The Treasury of His Spirit in me

by Sandy Wyatt

The main premise of Beth Moore’s study A Woman’s Heart, God’s Dwelling Place is God’s pursuit of a relationship with man. God’s desire was to dwell with man until man would dwell with Him.

In the beginning, 1st with Adam and Eve he enjoyed an intimate relationship- until the fall, then He instructed Moses to have his people, the Isrealites build him a tabernacle, which was a temporary structure in which his presence could dwell and later God’s presence dwelled in the temple which was built by King Solomon in the capital city of Jerusalem. God eventually moved himself out and it wasn’t until the time of Christ that God, this time through his son- Jesus Christ dwelled on the earth once again. Immanuel: God with us. See outline and supporting scripture.

In Jn 16 Jesus tells his disciples that after he is gone he will send “a Counselor” “the Spirit of Truth” to guide them and to convict them of sin. And before his ascension Lk 24:49 Jesus tells them “I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been CLOTHED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH”.

10 days later at Pentacost, God sends His Holy Spirit to a group of believers who had repented of their sin in the name of Jesus Christ. From the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior his Holy Spirit takes up residency in us.

God’s new way of dwelling with man until man would dwell with him is through the power of his Holy Spirit taking up residence within every believer. Ladies, we have been clothed with power from on high- an unparalled treasure!

I was saved at age 32, I clearly remember what it was like being without the Holy Spirit. My young adult life was void of purpose or direction, I had no conviction of sin and minimal morals, I was totally self-reliant and by the age of 30 I was divorced with 2 young children (1 born outside of marriage) on welfare and haunted by a sin-filled past. I remember trying to read a Bible, but it made no sense to me. I was in spiritual darkness. Without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirt, I led an empty, confusing life. I was drowning in the consequences of my sin. I praise God that all along, He was in hot pursuit of a relationship with me.

Let’s turn to Psalm 51- this is King David’s prayer of forgiveness. It’s a Psalm I like to use as a prayer. Read vs. 10-12. In vs.11 David is concerned with loosing the Holy Spirit. “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Now, put a marker there and turn to Eph 1:13&14

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

These verses are true for the NT believer. Let me demonstrate:

t.p. demo - marked, guaranteed, possession “you’re mine”

Flip a few pages ahead to Eph4:30 It says “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

God will not remove his Spirit from us, but we can choose to ignore Him, be unresponsive, be insensitive and “put out the spirit’s fire”.(1Thes5:19)
Now, for King David, his prayer is accurate. The old covenant was still intact and He had witnessed the Holy Spirit being taken away from King Saul. Throughout the OT we see instances of God’s Spirit being poured out on chosen individuals only for a particular time or task or purpose. He was earnestly pleading with God not to withdraw his Holy Spirit from him. I can relate to David’s fear of not having the Holy Spirit because I remember well what it was like.
Turn back to Ps 51:11 and put a notation in the margin to insert Eph 4:30 when you pray this Psalm. “Help me not to grieve the H.S.

When we make the choice to not grieve or ignore God’s spirit in us but instead to be in tune with Him – then we have the potential to live the abundant life that God desires for us. When we yield to the Holy Spirits guidance, His discernment, His conviction and His prompting, our mediocre lives can be transformed into extraordinary lives. Don’t settle for the natural, when you can have the supernatural. When we allow God to use us through the power of his Holy Spirit, we’ll be amazed at the results. As a Christian, you have been called to serve and to glorify God. This is not optional!

For the remainder of our time together, we’ll focus on becoming a vessel God can use.
Read Lk2:41-49- This passage stirred up my initial thought processes for my presentation. And so I ask you. Are you about your Father’s business?

In Donna Partow’s book, Becoming a Vessel God Can Use, she identifies 5 requirements for becoming a vessel God can use.

#1 Accept the way God made you

God first planned exactly how he wanted you to serve him and then he shaped you for those tasks. Your abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality and life experiences were all given to you to be used for His glory. Eph 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do.” Our Father has specific business set apart just for you. The abilities we have are a strong indication of what God wants us to do with our lives. Our interests and passions can lead us to the appropriate ministry. Our personalities will affect how we can be used within that ministry. And our circumstances and season of life will affect when we can serve.

In addition to our natural abilities, every believer is given spiritual gifts. Let’s turn to Rom 12:4-8. God empowers every believer with different gifts that are to be used to benefit his body/church. We don’t all have the same gifts and one gift is not better than another. When all the members of one body are using their spiritual gifts, that church will function properly and be a healthy, spirit-filled church. If you’re not clear what your spiritual gift is, I have a tool called a Spiritual Gift Survey which everyone can pick one up on the way out. You just take the test and score it yourself. You may find that you’ll need to actually try on a ministry to see if it’s right for you. If not, you go on and try another one til you find one that fits.

I’ve found with the gift of teaching, I’ve had to work at it and develop it. Still am in fact. You may find that you’ve been gifted in several areas. Be selective in order to be effective. One note of warning- because you are gifted in a particular area, this does not exclude you from all of the others.

(Rick Warren) “We will be most effective when we use our spiritual gifts partnered with our natural abilities in the area of our passion, and in a way that best expresses our personalities and experiences.” When we gain better understanding of how God fashioned us we’re on the way to becoming a vessel God can use.

#2 Be emptied of self to make room for God

It’s a “me” world out there. And as Christians, we are not immune to it. We have to make a deliberate, consciencous effort to not fall into that mentality. Phil 2:3&4 says “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If we are all consumed with our own lives, our agenda, our time, our things, ourselves – we’ve left no room for God to work in our lives. No room for him to use us for His glory.
Does he get a busy signal when he calls you to work ?
Is your calendar jam- packed? With no room for divine appointments
Do you serve only when it’s convenient? Or fun?, or comfortable?

It’s time that we opened our eyes to the people drowning all around us. - If we took the time to notice and be interested in others lives, I think we’d be astounded by the difficult, challenging, even heart-wrenching experiences and circumstances that are going on all around us.

Sometimes we can be so overwhelmed with our own lives, our own problems and issues that we can barely keep our own heads above the water. How in the world can we take on someone elses problems when we’re struggling to get through life ourselves?
The Bible tells us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways, When we are weak, He is strong – His power is made perfect in our weakness.
He’s the one who’ll be doing the work, we’re just his vessel

Phil 2:13 says “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
We do not have to have it all together to serve, we are just the vessel, but we do have to surrender our problems, our issues, our agendas, and our wills over to Him, trusting that he’s got us covered. Then, we are freed up to filled with his power and used by Him.

Service is the best way to battle self-centeredness.

1 Peter4:ll tells us “…If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”

God does not call the equipped, rather he equips those he calls. He does the work, He gets the glory! And we get the blessing.

When we serve others, God is blessed and he in turn blesses us.
Don’t miss out on opportunities to bless others.

Have you ever been prompted by the Holy Spirit to reach out to someone and for whatever the reason you didn’t do it?

I challenge you to practice random acts of kindness throughout your day. This will take you being aware of others around you, being sensitive to the spirit’s promptings and following through.

Open the door for someone, hold the elevator, drive politely, let pedestrians cross, smile. We never know what kind of impact our kindness will makes. Matt 5:16says "“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” This is being about your Father’s business.

#3 Allow God to cleanse you- even if the process is painful

We cannot effectively be about our Father’s business if we are harboring unconfessed sin. By unconfessed sin, I mean sin that we are aware of, but for whatever the reason, have chosen not to turn from it. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict us of our sin. Our job is to acknowledge that sin, confess it, repent of it, receive God’s mercy and accept His forgiveness. Every step must be completed in order for us to be spiritually freed up to be used by God. This subject can be an elective in and of itself.

God has led me instead to focus in on how He can take our confessed sin (sin that has been dealt with properly) and our painful past experiences (which might or might not be associated with that sin) and use them for his glory. As I said earlier, God has orchestrated each of our lives to include all that we will need to effectively serve him. This includes our worst of sin and our most painful experiences.

When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsamane just before his crucifixion, he prayed to his Father and asked that if it be in His Father’s will that this cup should pass him by. (Matt 26:42) God the Father knew that this cup was absolutely necessary to fulfill his purpose and plan for mankind. In the same way, our heavenly Father has cups in our lives that are designed for His good purposes and his ultimate plan for our lives. Some cups pass us by, some cups we must drink. Most often these are the experiences that cause us to grow and mature in our faith.

With God’s help, the most amazing and effective ministry can come out of our deepest sorrows and most difficult struggles. Who better to serve in a Pregnancy Crisis Center than a woman who has had an abortion or given a child up for adoption. Who better to serve and encourage a cancer patient than one who has walked her the same shoes. 2Cor:1:4 says that “with the comfort we have received from God we can comfort others.”
Satan will try his hardest to keep reminding us of our past sin and our weaknesses so that we feel unworthy, inadequate and unable to serve. Satan knows that its often those who have fallen to such great depths who in turn have the greatest potential to witness for Christ.

The things we’re most embarassed about, most ashamed of and most reluctant to share are the very tools God can use most powerfully to heal others. Ministry begins with vulnerability- the more we let down our guards, take off our masks, and share our struggles, the more God will be able to use us in serving others.
Perhaps our Father has work for you to do in this area?

#4 Be filled and constantly refilled with the living water of the Holy Spirit

“A vessel can only pour out that which has been poured into it.”
Have you ever tried to serve God in your own power, apart from the Holy Spirit? Most likely it was a struggle, probably not satisfiying and the results were less than successful. In 1 Cor chapter 3;12-14 the God’s Word tells us that on judgement day our lives will be layed out before the Lord, and those acts that were done with the right heart partnered with the Holy Spirit will be rewarded. Those things done independently, with an impure heart, a wrong motive, will be burned up. They won’t count for anything. God is not as concerned with what we’re doing as He is with why we’re doing it.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my burn pile being higher than my rewards pile! When we give God the controls, it frees us up to be used by him. And remember too, that he doesn’t want to share his glory with you, so be careful not to take any. Serve as though you are serving an audience of one, God is the only one we are wanting to please, wanting to impress, wanting to be recognized by.

Col3:23 say “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”
Keep in mind here, that these good works are not what gets us into heaven, that price has already been paid through Jesus Christ.

Eph 2:8&9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works so that no one can boast."

We can be detrimental to others lives if we try to serve them when we ourselves have not been filled.

The potential damage that can be done is alarming, but don’t let it frighten or deter you from serving. Never underestimate what God can do through you- just be sure that you are not running on empty.

#5 Pour out your life in ministry as God directs

I’ve been privileged to be used by God to serve one of our ladies here at Oakwood who is battling cancer. Anne is a lovely, 62 years old British lady, bubbly personality, great red hair. She used to do hair and would witness to any and every person who came into her salon, which were many. I took her to chemo this past Thursday and was blown away by her. On the way in the car she told me that God used her gift of doing hair as her ministry, but now He is using her cancer as her ministry and that’s where her focus was. When we reached the reception area, a woman was leaving and excitedly shared with us that her cancer had not spread. We praised the Lord and even heard an Alleluia from behind the window. It seemed like that was God’s way of encouraging Anne before this last treatment, which although she didn’t say, I know she was dreading. Her mouth and tongue were already burnt and bleeding. As Anne went into the chemo room, the nurse told her that after being with Anne the previous day she was so encouraged by her faith, amazed by the fact that Anne was only concerned with getting a dinner to her friend who’d broken her hip. She told us that she’d told her Mom all about Anne and what an inspiration that she is. We prayed together and I left knowing that her friend, Debbie would be picking her up in 21/2 hours.

As I drove home I was humbled by all that God had shown me that morning. I was convicted as all week preparing for this presentation, I had been letting fear creep in, I’d been second guessing God’s ability to use me as He chose. I thanked him for allowing me to see firsthand the power of his Holy Spirit just radiating and overflowing out of Anne’s frail body. I asked him to forgive me for not trusting him and his peace came over me.

Sometimes God directs us into ministry that we’re not comfortable with as now understand.
And sometimes God directs us into ministry that we don’t expect. Like Anne has done, we need to surrender to his direction and embrace that ministry. The influence of her witness today is at maximum potential. She does not leave a life she encounters untouched and every time, God gets the glory.

Mark 10:45 says “Even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We should never look upon ministry or serving others as an obligation, but as an opportunity to show our Lord how much we love him and how grateful we are for what he’s done for us.
Jesus gave up his position in heaven, came to this earth, with the attitude of a servant, with the heart of a servant, he gave up his rights, he humbled himself, he obeyed his Father and gave of his very life. (Phil2:5-11) And one day at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

Until that time comes, don’t you think we ought to be about our Father’s business?

Sisters, our Heavenly Father has work for us to do and we have been clothed with power from on high in order to get the job done!