The Greater One Is Within – Our Gentle and Patient Guide

Smith Wigglesworth has said, “It is impossible to overestimate being filled with the Spirit. It is impossible for us to meet the conditions of the day, to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), to subdue kingdoms and work righteousness and bind the power of Satan, unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Little children, you are of God {you belong to Him} and have {already} defeated and overcome them {the agents of the antichrist}, because He Who lives in you is greater {mightier} than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Filling our hearts with the Word of God, allowing our spirits to feed upon and mature in its Truth, and transforming and renewing our minds according to what God says is the daily work we undertake to walk in newness of life. No matter what you face today, known or unknown, God is greater. A concerning diagnosis? God is greater, and His Word, His alive and active Word (Hebrews 4:12), has your solution. Troubling finances? God is greater, and as you tap into His ways of doing and being right (Matthew 6:33, Amplified) in the area of Kingdom prosperity and fully apply the directives in His Word to your situation, you will find your solution. Decisions and confusion concerning your future? God is greater and the Holy Spirit within will guide you into His highest and best for your life (Philippians 1:10, Amplified). Experiencing ambushments from the enemy? God is greater and has already defeated his power and effectiveness (Colossians 2:15) so that no weapon formed against you may prosper (Isaiah 54:17), something that the Holy Spirit will very effectively remind you (1 John 4:4, again!).

This is a Truth that once received and absolutely believed in faith will bring that peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7)! God lives in you! What can man or the enemy do? With that deep inner certainty comes contentment, confidence, and a sense of assurance and protection:

Light is sown for the {uncompromisingly} righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart {the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection}. (Psalm 97:11)

God can do anything , you know, far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams. He does it not by pushing us around, but by working within us, His Spirit, deeply and gently within us. (Ephesians 3:20-21, Message)

There is a patience about the Holy Spirit in our lives that is both extraordinary and revealing. When we are born again we come into our new lives with lots of baggage – troubling memories, broken relationships, unrelinquished habits and idols, preconceived and incorrect notions of God. Our walk in the Spirit is a process, early on, of letting go, submitting to the Truth as revealed through His Word, and renewing our thinking (Romans 12:2).

Jesus said, in Matthew 11:29, that our walk with Him, in careful step with Him, is characterized by “relief and ease and refreshment and re-creation and blessed quiet”. It is “wholesome, useful, and good” not “harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing.” So it is with the Holy Spirit.

Through experience for ourselves (Ephesians 3:19) we truly come to understand the Lord’s love and patience toward us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Speaking simply in human terms imagine that you are privy to information concerning the potential outcome of someone’s life and that this outcome is blessed beyond their highest dreams or imaginings (Ephesians 3:20). And yet day by day, despite your counseling and encouragement, you watch them stumble, ignoring or avoiding the path that will lead to these blessings and to a fulfilled life. How frustrating that would be. And yet we never ever sense frustration from the Holy Spirit.

From the moment we are born again and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, His work is to grow us up, to mature us, to teach us of the blessings that are ours and the path we are to take. He knows the people we are capable of becoming and the hurdles that stand in the way of that accomplishment. He gently guides. His instructions are tendered with honoring love. He shepherds with watchful care:

Casting the whole of your care {all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all} on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. (1 Peter 5:7)

Over the 43 years that I have walked witrh the Lord I have found this to be true. Many have said that the Holy Spirit is a “gentleman” in an effort to effectively characterize His interactions with us. He sees our successful outcome in our first faltering steps. He knows the thoughts of God towards us and daily enables us to know them too if we will cooperate and listen. He often guides with tender and succinct questions. God is love (1 John 4:8). The Holy Spirit is God. Step into a close and trusting walk with the Holy Spirit. His underlying and definitive purpose is to be known by us as He intimately knows us. There is nothing more valuable in this life than friendship with the Holy Spirit.

“When the Holy Spirit is in charge He lifts and lightens and unveils the Truth in a new way until we grasp it.” Smith Wigglesworth