The Holy Spirit & Balance of Power and Meekness!

The Holy Spirit & Balance of Power and Meekness!

One of the symbols of the Holy Spirit used in Scriptures is a dove. Here is what happened when Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan: “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him” (Matthew 3:16). A dove is a symbol of peace and gentleness, contrasting the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit such as fire, wind, flame, and other potent operations.

Here is another command of Jesus to His disciples: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless (innocent) as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Wisdom and Innocence operating from the same vessel!

Power and mercy operating from the same person!

Explosions and calmness operating from the same servant of God!

That is the balance the Holy Spirit brings to our lives when we yield to God completely without reservation!

God’s Miracle Transformation in Our Ministry!

Hema and I both received the call to the ministry at the same time, hearing the voice of God during a Wednesday night service in 1989. While I resigned from my job as Professor of Aerospace Engineering, I was already committed to service through August 15, 1990. I honored my contract but submitted my resignation well in advance, allowing the university plenty of time to hire a replacement for my position.

My university job came to an end on August 15, 1990. Along with my calling, at the same time when I received the call, I also received God’s promise: “I will take care of all your needs if you do what I will command you to do. I will supply all your needs as I will send you to places in My service.”

But it was not an easy six months initially in the fall of 1990. Our children were 7 and 3 years old. Hema was babysitting infants and children from morning till evening. I heard the cry of the children all day. It all changed on a Sunday in early 1991.

A pastor friend of mine invited me to minister in his place in his church during the Sunday morning and evening services while he was going on vacation. He had a congregation of about 400 people. I thank the Lord God for His immense mercy and grace in anointing me in both services in that church, and we all witnessed the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit.

The miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit was multifaceted that day. People received salvation at the altars, received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, experienced healing from broken hearts, and the captives were set free. I saw one of the elders, a businessman, bringing the young people from their classes along with the children from the children’s Sunday School to the altars to be prayed for. I asked him later why he was taking the children and the youth from the classes to the altars. This was his reply: “I am a businessman. I settle for good deals all the time. THAT WAS A GOOD DEAL at the altars today. I wanted everyone to experience what I experienced today!”

He also said something powerful that day, which I have not forgotten to this day: “I have seen people going to Billy Graham’s crusade to receive salvation, and then to some other places to receive healing and deliverance. I SAW TODAY THE MANY MULTIFACETED OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT OUR ALTARS IN ONE SETTING. Thank you for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit to minister through you today. All glory to God!”

He later became one of the founding pillars of our ministry for over two decades. I am forever grateful for his involvement in my life and the lives of my family. The ministry received its breakthrough blessing that day. Since then, God’s provisions and blessings have never stopped flowing, still without us revealing our needs to anyone.

I am still learning, changing, and being transformed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit that equips me and other servants of God in God’s service. It is God, and only God, as we yield ourselves in total obedience and surrender to the Holy Spirit, who alone balances our lives with power, wisdom, mercy, and compassion. God is limitless, and as we yield ourselves completely to Him, we will experience Him in the dimensions that we have never known!

Balance of Power and Meekness in Jesus!

Jesus was wise to discern the hearts of the people, and not to be swayed by them: “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (John 2:23-25).

Our ministries must not be as much need-based as the Holy Spirit directs them. Jesus did not heal everyone, did not feed the people all the time in His meetings, and did not follow those who would have helped Him open the doors for Him. He balanced power with what He knew of people, and yet was filled with compassion and mercy when the Spirit of God moved Him.

We read in Luke that the power was present with Jesus to heal people: “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present (with Him) to heal them” (Luke 5:17).

And yet, it was the compassion of Jesus that allowed the Spirit of God to operate to heal and deliver people. In all the following examples, compassion took over Jesus at the onset of the flow of God from Him:

·        Healing: “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).

·        Cleansing of the lepers:  “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed”(Mark 1:41-42).

·        Deliverance from demons: “However, Jesus did not permit (Legion), but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you’” (Mark 5:19).

·        Raising the dead: “When the Lord saw (the widow), He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise’” (Luke 7:13-14).

·        Teaching the multitude: “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary (harassed) and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Matthew 9:36-38).

Here is the ministry of Jesus in His own words: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle (meek) and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

The discernment and wisdom of Jesus protected Him from Satan and the constantly harassing religious leaders of His day (until He laid down His life on His own accord) while His compassion healed and delivered people and even raised the dead!

The Holy Spirit brings such a balance to our lives by giving us wisdom not to be swayed by Satan, yet to operate with the mercies of God to touch the lives of those around us.

Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God!

Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block (offense) and to the Greeks (Gentiles) foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:18, 23-24).

The key to the operation of the Holy Spirit to His fullest extent in our lives is through our surrender to the cross of Christ. The cross symbolizes “self-denial” and “death.” As we surrender to God's will and are not governed by our self-will, through our surrender to the cross, we will experience a powerful balance of wisdom and power operating within us for the glory of God. The wisdom of God protects and preserves us as the power of God flows through us!

A Well-Balanced Life of a Believer Produces the Fruit of the Spirit!  

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness), self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

The power surge of the Holy Spirit helps us experience THREE POWER FRUITS, Love, Joy, and Peace from God!

Our surrender to the Spirit of God produces FIVE GENTLE DOVE-LIKE FRUITS of patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness in our lives!

“Self-control” is a PREDOMINANT and POWERFUL fruit of the Spirit that governs our lives to be in line with God through the power of our submission to Christ.

Prayer

“Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You. I thank You, Lord, for Your gift of salvation through the power of the cross and Your Holy Spirit. I surrender my life to You. Please lead and guide me through the power of the Holy Spirit to experience Your power for a holy life and operate with the wisdom to discern the cunning ways of my enemy. Fill me, Lord, with Your Holy Spirit to produce fruit in my life so that I can be a blessing to all around me. In the Most Precious and Wonderful Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________John Jeyaseelan

http://www.globalprayercenter.net