Holy Spirit Power

By: Mae Archila

Monday, June 30, 2025

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from their captivity, God told them to rebuild the Temple, purify the Jewish community, and rebuilding the city walls. The people knew this would be a tremendous task, and it would be difficult to accomplish. To make room for the new Temple, the workers had to remove the rubble left over from the old temple's destruction. Rebuilding it was hard, but they also suffered through ridicule and opposition from the people. Relying on their own human strength wasn't enough, and it wasn't God's solution. God reassured them their seemingly impossible task could only be achieved with divine assistance.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16

Back then, the Temple was a physical structure where God dwelled among His people. Today, you and I are the Temple! The Holy Spirit dwells within every believer, and He "moves in" at the moment of our salvation. This means our bodies are a sacred space, a place where God resides. But God hasn't changed; He wanted to dwell with His people back then, and He wants to dwell with us now. Don't you think "our way" (the new covenant) is much better? The Holy Spirit welcomes us just as we are, then He starts to rebuild us into God's image. His guidance is like a "wall" that protects us from enemy attacks and with His help, our temple will reflect God's glory and purpose.

Nothing is impossible for God, and He specializes in rebuilding broken lives. God is always working behind the scenes, and when God starts working on us and in us, He will see that work to completion! We are never alone, and we have an eternal hope that we can offer to those whose lives are still broken. Our opening verse from Zechariah reminds us to humble ourselves and be sure we always walk in step with God's Spirit. How do we do that? By making sure we always rely on God's power instead of our own.

After His resurrection, Jesus breathed on His disciples and told them to “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). God poured out His Holy Spirit on the early church, and He is still doing that today! God's Word also reminds us that without Him, we can do nothing. These instructions Paul gave to the church in Galatia are still great advice for us today; "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives." Galatians 5:25 (NLT)