“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
What does “power from the Holy Spirit” look like in the life of a believer? How do you know if you are experiencing His power. Here are a few thoughts…
Courage that overcomes fear (see Acts 4:8 and 13) – I have heard it said that courage is NOT the absence of fear but rather doing that which we fear. This is what the Holy Spirit enables us to do. To boldly speak up even when it scares us. To take on a challenge even when it is out of our comfort zone. To step out in faith even when we know that there are risks involved.
Overflowing joy (see Ephesians 5:18-20) – When the Holy Spirit fills us with power there is an inexplicable joy that wells up within us. There is a song in our heart that has to be sung. There is praise and thanksgiving that has to shared. Joy is a powerful mark of a believer – mainly because there are so few outside of Christ who genuinely seem to be content and at peace with what the world has proffered them.
A vigorous grasp of God’s love (see Ephesians 3:16-19) – A Holy Spirit empowered believer understands and grasps the full extent of the love of Christ. He grasps what it cost God to send His Son to the cross. He grasps what the wrath of God would be upon his life were it not for God’s propitiating love. He grasps what knowing God’s love calls him to. It is a powerful thing to understand the love of God.
Endurance and patience ( see Colossians 1:11) – This world is not always a nice place to live in. People are not always easy to put up with. Sometimes life is just plain sucky. The Spirit’s power is emphatically manifest when believers deal with whatever life throws at them with grace and integrity and gritty fortitude. The ability to persevere in this way is nothing less than a demonstration of the Spirit’s dynamic strength in a believer.
These are certainly not the only marks of The Holy Spirit’s power in believers. But it is a good place to start thinking about whether you are experiencing power in your life from on high. And to start thinking about if not, why not?
Why this verse is foundational: “Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes–all the time! It must be that way, for God’s glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.”
― Henry T. Blackaby