they'll
not seek that thing, that item, but they'll seek
the deliverer of those items, the one who provides
it, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ our Lord
and God the Father, they are the ones that we
should be seeking and looking for guidance and
direction in. Heavenly Father, that the Holy
Spirit would take this podcast and have it make
a lot of sense to a lot of people who may have
some confusion or questions about it. I pray
that people who are seeking truth about the Holy
Spirit will get good counsel and find someone
to help them and sit under them. If those who
are listening haven't heard all of this series,
this is almost the 40th podcast on the Holy Spirit.
that they would go and I'll explain how a little
later go to my podcast and download all those
and listen to the teachings that the Holy Spirit
has given me on all these areas dealing with
a relationship with the Holy Spirit. So Father,
I pray you would bless them and help them and
I pray Lord that each and every one of us would
draw closer to the Holy Spirit and seek his help
in his direction and receive his comfort when
he offers it, receive his love when it's offered
and receive his joy when he brings it because
that's all he brings us. is love joy and peace.
Truly I understand he corrects us and we need
that correction but Lord I pray Lord that when
we receive that correction from the Holy Spirit
they will understand that's God's plan that's
God's will and Father that will surrender and
submit to that leading in that direction of the
Holy Spirit. Thank you once again for being with
us I pray in Jesus name amen. Well I hope that
you've been blessed by this I kind of overlapped
a little bit with the message before this. Looking
at the two podcasts this one I was happy with
with but I the one I did on the one before this
podcast number 354 if you want to go back and
look that one up that kind of introduced more
of the mechanics of the gifts of the Spirit and
also the power of the Holy Spirit and shows the
teachings of Paul in it so I hope that'll be
a blessing to you so if you'd like to know though
more about quality Christian living that's our
podcast you can go to my webpage at davidcfriendauthor
.com and when you get there pull up my front
page and you'll see a link to the podcast and
on that link you'll find currently a about 40
messages alone just on the Holy Spirit. You'll
also find teaching on finances, on health, on
miracles, on the gifts of the Spirit. You'll
find teachings on health for veterans who are
struggling with things like PTSD and various
things like that. Just a list of topics. I hope
that you will go there and pick that up. In addition
to that, if you'd like to subscribe to my podcast,
you can do that by going to cpnshows .com or
wherever you listen to your podcasts. Now I do
want to thank you for listening and if you enjoyed
this podcast, I'd like you to take a moment to
rate it and give us a review. It really is beneficial
to others and also to this podcast. You can leave
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we certainly would appreciate that and we're
very thankful for that. So I once again ask you
to seek the leading and the guiding of the Holy
Spirit. We're going to continue this series on
the Holy Spirit and go into a as the Lord leads
us and directs us and guides us but so I don't
have a title for the next podcast yet and so
I'm gonna have to defer from giving you the next
title but I can tell you it will be on understanding
have a greater understanding of how to operate
with the Holy Spirit and how he can help and
guide and direct us so once again I want to thank
you so much for listening to Quality Christian
Living I am your host David Friend I pray that
you'll come back and listen once again thank
you for being a part of this podcast and may
God bless you and may the Holy Spirit fill you
with His power.