By O.S. Hawkins
One of the saddest verses in the Bible is found in the aftermath of Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane’s garden. Of the apostles, the Bible simply records, “Then they all forsook him and fled” (Mark 14:50). They had been so bold and boastful of their commitment to him just hours before. But when it came down to the crisis moment, they ran, they went AWOL, and they fled into the darkness when he needed them the most.
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But what an amazing change came over them a few days later. Peter had denied he knew the Lord three times as he sat in the courtyard of Caiaphas’s house, where Jesus was being imprisoned. But the transformation that soon would take place in his life is astounding. Hear him—after being beaten, imprisoned, and commanded to never speak the name of Jesus again—say in the face of his adversaries, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). What empowered Simon Peter and all the rest of the apostles to suddenly live with such boldness and meet their martyrs’ deaths, answering with their lives the question asked by their Lord, “Will you lay down your life for my sake?” (John 13:38). Pentecost had come. They had unlocked the code. The same Spirit that had raised Christ from the dead now lived in each of them, giving them supernatural power. And this same Spirit lives in you and me. This is the Apostles’ Code: unlocking the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Nehemiah Code: An Interview with O. S. Hawkins]
The apostle Paul, when inquiring of those early believers in Ephesus about their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, was met with this reply: “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). Sadly, the same response could be heard from many believers today. The emphasis on who the Spirit is—and what he does—is lacking in much of the modern church.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Daniel Code: An Interview with O. S. Hawkins]
In short, the Holy Spirit is God himself. An invisible yet inseparable person of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Too often, he is the forgotten member of the Godhead. Much is made of the Father and the Son and not enough of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God coming to indwell us, never to leave us, and to empower us for Christian service. It is the Spirit who convicts us of our sin, draws us to Christ, seals our faith, and gives us power to live the Christian life.
If you have believed on Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit has come to take up residency in your life. He is alive in you right now!
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There is no place like home. And “home” for the Holy Spirit is in your heart. Today, when you come home and get comfortable, remember that your heart is where the Spirit of God lives and makes his home.
Colossians 1:27
Lord, thank you for the realization, right this very moment, that you—through your precious Holy Spirit—are alive in me today. Lead me and use me for Christ’s own glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
The above article is excerpted from The Apostles’ Code: Unlocking the Power of God’s Spirit in Your Life by O.S. Hawkins. Copyright © 2020 by Thomas Nelson. Published by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com. Pages 3-7. All rights reserved.
The Apostles’ Code is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
Bio: O. S. Hawkins has served pastorates, including the First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, for more than 25 years. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, he has three earned degrees (BBA, MDiv, and DMin) as well as several honorary degrees and is presently a PhD candidate at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the president of GuideStone Financial Resources, with assets under management of 16 billion dollars, serving 250,000 pastors, church staff members, missionaries, doctors, university professors, and other workers in various Christian organizations with their investment, retirement and benefit service needs. He is the author of more than 40 books, and speaks regularly to business groups and churches all across the nation. All of the author’s royalties and proceeds from the entire Code series go to support Mission:Dignity. You can learn more about Mission:Dignity by visiting MissionDignity.org.
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