When God has a message that He wants to give His people, He is not often subtle about it. He might not shout it out loud in a James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman voice, but for those with ears to hear and eyes to see, the Word of the Lord is made abundantly clear.
In fact, He tends to be quite repetitive. The message seems to come up everywhere. Every sermon communicates it. Your time in God’s Word emphasizes it. Holy Spirit continues to remind you about it.
God has such a word for you and I this year: I am summoning you into a deeper relationship with My Spirit, for My Spirit is the agent of the impossible.
As the people of God commit to deepen their relationship with Holy Spirit (individually and corporately)—instead of making Him a side issue because of misunderstanding, fear or controversy—the church’s level of New Testament experience and demonstration is going to be significantly upgraded.
The body of Christ needs nothing new out of heaven; we simply need to start becoming stewards of the precious, priceless inheritance we received in the Person of Holy Spirit. It is error for us to believe that the revival we desire is some outpouring that will come from heaven. No. Revival will take place when the people of God awaken to what they have already received and live like God is actually inside of them.
God’s Plans Are Supernatural
You serve the God of the miraculous. The God of the impossible. While this truth is great and often provokes excitement, there is another dimension to it. Consider the text from Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9, where he is quoting from the prophet Isaiah: “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’”
Too many people stop with this verse. This does a disservice to the Scripture and neglects our responsibility and summons into a supernatural life. Context is everything here. Under the Old Covenant, yes, it would be legal to conclude with this verse, in awe of the fact that almighty God is so beyond us and that His plans are infinitely superior to anything our mortal minds could wrap around.
While this truth incites awe, it does not produce any type of action. It leaves us with a glorious fact: Yahweh is the God of the impossible. He is beyond, above and outside of humanity. He is able to do anything and everything. But there is no access to this God.
This was because under the Old Covenant (when this prophecy in Isaiah was delivered), the people of God did not have open access to God. Eyes could not see and ears could not hear because sin separated humanity from free access to the empowering presence of God.
God’s Supernatural Plans Are Accessible … to You!
I have exciting news for you, believer. Things have significantly shifted for us because Jesus’ blood was shed at Calvary. This is what Paul was unveiling to the Corinthian church. He was getting ready to marry an Old Testament truth about the greatness of God’s plans for His people (which remains true, by the way) with our glorious New Covenant inheritance, the Person of Holy Spirit.
The very next verse reads, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (v. 10).
Now, read them together and be utterly overwhelmed: “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”
God does have incredible, amazing, supernatural plans for His people—but it does not stop there. He wants to reveal these plans to you through His Spirit and carry them out in your life, in the earth, through the empowerment of His Spirit. Notice the common denominator: His Spirit.
The Most Important Relationship on Earth
In 2014 and beyond, God wants to take you to a new level in your relationship with Holy Spirit. This is not a trivial issue by any means. This is a matter of extreme importance and urgency for the body of Christ as a whole. How do I know? Right now it appears that Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood and scrutinized Person of the Godhead … and this is among Christians!
Nothing made this more apparent than the fall of 2013, when we discovered how believers could unify over Duck Dynasty and divide over Holy Spirit (with the Strange Fire controversy). Something is wrong.
At the same time, something is very right. Controversy reveals Satan’s intimidation. He knows exactly what will happen when believers gather, once more, around the Person that the Acts church deeply cherished. The enemy has seen it, you know. He saw it in Acts. He has witnessed it throughout history. He watched it at Azusa Street. The devil has repeatedly seen the miraculous evidence of a people united around the Person of the Holy Spirit, believing full well that the God of the impossible actually lives inside of them in this consuming, holy fire.
Holy Spirit is summoning you to know Him deeper. After all, He is God on the earth. Think about it. The Father is in heaven. Jesus is seated at His right hand. This would suggest that it is absolutely vital that you know Holy Spirit. He is not some spiritual side issue. He is not the Trinity’s version of crazy Uncle Bob, who—even though he is part of the family—we prefer not to focus on because “you never know what Uncle Bob’s going to do.”
Holy Spirit is not antagonistic toward other members of the Trinity. He has come to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14), summon people into the kingdom and demonstrate the will of the Father on earth.
R.T. Kendall put it best in his prolific (and most timely) new book, Holy Fire: “One of the interesting characteristics of the Trinity is that persons of the Godhead heap praise on one another … there is no jealousy or rivalry in the Godhead.”
With hearts that burn to follow and exalt Jesus, our only reasonable option is to pursue relationship with Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit was the emphasis of some of Jesus’ final words on earth, as the Son of God shared about the transition that would take place after His death and resurrection. He would be ascending to heaven, but another Helper would come (John 14:16). Oh, how vital it is that we begin to love, communicate with and relate to the Helper—the One Jesus promised would “abide with you forever”!
The God of the impossible has made you His dwelling place in the Person of the Holy Spirit. With this in mind, get ready. 2014 is going to be your year of becoming deeply acquainted with the Spirit of God, for it is only by the Spirit that you will step into the impossible things that God has planned and destined for you—individually and as the body of Christ.
Larry Sparks is author of the books Breakthrough Faith and Breakthrough Healing. He also founded Equip Culture Media—a ministry that empowers believers with the tools and resources they need to live victoriously through the supernatural power of God. Larry serves as director of curriculum resources for Destiny Image Publishers and hosts Life Supernatural, a weekly radio program that features bestselling authors, emerging filmmakers and key ministry leaders. He lives in Florida with his wife and daughter. Follow him on Twitter @LarryVSparks. Subscribe to his weekly blog at lawrencesparks.com.
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