Mighty Spirit of God

Jesus & Paul both said that, God is Spirit (John 4:24 & 2 Corinthians 3:17).

And some characteristics of God’s Spirit are mentioned in Isaiah 11:2 & John 14:16,17 i.e. The Spirit of wisdom & understanding, the Spirit of counsel & might, the Spirit of knowledge & the fear of the Lord, Helper & the Spirit of Truth. Our God who is Spirit is strong and mighty; He is mighty in battle.

Some incidents in the Old Testament have fascinated me. When the Spirit of God came upon ordinary men like us, they became strong & mighty and did some supernatural things which normal human beings cannot do. At that time, the Spirit of God was not dwelling in them, but it was coming upon them.

Let us see some incidents from the Bible –

• On David: When Samuel anointed David with oil in the midst of his brother; Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward (1 Samuel 16:13). And after that, one day when he was taking care of his father’s sheep, a lion and a bear came & took a lamb out of the flock, David went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against him, he caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Further David told king Saul after narrating above incident to him, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine (Goliath).” And we all know very well what happened to Goliath later.  (1 Samuel 17: 34 to 37)

• On Othniel: When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. (Judges 3:9,10)

• On Samson:

1. At the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came roaring against Samson. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. (Judges 14:5,6)
2. The men of Judah arrested Samson & bound him with two new ropes and delivered him to Philistines. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. (Judges 15:9 to 15)

• On Elijah: When Elijah went up to the top of Carmel to pray for the rain & he prayed seven times. Ahab was waiting for Elijah down below the mount of Carmel. And the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away on the chariot and went to Jezreel. Then the power of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab (Ahab’s chariot) to the entrance of Jezreel. (1 King 18:41 to 46)

• On Saul: After his anointing as the first king of Israel by Samuel, when group of prophets met him on his way back; then the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and he prophesied among them. (1 Samuel 10:9 to 13)

Jesus said to His disciples that, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another HELPER to help you and BE WITH YOU FOREVER, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for HE DWELLS WITH YOU AND WILL BE IN YOU”. (John 14:16,17) And God the Father sent Him to us to live in us after Jesus ascended in heaven. Jesus also told this beforehand to His disciples that, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you”.   So truly 1 John 4:4 says that, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  It is a great honour, glory & privilege that the Spirit of God i.e. Holy Spirit lives /dwells in those who are His true disciples i.e. in us. He is not coming upon us occasionally, as He was coming upon the saints of the Old Testament. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit & He (Holy Spirit) is the guarantee of our inheritance. (In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13,14)

Therefore, we must be bold as a lion, for the mighty Spirit of God dwells in us. For God has not given us the Spirit of fear but of POWER and of love and of a sound mind. God bless.

Anjali Jose