“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
(Luke11:11-13)
God gave the Holy Spirit to believers to help us each become the person He wants us to be, and to enable us to accomplish the work He calls us to do. Our heavenly Father understands that we are living in a sinful world. Because we all have a natural bent away from godliness, living the Christian life would be absolutely impossible without His divine assistance.
When we fail in our vocation or in our relationships, it is because we are not drawing on the inexhaustible well of supernatural power that is available within us. This truth became clear to me, thanks to a missionary named Bertha Smith. Ms. Smith had spent 40 years in China, and when I met her, she was already in her late 70s. I shared with her something I was struggling with, and I won’t ever forget her reply.
She said, “Charles, you are as good as you’ll ever be. And you’re as good as you ever have been. You won’t ever be any better than you are.” How discouraging! I wanted to walk away right then. Then she said, “But the Holy Spirit who is living on the inside of you will enable you and He will do it for you. You can’t improve your flesh.”
Until then, I had always thought that if I worked hard enough, I’d be a better person. It was a real eye opener to realize that our heavenly Father does not want our good efforts. He wants our cooperation with the Spirit within us. Since we cannot improve on what is natural, God gives each believer the Holy Spirit.
About the Author
This article was written by Charles Stanley. You can read more about this author by clicking this link:
http://www.talk.thelife.com/charles-stanley/
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