Spirit

Zechariah 4:6-7 (ESV) —

‘Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’’

What a promise from our God! This verse is such a great reminder to me when I long for things in my life, that I can get nowhere and do nothing, without the Spirit who is the one who ordains my steps and who directs my path.

How often I find myself trying to use my own might and my own power? To be fair it doesn’t take long for me to get to the end of myself and to realise that it is only by the Spirit of God that I can succeed. Moses said it first in Exodus 33, that without the presence of God going with the people of God, nothing would make them different from the rest of the people on the earth. It's still true for us. This morning, do we realise our desperate need of the Spirit of God? Not just to get through the day, but to be different from those who do not acknowledge him – we need him!

I love verse seven - who are you great mountain that you will not be brought down and flattened? This is the strength, power and might of our God - that he can make great mountains flat. I hope you are encouraged this morning that his Spirit is all you need for today.

When his Spirit comes in the Bible, that is when the disciples receive confidence and boldness to declare who Jesus is and what he has done. May it be the same for us, as we are filled with the Spirit today - filled with boldness to proclaim the gospel as were the first disciples in Acts 4:31: 'they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.’

Prayer – Lord, fill us with your Spirit, without you we are desperate!