Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Luke 4:14, 15.
Our loving Heavenly Father, we pray that You will fill us with the power of Your Holy Spirit that we might bring You glory. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray! Amen.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if at baptism, each of us could be filled with Holy Spirit power and bring glory to God? That would be an amazing way to begin life in Christ!
But I guess you cannot have a part of the process. It is all one experience. You are led by the Spirit into a wilderness of temptation. You are empowered by the Spirit, and then You are scrutinized by the religious leaders. All at the beginning of ministry,
Perhaps it is a way of keeping one humble. Even people who are Spirit-powered could succumb to taking the glory that belongs to God for themselves. Paul admitted that “lest I be exalted above measure” he was given “a thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7).
My husband often repeats a story he heard from Dr. Charles Bradford, of a young man who went up to preach his first sermon with an air of pomp and pride. Somewhere in the midst of his presentation his sermon went flat. As he came down crest-fallen and was shaking the hands of the congregation, a wise old lady whispered in his ear: “Son, if you had gone up the way you came down, you would have come down the way you went up.”
All of us, in our Christian journey are in danger of becoming full of ourselves. That is a formula for failure. How much better to be emptied of self and filled with the Spirit of God! When God receives the glory we save face. For only He is seen!