Acts 1:8
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses…
Do I need the Holy Spirit to succeed in Christian service? Yes. As a follower of Christ, I absolutely do. Jesus, at His ascension, made it a top priority for his disciples to wait for the promised Spirit that was to come before they did anything. He knew, with all their excitement and good intentions over the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples could do nothing good, nothing lasting, nothing of real heavenly substance without the power of the Holy Spirit. They would have tried. But they would have been unsuccessful.
Everything I do comes from one of two power sources – me, or the Holy Spirit. The reason so many of my good Christian intentions fail is because their power source came from me, rather than from Christ. I get excited about this ministry, or that activity – even believing this will be a good “Christian” thing to do – not realizing, all the while, that this “good intention” is from me, not God.
How do I make sure my good intentions are from the Holy Spirit and not me? First, I must make sure I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. This happens when I become a true believer in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.
Ephesians 1:13
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Despite popular notions, without being a true, converted follower of Jesus my life has no real power for Christian service.
After making sure I actually have the Holy Spirit I must master the Christian ability to access His power. I can have the Holy Spirit in my life but never access Him, always running ahead in my spiritual excitement to this activity, or that event, or this ministry. As a maturing believer, I must learn how to control my own desires in favor of Christ’s desires. This only comes through the spiritual disciplines of study (of God’s Word), prayer, fasting, seeking counsel, and waiting. All of the spiritual greats throughout history practiced these spiritual habits before they did anything of ministerial consequence.
There are no shortcuts. There is no “easy” way to Christian success. For a ministry to succeed, or an event to bear fruit, or a Bible Study group to bring encouragement to those in attendance; for a prayer to cause wonders, or a fast to bring clarity; for my giving to become treasure stored up in heaven; or whatever I do in Christian service, I must make sure it is from Christ and not from me – that it’s power source is the Holy Spirit, not me.
Too much Christian activity in our times is from man’s own motives, rather than the Holy Spirit’s.
I know I can’t get through the day without Him. I make such a mess without Him. It is so easy for me to get in the way and mess things up. Everything is better when I remember to ask God for help and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me. I pray that I remember to focus on Him and not be distracted.