The Christian Working Woman Mary Lowman

Presented by Lisa Bishop



We are examining the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we’ll look at how the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. Hopefully, that didn’t just make you want to tune out.



Being convicted of sin doesn't necessarily sound like something to get excited about, but when God sheds light on your sin the purpose is for you to live in greater harmony with him. As we surrender our lives to God and walk in obedience (another word that can make us cringe), the Holy Spirit begins to renew and rewire our minds and realign our affections, and that’s a good thing.



Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer says this, “After salvation, because of the Holy Spirit, certain kinds of activities, thoughts, or attitudes don’t feel comfortable to you anymore, even if they did before. Something you may have once done without concern now feels wrong and problematic—increasingly so over time. Participating in certain behaviors, entertaining certain habits, and engaging in certain relationships may become awkward and difficult with little apparent reason. Other than this: God’s Spirit is infiltrating your soul—influencing you, molding you. Your conscience is being conformed into the image of Christ.”



When you become a follower of Jesus and order your life after him, your tastebuds change. Things that once were appealing lose their luster when we chase after Christ. As you continue to align your life with Jesus, you will become less and less captivated by your flesh and more conformed to Christ where truth is found. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is for your sanctification; to get your attention so that you, as 1 Peter 1:14-16 says,

Do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16).

When the Holy Spirit exposes your sin, don't fight against his conviction. If you ignore and override his voice, over time you will become desensitized to him. The Holy Spirit never points things to be punitive. Remember he loves you and wants you to free you from sin, so you live life to the fullest in him.

Let me begin by reading the passage from Colossians 3, verses 12-15.



Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.



These are the garments we should be wearing as Christians: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, peace, thankfulness, and love. And as I said in part one, these are the fruit of the Spirit of God—evidence of God's Spirit in you.



Here’s the good news about these garments we are to put on—these garments are intended for every believer; they are within your grasp, and they look wonderful on all of us. But the big question is, how do we really put on these beautiful garments? It makes a nice talk, but how does it translate into reality in our lives?



The first thing is to understand that putting on these garments is not an act of our emotions; it is an act of our will. So often in our Christian walk, we want all the feelings before we exercise faith. We want to feel gentle and humble and peaceful and thankful. And if our feelings aren't working so good on a particular day, then we assume we just can't wear those garments that day, because we don't feel them. The sooner we learn that feelings cannot be trusted and are not a barometer of our spiritual temperature, the sooner we'll be able to take these garments and wear them. And that’s done by faith, not by feelings.



When you know you're facing a day that will require, for instance, a great deal of patience, keep repeating that you will put on patience for that day. Put it on by faith, regardless of whether you feel patient or not. Your feelings will eventually give up and come along with your will, but never mind them. Will to do God’s will. He will supply the patience when you need it if you don't allow your emotions to destroy your faith.



You wear these garments by faith, just as you accepted God's gift of eternal life by faith. The act of your will is your part; God does the rest.



Secondly, wearing this wardrobe is not a function of our personalities. Many of these inner garments probably do not come naturally to your personality. But that does not keep you from wearing all of them.



I think that we often let ourselves off the hook by saying, "Well, that's just the way I am. I can't be anyone else; I have to be myself.” We've been fed this current philosophy of "be your own person" so much that we use that idea to excuse ourselves from whatever we feel doesn't "fit" us.



Well, I can't see where God makes any exceptions for personality. He has all the garments you can ever need, and he's ready to impart them to you. Don't let your personality or “the way you are” be an excuse for not making God's best dressed list. It is possible—through Christ—for all believers to wear this entire wardrobe.



Maybe one reason you haven't put on too many of these garments is that there just isn’t any room in your closet. Could it be your closet is cluttered with all kinds of outdated, ugly clothes? In the same third chapter of Colossians, we find a list of clothes we should "put off," and that list includes anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, and lying (vs. 8).



Do you have any of these ugly clothes in your closet? If so, they are taking up so much room and occupying so much of your time and thoughts that you're left with little room for the beautiful clothes you need to wear. Are you harboring anger that you refuse to deal with?

I've been trying to help us see afresh how to be powerhouse Christians and really impact our worlds for Jesus Christ. And, my friends, there is only one way to turn on the power of God in our lives, and it's not new, it's not gimmicky, it's not overnight, and it's not tantalizing. But it works!



The power switch is prayer and God's Word. And we must pay the price for this power, just like we pay for electrical power in order to turn on the lights in our houses. The price is discipline, pure lives, and significant time in our schedules to get to know God through prayer and his Word.



Are you in bondage to your own powerless life? Are you frustrated because you never see any evidence that Christ lives in you and gives you power to live victoriously? If you're truly a believer, you've got to get back to basics and ask yourself if you've been willing to pay the price for power. And believe me, I have to do the same thing.



There's a price to pay, but wow, you get more than you pay for when you turn on God's power in your life. For example, have you been in bondage to your tongue? Well, with God's power you can have victory over that damaging tongue of yours. Or maybe there is some impurity in your life holding you prisoner.



A friend told me how she had been in bondage to trashy novels, reading as many as one a day for years. This had done a great deal of damage to her thought life and her marriage, but by memorizing scripture and praying it into her life, she has broken that bondage and gotten rid of those lousy novels. You think you can read or watch the world’s trash and it won’t do you any harm? Think again. It will keep your life impure, but thankfully my friend found freedom from the trash. Truth—the truth of God's Word—set her free! She paid the price for God's power, and now she is free.



If you're struggling in some area, I urge you to pay the price for God's power to be released in your life.



Galatians 5:16 says: So, I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Walking by the Spirit is the way to know freedom, to have the power to live a godly life. Make it a matter of daily prayer and a commitment each day—I will by God’s grace walk by the Spirit today. You will begin to know power in your life that will amaze you!

I’m examining how to turn the power switch on. Suppose you knew everything about your computer there is to know—a real computer whiz—but you didn't have any idea how to turn it on. What good would it do you to have all that computer know-how if you couldn't turn on the computer?



Well, as silly as that sounds, many of us Christians have never learned how to turn on the switch that allows us to be powerful for God. We have this incredible source of power within us—the Holy Spirit of God. Yet we don't know how to turn on the switch. Or could it be we don't want to?



You see, the switch that turns on God's power in our lives is prayer and God's Word. You probably know that but are you willing to use those power tools? Maybe you’re looking for easier answers. Or something different—or something that gives a quicker fix.



Let me explain. In order to have electricity in your house, you have to pay your bill. Have you noticed—the power company is very insistent about regular payments. But we do it because we want the power; our lives are much better with electricity in our homes. So, we pay the price.



There's a price to pay if you want to be a powerful Christian. The power is there, but you must be willing to pay the price.

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).



Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly (1 Timothy 4:7).

You must purify yourself and train yourself. That's your job, and until you're willing to pay that price, the power just doesn't come on in your life. There are no shortcuts here. What is contaminating your body and spirit? Television? Wrong reading material? A judgmental attitude? A loose tongue that speaks in anger and haste? Those are some of the more common things that can contaminate our bodies and spirits. We must clean them out if we want to have power.



Then we have to have a training program for ourselves: A disciplined life that makes time for prayer and Bible study and fellowship with God's people. That's how we train to be godly, and when we are willing to pay the price, then the power comes on in our lives. It's just that simple. I didn't say easy, but it is simple. You want to be powerful for God; pay the price and you'll discover how incredible it is to have his power flowing through you to others day in and day out.

When was the last time you had a power outage at your house? It's the strangest feeling, isn't it, as you flip on all those switches, but nothing happens. All your electrical conveniences and appliances are useless without power. Sometimes as Christians we live as though there's a power outage. We've got a powerhouse within us because of the Holy Spirit who indwells our bodies, but maybe we just don't know how to turn on the switch.



The switch that turns on God's divine power within us is to use the divine weapons we have been given.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Have you been using your divinely empowered weapons? What are these weapons:



Prayer is a divine weapon. You probably know that, but the question is, how much do you pray? Studies show the average Christian prays less than five minutes per day. Prayer is our major power source. Maybe you haven't learned how to pray. What are you doing to become more effective in your prayer life? You can take the prayer given by Jesus to use as a model for your own prayer life. I've developed a Prayer Journal to help you apply that prayer format in a very practical way, and you can find it on our website or contact us for information on it, if it would be helpful to you.

The Word of God is another divine weapon. Hebrews 4:12 tells us for the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Have you learned how to use this divine weapon, this powerhouse we have because we have the Bible?



For example, quoting Scripture is a great way to turn on the power in your life. I encourage you to memorize scripture as much as possible. Join our Hidden Word team, where together we memorize a verse each week.



When you know you are weak in a certain area, such as impure thoughts or lying or having a critical spirit, memorize verses that relate to those matters and quote them often to yourself throughout the day. You will be amazed at how that will empower you to have victory over those problems.



So, if you've been powerless in your spiritual life lately, maybe you just haven't been using these divine weapons—prayer and the Word of God. They are the switches that turn on the power, and you can have access to the power any time you're willing to use your divine weapons.

Do you feel powerless? Can you see evidence in your life of real inner power? You can have an incredible power system right within you. In fact, if you're a believer you have that power system already, but you may never have learned how to turn it on.



We saw Jesus told us we will have power when we have the Holy Spirit. What does this power enable us to do?



First, it enables us to be children of God. John wrote to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).



Second, we can pray with power. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16).



Third, we can speak words of power. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power... (1 Corinthians 2:4).



Fourth, we can have a powerful mind. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).



Fifth, we can demolish our enemy and have victory over sin. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).



Oh, there are so many more. We have the power to:



endure and be strong (Colossians 1:11),

no longer be timid or weak, but be bold for Jesus (2 Timothy 1:7).

live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 1:3).



Does that describe you? If not and you are a believer, it may be because you're just not turning on the power that is within you—the power of the Holy Spirit.



Suppose you never turned on the power in your house. You have light bulbs and lamps; you have a washer and dryer and a vacuum cleaner. But you never have light or clean clothes or clean floors because you've never learned how to turn on the power. Silly thought, isn't it? Well, it's just as ridiculous for us to have the power of the Holy Spirit but never see the evidence of it in our lives.