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Who Inspires You?
Contributed by Rich Middleton on Mar 13, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: The Holy Spirit Wants To Inspire Us To Be The Best We Can Be.
Who Inspires You?
There are a lot of things that inspire us.
You probably have memories from your past that inspire you.
I have a little video highlight clip for you, Michael Jordon has inspired millions of people with his basketball talent.
So much so that they have made advertising campaigns using Michael Jordon and if I say I Want To Be Like Mike you would know exactly what I was talking about.
This clip shows 10 of his greatest shots.
As much as Michael inspired people there is an even greater inspiration available to us.
It’s the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
We are going to study a text of Scripture that deals with this point and how God wants to inspire us to be the very best that we can possibly be.
The text comes from Ezekiel 36:27
Ezekiel 36: 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
27 I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. MSG
I. The Holy Spirit Wants To Inspire Us To Be The Very Best We can Be
It’s better inspiration than any athlete or hero can provide.
The Holy Spirits work in us is not figurative or metaphorical it’s real help.
It’s help right where we need it.
It’s practical down to earth everyday life help.
Ezekiel 36 tells us looking forward prophetically to the day of salvation when the Holy Spirit would literally take up residence in His people that we would receive great help to live the Christian life.
Ezekiel said God would send the Holy Spirit to move us to follow His decrees and keep His laws.
That’s inspiration
He wants to inspire us to live a life of obedience according to the directions that are given to us in the Scripture.
He realized that living the Christian life would not be easy.
That it would require a joint partnership to withstand the challenges that the end times Spiritual environment would require.
So what kind of help does the Holy Spirit give us?
a. Power
Ephesians 3: 14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being
And this is a primary result of the Holy Spirits work and presence in our lives.
He gives us the power to be the better people that He saved us to be.
It’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
It is a powerful force to help us incorporate those principles of living into a lifestyle.
I know we feel inspired as we read the stories of Scripture and all the power and success that they exhibited.
What we must remember is that we are being guided by and helped by the same God that worked through those people in the circumstances that we read about in Scripture.
b. Peace
Romans 8: The mind of sinful man [ Or mind set on the flesh] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
The key word in that verse is controlled.
He can work life and peace into our lives if we submit to His control
Another word for control in this context is authority.
If we are submitted to His authority we can have great peace.
And that peace leads to stability in our lives.
We are not shaken by every difficulty test and trial.
Matthew 7: 24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
All we have to do is desire His help.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.