The Power of the Spirit of God!

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter 1:3-8 NIV

Most of us may think that moments of inspiration are same as the power of the Spirit of God. Therefore, we wait until moments of inspiration to come while we are enjoying our lives according to our own pleasures and will. When they come, we start to be godly but when they stop within us, we return to our own ways of living. Furthermore, some of us may believe that we do not have any sinful desires and passions as we think that the whole world is going according to the will of God and the natural world is same as the kingdom of heaven. This is because God has created everything and everybody. Hence, we think it is okay to live according to our own desires, passions, pleasures and will because we believe that they are the only way to God. In addition to this, we leave everything else to Him, such as transforming us from our natural bodies into glorious ones and taking us to the kingdom of heaven. Thus, for this reason, we make every effort to live our lives comfortably and peacefully without any regrets.

However, the truth is that the way to God and to the kingdom of heaven is only through Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God (John 14:6-7) by believing in Him until the end of the age. (John 3:16-18). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) This means that we have to surrender ourselves before God (Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:24-27) with repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9) and start to live godly lives—the way how God wants us to live—by letting the Spirit of God to work within our lives (John 14:15-27). This is because the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of the life (John 6:63), the Spirit of the truth (John 16:7-15), and the Spirit of the freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18)

Second of all, the power of the Spirit of God seems similar to the moments of inspiration but they are different. The moments of inspiration is the empowerment of the Spirit of God and the visions of God, so this means we receive more strength and power through them, to walk with God. This does not mean that we are to be very weaklings of God, that we cannot move forward with God. This is because the Spirit of God is available to everyone if we just let Jesus Christ to dwell in our hearts (Revelation 3:20). Furthermore, it is good to be weaklings of God in some ways, for Jesus Christ states, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) The main reason for  this is that if we are weak in the spirit to move forward with God, we find ourselves that we are more becoming dependent on God to walk along with Him until the end of the age, as Jesus Christ declares, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:5-8)

Lastly, the order from faith to love is quite important. Otherwise, things are not going to work out as they are supposed to be. We have to make every effort from faith to goodness, as we are doing the will of God (Romans 8:28); and from goodness to knowledge because if we are doing the will of God, then we have to have knowledge (Ephesians 5:15-18). From knowledge to self-control because if we know the will of God is, then we have to act it out (Romans 12:11); and from self-control to perseverance because if we are acting it out, then we have to persevere (James 1:12). Otherwise, we are not going to finish. From perseverance to godliness because what we are persevering, we are being godly (1 Timothy 4:8). From godliness to mutual affection because if we are doing the will of God, it is for someone else (Philippians 2:3-4); and from mutual affection to love because if we are doing the will of God and being a blessing to others, then we have to love them (Galatians 5:13). The reason why we have to love others is that love comes from God and love is God. Because God has already loved us so much, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ as an image of Himself (Colossians 1:15), into the world (John 1:14) to crucify Himself on the cross as atonement of our sins (Colossians 2:13-15)

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own [spritual] eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. (1 John 4:7-21)