Day 12: The Holy Spirit Will Renew You

There is no other agent, power, nor person who can do for us what the Holy Spirit can do. He is absolutely unique. If we do not receive from Him, there is no one else from whom we can receive what we need.

I want to go back to the Old Testament for a moment to the prophet Zechariah 4:6 and quote some words from that prophet.

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel [the one who led the Jewish people back from their exile in Babylon]— ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” [That is s the Lord of Armies.]

God rules out might and power. Might you could understand as talents, ability, strength, and power you could understand as things you can acquire like education, finance, social influence. But God says neither one nor the other can do what I want done. There’s only one agent in the universe who can do it and that’s the Holy Spirit.

It’s very significant that it was the Lord of hosts who said those words—the Lord of armies, the one who has all the might and all the power in the universe at His disposal. But that’s not going to do what He wants done. So, that’s why God refrains from using His might and His power.

Sometimes we’d like to see God really turn loose and deal with the wicked and blast them into eternity, but God restrains Himself because that kind of power cannot accomplish the results He desires in you and me as God’s children which is God’s number one priority. God can deal with the wicked in due course but at the moment His priority is dealing with His children, His people, and producing in them the results which can be produced only by the Spirit of God. He’s bringing up a family for himself. He’s creating a people for Himself, and the agent of creation is the Holy Spirit and there is no other.

Reflect: For what reason is it you want to be led by the Holy Spirit – is it to see God’s power released through you, or to be changed into the image of Jesus Christ?