Use the Spirit, Luke!

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ~2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)

Ever wondered why the Holy Spirit doesn't get much credit? One possibility actually has to do with Star Wars. Yeah, there are several correlations between the Force and the Spirit, such as their omnipotence, omnipresence, and ability to be summoned by a specific minority. There is, however, a huge difference. The Force is a thing. I don't recall Luke Skywalker ever asking the Force if it would come help him out, but rather, Luke seemed to harness and use the Force out of his own ability to do so. The Holy Spirit and His power are very different. First of all, the Spirit is God, and thus not a thing but a person. Second, an important thing for us to remember is that the power of the spirit never comes from us, for there is nothing good in us. The power we have in God comes when we invite His Spirit to be the one who works in, with, and through us.

Here is one example I heard about the power of the Spirit. If you had a large piece of furniture to move, but it was too much for you to move alone, and you had a close friend who could do it with the flick of a wrist, what would you do? Would you attempt to move the piece of furniture by wielding the power of your friend and doing it yourself that way? Not likely. You would give your friend a call, and they would come over and help you do it. The challenge for us here is to remember where our strength comes from. There aren't many things that we can do on our own, and everything we can do usually ends up being worthless. So examine where in your life you are trying to do things on your own, and instead, try asking God to send his empowering Spirit to aid you in ever aspect of your life.