LIVING BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Part 36).
Luke 4. Verses 13-15 read:
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 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. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
The Holy Spirit was the driving force behind all that Jesus did during his incarnation. Jesus’ outstanding success as a man is attributable to his maintainance of a healthy partnership with the Holy Spirit. In any partnership with the Holy Spirit, men willingly yield their vessels for the Spirit to express God through them. Thus, the Spirit expresses in men godly lifestyles, operations, actions, and utterances. It was through this means that Jesus excellently partnered the Spirit to reveal God to the world. We are also called to this manner of living.
Today, we want to look at Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness. After three unsuccessful temptations that were aimed at getting Jesus to succumb to his dictates, Satan gave Jesus some respite to revert at another opportune time. As long as we are in this world, Satan will always make a comeback with his temptations. Whilst Satan’s goal was to bring down Jesus, the temptation offered Jesus the opportunity to establish his supremacy over Satan through the help of the Holy Spirit.
After the temptation, scripture says that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. Through his conquest of the temptations, Jesus consolidated himself the more in the Holy Spirit. This is true of any man who will collaborate with the Holy Spirit in the times of temptations and trials. They come out stronger to better serve the Lord. It is, therefore, no wonder that the fame of Jesus spread throughout all the regions around Galilee. The works that came out of his life were outstanding owing to his partnership with the Holy Spirit. His teaching, healing, deliverance, and restoration ministries impacted many lives and sparked a movement of massive crowds wherever he went.
The Holy Spirit is on earth to establish movements of men who follow Christ. To this end, he is ready to empower men who avail themselves to him. Such men become agents for the establishment of the Jesus movement on earth.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏