Transformed by God’s Spirit

The Spirit of God empowers us to do the will of God. Without the Spirit of God, it is impossible to obey the Lord by our own will and understanding. Without the working of God’s Spirit in us, it is difficult to understand the Word of God and to understand how God works in the affairs of our life. It is the Spirit of God that brings power in our life to obey the Lord.

The empowering work of the Spirit enables us to do things we do not do or cannot do by our normal inclination and capability. One of the things that the Spirit of God leads us to do is to share the love of Christ in whatever way or service God leads us to do. We have the burden and deep desire to make known to others about the love and grace of God. The Lord gives us boldness. He enables us to minister. He leads us to serve. These are things we do not normally think about apart from the working of the Spirit of God in us. For apart from God’s Spirit, we are self-centered and every thing we think about or desire is for the benefit of self. But when God’s Spirit fills us, we begin to be God-centered and other-centered. This is empowerment because His Spirit enables us to love God and love others as we should.

The Spirit of God emboldens God’s people from the Old Testament times to the New Testament times, and even up to the present time to do the will of God.

“When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness”

– Acts 4:31 (WEB)

The Spirit of God transforms us and makes us a new person from within. When the Spirit of God takes full control of us, we become a new person. A different person that is unlike the old sinful being we were. It is an on-going process of transformation but the moment we abide with God and allow His Spirit to work in us, the fruits become evident that it becomes too noticeable and hard to ignore. We knew and people around us knew that something has changed.

I remember a friend who came to know the Lord Jesus Christ without my knowledge. After vacation, we met again, and the way she talked, the things that she said, and how transformed she was in how she performed her work, told me immediately something was up. I spent the night thinking she must have come to know the Lord to be like this. I summoned the courage to casually ask her the following day, and she told me with a joyful smile and peaceful expression that she had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in her life. I said, “I knew it!”

This change is always present when we sincerely walk with God. The Spirit of God transforms us from the inside out.

In 1 Samuel 10, Samuel anointed Saul to be king of Israel, and after anointing him, Samuel gave a prophetic message of the events to be transpired the moment Saul set out to return to his father. One of those events will be the arrival of the prophets who will be prophesying. Then, Samuel instructed Saul.

“Then Yahweh’s Spirit will come mightily on you, then you will prophesy with them and will be turned into another man. Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for God is with you.”

– 1 Samuel 10:6-7 (WEB)

“It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.”

– 1 Samuel 10:9 (WEB)

When Saul met the prophets, the Spirit of God came mightily on him and he prophesied among them (1 Samuel 10:10). A new heart. A new man. Saul was transformed that very day not because he became king but because he was anointed by the King. The Spirit of God transformed his heart and made him a new man that all those who knew him before wondered if Saul was among the prophets. Much like when I wondered why my friend had a dramatic change in her life.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The work of God’s Spirit remains unchanged. What only changed was that before Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God fell upon the people to enable them to fulfill the will of God in power. Now, because of the saving work of Jesus on the cross, all who receive Him in truth, are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Once we walk in step with the Spirit of God, we bear the fruits of a life that is glorifying to God. We are given a new heart and we are changed into a new person.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.”

– Galatians 5:22-24 (WEB)