Scripture
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - Acts 1:8
For months now, the Holy Spirit and I have been in a conversation about surrender. See, I had been telling Him that I wanted to be fully led by Him and be empowered by Him for a while. Being the great teacher that He is, He explained that it depended on my surrender. He laid it all out before me as we fellowshipped. The truth is, we receive the Holy Spirit and the fullness of His power at salvation. He that is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him (I Co. 6:17). He explained to me that every believer, no matter their level of anointing, all share in the same union and fellowship with Him. This means that a person who received salvation yesterday has no more of the Holy Spirit than the person who got saved thirty years ago.
It is an error to ask for more of the Holy Spirit because they already have Him in His fullness. Peter said that through His divine power we have been given everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3). Beloved, we already have Him! Now, the question is, why do we see some people operating with much more power than others? The answer is surrender. He made a statement to me some time ago that sparked our conversations. "You want to go deeper? Yield." He knew the desires of my heart, so He told me how to receive. I received Him at salvation, after that, I needed to be in a position for Him to be released in my life.
It wasn't about me getting closer to Him or getting more of Him. It was about the Holy Spirit getting more of me. Was I available to Him through my surrender? Had I fully yielded to Him as Jesus had? Did I submit to His influence as the disciples had? The same power that Jesus walked in is the same power His disciples walked in. Do you make yourself available to Him through your submission? The greater the surrender, the greater access to the power that is already available to you. The difference we observe in the Body of Christ is surrender. Many have fully surrendered to the influence of the Holy Spirit, therefore walk in great power, while others ignore His voice. Beloved, are you available to the Holy Spirit?
Prayer
Father, your Holy Spirit is our guide, comforter, and strength. We humbly acknowledge your presence within us, and we surrender our will to your leading. Empower us to live a life pleasing to God, to love as you love, and to act with wisdom and grace. In Jesus' name. Amen
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Comments
This was good to know and something I have been praying about. I fully understand now that there is a difference between surrendering to God and rendering to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is hard to surrender to the Holy Spirit when you always hear him. So how do we fully surrender to the Holy Spirit?
Yes, Conseula Harmon, we fully surrender to the Holy Spirit. Remember, He is the third part of the Godhead. It is through Him that we receive knowledge and understanding (revelation) of God. Who knows the mind of God but His Spirit? It is through Him that we make the right decisions (spirit of wisdom). It is through Him that we receive the instructions from God (spirit of counsel). It is through Him that we receive the grace (ability to do) to be obedient. He's our only hope of being spiritual. It is through Him that we are transformed into the image of Christ. It starts with our surrender to His influence in our lives.