Sabbath Thought – By My Spirit

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God,” (Romans 8:14).

In a little over five weeks, we will once again be gathered in our respective locations to observe God’s Feast of Pentecost. God has given mankind His Holy Days to begin to understand His plan of salvation and to lead us to a deeper understanding of who He is.

I don’t think we give enough consideration to how diametrically opposite our carnal nature is compared to what God is (Isaiah 55:8, Romans 8:7). God is not interested in fixing our human nature; rather He wants to replace it completely. In the construction industry this is call a tear-down – the current construction is not worth saving or working around so it is better to simply tear it all down and start over.

One of the lessons in the upcoming Feast of Pentecost is that without God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us it is impossible to become like God. We remain a broken house in spite of our attempts to improve ourselves (Isaiah 64:6). A major point of conversion in a Christian’s life is coming to the realization that becoming like God is only possible through His Spirit. This is what God said to Zerubbabel as he was trying to rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem – “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” 

We cannot fix or change things in our life, our jobs, our families or even in the church except by by letting God’s Holy Spirit work in and through us. I don’t think we really appreciate what that means. It does not mean that we are to simply stand by while God works out everything – we are to show good works and obedience to God’s instruction (which requires application, see Philippians 2:12, James 2:14, 17). What we are to do is to remember that we can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13), by having His mind in us (Philippians 2:5), and by remembering how limited we are and how unlimited God’s power is (Mark 10:27).

We do not need to be the sharpest Bible scholars, the best educated counselors, the most powerful personalities or anything else along those lines. We simply need to yield to God so He can do His work in us and through us. God has called the weak of the world (1 Corinthians 1:27), but we are not to stay weak. Through the payment for sin given in Christ’s death, we can now have God’s Holy Spirit dwell in us (John 14:17) and through that Holy Spirit, God will reveal and remind us (John 14:26) of what we need in order to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) so we can have true life (John 10:10). When we really understand how to let God work through us and in us, then we will have a foundation that He can build upon.

Will we try to be a Christian by our might or power – or will we be a Christian by His Spirit?

I wish you a very meaningful Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

26 April, 2025