Please hit "WEBCASTS"
Script: Yvette l Narrator: Josh l Mix: Yujie
Hello friends! Welcome back to the fifth part of the Power Source of the Leader, the Life of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13: 14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”
What did Paul mean by “communion”? The Amplified Bible renders the term as “presence and fellowship” and explains that it carries the sense of “sharing together and participation”.
In this verse, Paul explains how the Trinity is manifested to us – through the Father’s love, the Son’s grace, and the Spirit’s fellowship with us. As we commune with God through His written Word, we tap into the life of His Holy Spirit.
We are spirit beings. When the life of God flows into our spirit, we have strength, vibrancy and zest. We need the power of Spirit to fill our spirits and give life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8: 11).
From time to time, we need a supernatural burst of energy from the life of the Spirit especially during intense ministry. When this happens to me (Pastor Daniel Foo), I have unusual physical strength and stamina, and am able to preach and teach for hours and continue to minister.
FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SPIRIT OF POWER
We begin our relationship with the Holy Spirit only when we are born again of the Spirit. Jesus said in John 3: 5, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” When we are born again, we receive the Holy Spirit as a mark of adoption into God’s family.
Why is walking with the Spirit so important? Because by rescuing us from our sins, Jesus transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light; from the power of Satan to the power of God (Acts 26: 18). Our conversion involves a clash of powers and an act of spiritual force where one power tears us free from another power.
One of Satan’s weapons is the spirit of fear. It reveals in the fear of death, failure, rejection, injury and many unknown phobias. For example, the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) and night (nyctophobia).
Fear is driven by negative pressures and worries that come from living in a fallen world. John 16: 33 reminds us that “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Colossians 1: 13 & 14 say, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” We are delivered from the powers of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son. He who lives in us has overcome the world. The apostle John declares: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5: 4-5).
Once we have become His children, the key to overcoming the evil and the world is fellowship with the Holy Spirit in our daily living. As we learn to yield to the Spirit, He enables and empowers us to overcome our sinful nature (Romans 8: 2).
The Spirit of power is also the One who will quicken the Word so that it brings life, healing and restoration to our bodies. His words of wisdom “will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones… For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh” as found in Proverbs 3: 8 and 4: 22.
Praying God’s Word for our Health
Our bodies are mortal and corrupted by the effects of the Fall, as our pains and sicknesses remind us. Healing needs to come from the Holy Spirit as Paul declared in Romans 8: 11.
If we are not feeling well, pray: “Lord, I partake of Your Word now. You have promised that it will strengthen me; now let it strengthen my immunity so I will remain healthy. Your Word is healing to my flesh and life to my bones.”
It is helpful to speak out the words of Scripture as we pray and talk to God. If we are not sure of our ailment, we can pray for our entire body to be in perfect alignment with God’s Word. Ask Him to preserve our immune, digestive, circulatory, cardiovascular and other systems, removing infection and calcification and opening respiratory airways and blood vessels to work at full efficiency.
The Spirit empowers us to be witnesses of Christ. Before He was taken up to heaven, Jesus told His disciples: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1: 8). Notice, the disciples were not told to disperse yet – they were to wait. Only when the Spirit came upon them, they have the empowering they needed to be His witnesses to the entire world.
Jesus cited the Spirit as His source of power in Luke 4: 18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SPIRIT OF LOVE
Through the Spirit of love, God comes alongside His people to comfort, strengthen and counsel them. The Holy Spirit is our “Along-sider”.
How can we bring the Spirit’s love into our daily lives in a tangible way? God is our Comforter who walks with us. Whether we have been misunderstood, insulted or put down by someone, we ask Him to come alongside with us and bring us His comfort. Then ask for His help to resolve the situation according to His ways. And take every detail to Him for there is nothing He cannot handle.
The author of Hebrews points out that grace is freely available to all who seek it. But it must be sought. We must ask for it, seek it till we find it and knock until the door opens. When we receive it, it will be the specific dispensation of grace required for our need – be it grace in working with tough client, wisdom in making a business decision or ministering to a grieving family.
Do not Grieve the Spirit
Because the Holy Spirit is a spirit of love, we must be careful not to grieve Him. Paul describes how this might happen and how to avoid it:
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4: 30-32)
The bottom line of grieving the Spirit is when we give in to our natural selves, and fail to show the love of the Lord to others. When there is anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, slander and malice, we grieve the Holy Spirit. When He is hurt, He steps aside, although He is still with us, until we come to our senses and repent.
Remember, He is the Holy Spirit. When we engage in actions that defile our hearts, we grieve Him. Yet He remains with us, convicting us of our sins and waiting for our repentance to restore the fellowship.
FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM
The Spirit gives wisdom. The Amplified Bible puts it across clearly in 2 Timothy 1: 7 that “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”
So how do we get a heart of wisdom? The answer is we ask the Spirit to reveal the desire of the Father and the love of the Son.
As we pray for our loved ones, let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the Father’s love. Ask the Lord to reveal Jesus to them – as the Saviour who loves them and wants to bring them back to Him. Ask the Lord to show them His kindness in their weaknesses and His severity against their sins, so that they may come to a full awareness of the blessed, abundant life that Jesus died to give them.
Both Paul and Jude counsel us to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6: 18; Jude 20). True prayer is praying in the Holy Spirit. It is prayer that wants what is in accordance with God’s will as revealed in His Word. We are urged to bring all our requests and supplications before Him, and as we spend more time with the Spirit, we come to let Him set the agenda.
Pastor Daniel Foo consciously practised this principle when preparing sermons. It is possible to become over-familiar with Scriptures or not prepare sufficiently. Hence, he prayed, “Lord, would You breathe life into the message? Can You give me fresh insight, and the passion to flow with You? Will You connect with my spirit-man, and help me direct the hearts of all who hear the Word towards Yourself?” Then he delivered the message with confidence, knowing that He will grant revelation both to himself and his hearers.
Do not Quench the Spirit
The Holy Spirit can be quenched when we do not receive the messenger or message as from the Lord (Matthew 10: 40-41). Paul warned us: “Do not quench the Spirit, Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5: 19-22). Knowing the Scriptures, discerning right from wrong and being sensitive to the moves of the Spirit are critical.
CHANNELS OF GOD’S POWER
When we are connected to the Spirit, there is always hope. Romans 15: 13 reminds us to be filled with “all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
Joy brings us strength, peace, well-being and a strong belief that we will abound in hope by His power. Therefore, worship services and other communal meetings must always give hope to people so that they leave with being built up and encouraged with hope, joy and fire in their bellies.
When we are filled with the Spirit, we can pray for the life of God to flow out of our inner being to touch the sick and impart healing. We are conveying God’s power. It is His power that is transmitted through our mouths and in our touch to minister His grace.
Similarly, in the marketplaces, we minister to those around us by practising honesty, integrity and focusing on the importance of family.
We can also take authority over our environment, as priests and kings and invite the presence of God to come into our spheres of influence.
Who is our power source? It is God through our experience of the love of the Father, the light of His Word and the life of His Spirit. Our spirit-man has to be strengthened and filled with things that only God can provide. And because He knows all our days (Psalms 90 & 139), He can sustain us throughout. The secret to finishing our race well is a continuous enlightening from the Word, the Spirit and the Father.
We shall begin a new topic, the Purpose of the Leader, next week. Please stay tuned. Goodbye.
<< Song title: It Is Well by Kristene DiMarco & Bethel Music >>
Excerpted from outstanding Leader by Pastor Daniel Foo; first published by Armour Publishing Singapore and the book can be purchased from