Presented by Lauren Stibgen

Holy Spirit power! How do you know if you have it? I must admit, thinking about Holy Spirit power had me deep into God’s Word, seeking to understand if I was experiencing this power in my own life!

Looking into God’s Word, we see the Holy Spirit present in Scripture starting in Genesis 1, throughout the Old Testament and especially in the New Testament. In fact, in Romans 8:11 we are told that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is alive in us today! Wow!

All of this had me thinking—how could I see this power? What I found was the disciples in the early church, and especially Paul, left behind many practical ways for us to evaluate our Holy Spirit power and to flex what I am calling our Holy Spirit power muscles!

You see, just as the muscles in our body become more responsive to exercise, Holy Spirit power also becomes more responsive to how much we “exercise” or pay attention to how we display this power in our lives. I would like us to look at verses we have likely read before, but I am hoping that we look at them differently in light of Holy Spirit power.

How do you know you have Holy Spirit power? First the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is reserved for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In Acts 2:38, Peter states, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once you receive this gift, how do you know its power in your life? Well, we are told in Galatians 5:22 that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

I love the word fruit. Think about how fruit grows. It takes different forms of power to create fruit. Fertile soil, rain, sunshine, warmth. Just like we nurture our bodies in exercise to build muscles, plants must be nurtured to produce fruit! What kind of nurturing are you giving the fruit of the Spirit?

You have likely read Galatians 5:22 many times and even heard a sermon or two about it, but have you used it to see how the power of the Holy Spirit is moving in your life? I started to think about each one of the fruits and how much or how little it was showing up in my life. To be even more specific, how was it showing up in my work?

Love. You may be thinking love and work don’t mesh, but if you have Holy Spirit power working in your life, love is foundational to your work. And yes, this applies if you work in a secular workplace. The greatest commandment in the Bible is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). As we dig deeper into Scripture, we see that a neighbor is anyone in our path who may be in need. The best example of love in the Bible is Jesus. How did Jesus love others? How does God love us? Unconditionally—as we are. How are you loving people at work? Even those who are different from you?

Joy. Maybe you don’t like your job. In fact, you dread waking up to go every day. Or maybe you love your job! Often, we see the words joy and happiness used as synonyms but, what about biblical joy. I really liked this definition by John Piper:

Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.[1]

Why do I like this? First, because clearly, joy is a product of Holy Spirit power and second it tells us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world! Like me, your world includes work. Seeing the beauty of Christ could mean something as small as giving thanks for the job you have that brings financial provision, or maybe you have great relationships with the people you work with. Have you learned a new skill at work? All these seemingly mundane, worldly things can bring you joy if you see them through the lens of Christ. And when you are struggling,