The Holy Spirit empowers us to fulfil our assignment on earth. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus coming on earth and spoke of the gifts that the Holy Spirit would empower him with. And these same gifts are given to us as believers when we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of wisdom and understanding to be able to solve problems and to navigate situations. This relates to supernatural revelation knowledge that comes from God to his children on earth. “asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God” (Ephesians 1:17).

The second characteristic relates to counsel and might which relates to providing direction and building strength. The Holy Spirit is our guide and directs the steps of the believer. He also gives us strength in the inner man to be able to stand against tests and trials. The Holy Spirit also empowers the believer with supernatural abilities to perform miracles. “they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18). Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit would empower us to cast out demons and speak with new tongues.

The Holy Spirit himself rested upon Jesus and empowered his ministry on the earth. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). This scroll written by Isaiah was read by Jesus in Luke 4:18-19, to confirm that the word had come to pass. We have also been empowered to preach the gospel, to bind up the broken hearted and to bring freedom to those who are bound and oppressed.

The third characteristic of the Holy Spirit is the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. We don’t have to rely on our own strength and our human knowledge and qualifications to do the will of God. This releases us from the pressure of comparison and the need to try to measure up to others. There is no competition when it comes to fulfilling the mandate that is on your life. As long as you are in the will of God, then no one can circumvent the assignment that God has for you. No one can do what you were born to do or take the place of your calling. Rest in knowing that what God has for you, he has given you the strength through the Holy Spirit to bring it to past.

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Paul taught the church about the need for the solid food of the word to sustain us and to help us to train our spiritual senses. When our senses are trained and developed, then we have the ability to discern who is of God and those who are operating under the influence of this world. We cannot afford to remain immature in this season and be deceived by the enemy. To be discerning means to demonstrate good judgement in choosing our friends and acquaintances. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Many people in Jesus’s home town could not see past his birth to a carpenter. They missed out on benefitting from his amazing ministry and experiencing many of the miracles that he performed because they could not see past his beginning. How many of us have counted out people because they did not start out in a way that we considered significant? Only God determines the end from the beginning and we need eyes trained to see in the way that God sees. “Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish” (Isaiah 46:10).

The bible even warns us to be careful to entertain strangers for some have entertained angels without knowing it. It is discernment that helps us to determine those people who have been sent to us as destiny helpers. A snobbish attitude can push away people who genuinely want to be of service to you. Don’t just take people at face value, but ask God to reveal why people have come into your life for such a time as this. Some opportunities don’t come packaged in the label that we would expect. It was David’s meeting with Goliath that set him on a path towards destiny.

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

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Elisha the prophet was so in tune with the voice of God that he could supernaturally hear conversations that the King of Syria had in his bedroom. Elisha used this information to gain an advantage for Israel when Syria made war against them. We see other places in the bible where God revealed to prophets and people of God, information relevant to other people. Oftentimes Jesus could hear the thoughts of the Pharisees who stood in judgment of his teachings.

“When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts” (Luke 5:22)? In this chapter, the Pharisees did not even speak what was on their hearts. Nevertheless, Jesus could hear what they were thinking. We also saw in Acts when Peter knew when Ananias and Sapphira conspired to lie about their offering. “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land” (Acts 5:3)? No one told Peter what Ananias and Sapphira had done, but the Holy Spirit revealed their conspiracy.

There were other places in the bible when angels warned of impending danger and conspiracy against God’s people. Herod intended to find out about the location of Jesus so that he could kill him. He lied to the wise men to trick them into giving away his location. “And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way” (Matthew 2:12). The wise men avoided any harm coming to Jesus because they heard from God.

The enemy wants nothing but to cause harm and difficulties in the life of the believer. God wants to protect us, keep us safe and help us in our day to day interactions. God will give us information to give us an advantage over the enemy. Sometimes God can reveal when someone is ill or in trouble in order for you to help them. Sometimes God will give us visions to warn us for our protection or the protection of others. There are times when God will show you information about other people’s life and past experiences. This is never for the purpose of showing us so that we can hold this over others. He shows us for the purpose of ministering healing and deliverance.

“he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:22).

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Stop worrying about provision. Stop worry about how God is going to open the closed door. Stop worrying about how that difficult situation is going to work itself out. “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life” (Matthew 6:27)? Anxiety is a spirit and the devil wants to wear us out with stress and worry. Paul said, do not be anxious about anything, but pray about everything (Philippians 4:6). If it is significant enough to cause you worry then you need to start praying. Don’t stop praying until the worry goes away. Once you have prayed and you believe that God has heard you, then you praise him and thank him in advance for the answer.

Taking on another job will not meet your needs any faster than God can. If you have the energy to manage a side business with a view to transition out of full-time employment, with the right strategy, this can reap major benefits. However, if you are grabbing at every opportunity that comes along to make an extra dollar, then you will wear yourself out with exhaustion. Is there any point in making money that you won’t have the health and peace of mind to enjoy? “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22). I interpret this verse to mean that the wealth that comes from God does not include painful toil and weariness.

The biblical wealth system is centred around the law of sowing and reaping and faith to receive. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Paul also said, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). We work and trust God to bless the work of our hands. His word says that whatever we do will prosper. A gift surrendered to God will bring us before people of prominence. We are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath and as children of God we have access to his never ending supply of good things.

There are times when we need to stay in faith or increase our faith in order to receive what God has already supplied to us. God is not keeping back anything from us but we need faith to take hold of what already belongs to us. The entrance of the word gives light to the darkness and opens our understanding to be able to access the things of the spirit. Your needs were supplied before you were even created. “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8).

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Paul spoke about forgetting what was behind him and straining towards what was ahead. There are promises that God has declared over us and we are in a season of the manifestation of promises. Sometimes the challenges of the past, things that people did or said can weigh us down and cause us to dwell on them. We will not be able to move forward if we continue to dwell on what happened in our past. There are seasons to reflect and to discuss what we experienced. This should be for the purpose of extracting the lessons from the experiences. That and finding a resolution for what happened.

Once we have spent the time reflecting, we have to move forward. Have you ever caught up with an old friend who you didn’t see for years and the conversations felt exactly the same? Sometimes this can be a good thing and can feel quite nostalgic. Other times this can be stagnant or redundant especially when the line of discussion is immature. I have walked away from conversations like that marvelling about people’s inability to grow and move forward. This is especially when people are still regurgitating past hurts.

Being stuck on past mistakes and hurts can lead to bitterness and resentment. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). I can appreciate that some abuses are difficult to get over and we may need the help of a Therapist to help us to work through them. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Counsellor who can heal both mind and emotions. We have to be determined to push forward even when it hurts. The only way to make progress is to keep moving and to continue to place one foot in front of the other.

We may not always feel like we are making big strides. Some seasons will feel like smooth sailing and prayers seem quickly answered. There are other seasons when it feels difficult and almost like an uphill climb. Victory is ahead of this mountain and as we continue to push ahead, we will make it to the other side of this season. “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

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Jesus made the promise to his disciples throughout his time with them, that they would receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. After his resurrection, he appeared to his disciples and before his ascension, he reminded them of the promise. The instruction was that they should remain in the city until they received the indwelling. During Jesus’s time on earth, he ministered through the power of the Holy Spirit. “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Luke 4:1). It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus to be tempted by the devil.

After his fasting for forty days in the wilderness and his successful resistance of the enemy, Jesus returned with even more power to minister. “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about” (Luke 4:14). The Holy Spirit gave Jesus the power to heal the sick, deliver the oppressed and to work many miracles. The most amazing thing to me is that although Jesus is of the God head, he relied on the leading of the Holy Spirit.

He taught his disciples that he needed to return to the father so that the Holy Spirit could come to them. “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). The disciples did not see Jesus leaving them as an advantage. They had become accustomed to having him around to show them how to walk in authority. Many great teachers will step back from their students in order to encourage them to grow. Moreover Jesus in human flesh was limited by time and space and could not be everywhere all at the same time.

The Holy Spirit is God in his omnipresence and lives inside of every believer in every part of the world. The Holy Spirit transcends space, time, language, region, geography and manifests himself through signs and wonders. The Holy Spirit is our Guide, Friend, Comforter, Counsellor, Teacher and supernatural strength. He is our connection to God and is God himself living in us. We have the advantage when we listen and are led by the Holy Spirit as he guides us into all truth. “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John‬ ‭4:4‬).

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The verse above is taken from the story in Matthew, when a ruler came to Jesus to ask him to come and lay his hands on his daughter who had just died. Jesus followed the man to heal his daughter and when he met the crowd weeping in the house, he tried to console them. He told them that the girl was not dead but asleep. The crowd laughed at Jesus. Jesus did not get into a debate with the crowd to try to convince them of what he knew to be true. Neither did he allow them to stay in the house so that he could prove them wrong. He put them outside of the house, took the child by the hand, and the girl arose.

Unbelief can affect our performance of what God has asked us to do. There are some assignments that we have been asked to complete, that we have to be careful of who we select to go along with us. Many assignments need a team and other people to support us. We need to be surrounded by people who believe in our vision and dream. Someone with a negative attitude can drain your energy and cause unbelief. Negative attitudes are contagious and we have to decipher those who are with us or against us.

The worst thing is to have people close to us who pretend to be committed to our goals, but are secretly sabotaging our efforts. “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me”” (John 13:21). Even Jesus had a silent enemy who pretended to be in support of his mission. Judas seemed to have been swayed by greed and possibly envy or jealousy. Other times people can be controlled by a spirit of rivalry and competition. Either way, we need to be surrounded by people who see the best in us and believe in our potential.

Life is hard enough as it is without people in our inner circle who mean us no good or who are constantly critical, judgemental and negative. We have to pray about our relationships and connections and ask God to expose fake friends and people who mean us no good. It is important to also listen to what people say as many people are betrayed by their words. Jesus taught us about a tree and it’s fruits. “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

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God knew us before the creation of time and he predestined a purpose for us to accomplish on this earth. If you are submitted to God and being led by the Holy Spirit, your life will not be ordinary. You are called to live a set apart life and the path that you take will be chosen and ordained by God. Jonah was called by God to prophesy and his assignment pointed towards Nineveh but Jonah was resistant. “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3).

I am not sure where Jonah thought he was running to and one would expect him to know that God is omnipresent. God caused a storm to come upon the sea and the lives of everyone on the boat were threatened. Jonah knew that it was of the Lord because he had disobeyed and tried to live his life on his own terms. Jonah admitted to the crew that he had caused the storm because he disobeyed the God who created the earth and all its elements. He advised them to throw him overboard to save their lives. “So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging” (Jonah 1:15).

Luckily for Jonah, God caused a whale to swallow him and spat him back on dry land. Jonah was given a second chance and he did what God asked him to do. I imagine that the question going through Jonah’s mind was, ‘Why did God choose me?’ Each of us were born at a set time to fulfil a specific purpose. This will often determine many major life decisions such as where we live, where we work, our career pathways and even who we marry. God even chooses our parents and our distinct set of genetics and DNA. Many of our relationships and experiences have been designed to help to mould us into who God wants us to be.

Why did God choose you for this career, marriage, ministry, community, geographical location and ethnicity? Remember that every aspect of your life that is surrendered to God is to bring about a greater purpose. Resistance to the life that God designed for us leads to frustration, guilt, shame and remorse. A life fully surrendered to God is a life of true freedom and abundance. Many unbelievers consider living for God to be the opposite and the devil convince them that being a Christian represents bondage. This could not be further from the truth. You don’t know true freedom until your life is fully surrendered to God.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

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David wrote in Psalm 63 about seeking God earnestly and being thirsty for God like a dry and thirsty land. David shared that he desired to praise God and bless him because his loving kindness and steadfast love is better than life. Imagine that there is something which is better than life itself. God created life and our existence and since we live in him and move and have our being, then having God is better than life. Our life exists on this planet and we also have a life beyond this earth. What meaning would we attribute to life outside of the creator?

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Paul spoke of the resurrection of the dead and about Jesus who died and rose again and is seated with God in heaven. He also said that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. We have an earthly body and will have a heavenly body which will not perish. “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). Paul also spoke of being absent from the body and being present with God in heaven.

Our life on earth is temporal and we live in this body to aid our existence while we are here. The saints who have gone ahead, have transitioned from this body and are resting until the Lord returns. For those who have made it into eternal rest, their assignment has been completed and they are waiting on the other side. We don’t have to be concerned about our loved ones who have gone on before. It is those of us who are here who need to make it into eternal rest. We live and do what God has assigned us to do so that we can enter into that rest.

One day, we will be able to say like Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Believers who transitioned from this earth into eternity have lost nothing, but gained eternal rest. We grieve and mourn because we miss them and we want them to be here with us. We do not mourn like unbelievers because we know that they are at home with the Lord. We live in a way that will ensure that we will see them again when we enter into that rest with them.

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God used Moses to talk to the people of Israel about the blessings of obedience. The first thing that Moses told the people was that God would set them high above all other nations. God promised to bless their towns and cities; their children and their possessions; their means of income and all of their pursuits. The Lord promised to give them strength to conquer their enemies and he would cause their enemies to scatter. “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you” (Deuteronomy 28:8).

God also promised to establish his people; to give them properties and to cause them to increase. God promised to bless everything that they did and make them lenders and not borrowers. God’s people would be on top and never below anyone as long as they obeyed the Lord and trusted in his promises. These promises are extended to all of God’s children. The one caveat is that we read the bible and do what it says. There are times when we act out of ignorance or we allowed doubt and fear to cause us to disobey what God told us to do. God is a faithful God and he is willing to forgive us and cleanse us of our sins.

Once we confess our sins, God will not hold it against us but forgives and redeems us. God wants us to come to him in humility and repentance and accept his love. Once we have repented then we walk in obedience. There are times when God instructs us and his ways seem difficult. Divine instructions will not always seem like the most convenient path to take. One thing for certain is that if God instructs you to do it, then he has a very good reason. God sees the end from the beginning and once we obey, we will see the good that follows from this.

“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19).

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