I want to just share something with you, to get your spirit up. Let's open up our Bible in Philippians - I want to speak on forces that work within you. So let's have a look in Philippians 2:12-13, particularly Verse 13.
"Therefore my beloved, as you've always obeyed not only in my presence, but also more in my absence; work out your salvation with fear and with trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do, for His good pleasure".
God is working in you to do something. We're going to look at that whole area of what God is doing. God has a plan - He planned you before you came into this world. He planned something for you to accomplish.
God has wired us. Everyone is created for a purpose. We found in Ephesians 2, that every person, God has created us for accomplishing something with our life. We're not called to just breathe in and out, and expire. We're called to do something, and to do something significant, and to do something that takes a little bit of risk.
So God has prepared an assignment for us, and it unfolds through our life; but I want to talk about forces that work inside us, because if we don't understand how God gets this assignment out of us, we never end up fulfilling it.
There are some practical ways you can discover the assignment was that God had for you; and one of them is to connect with the Holy Spirit, and begin to listen to the voice of God.
So notice what it says: "it's God who is at work in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure". That word 'work', is a word in the original language. It's the word energayo, from which we get the word 'energise'. Let me give you a definition of it: it's to be active; to be efficient; to be mighty; to rouse into activity.
So let's read it again: It is God who energises you, and rouses you up into activity, so that you will choose to do the things that please Him; and it says: not only will He rouse you up, but He'll put it in your mind to choose (or to want to choose) the things that please Him; and not only to want to choose them, but He says: to actually do them; and it's the same word 'to energise', or become active doing things.
So let's read it again, and put it in simple terms. It says: God works, or energises you; so you become aware of, and choose, what He wants; and then are empowered to work it out, and get it done. That is an amazing scripture - so we are joined to the spirit.
So the Bible tells us, we get born again in the spirit of God; we are joined spirit to spirit with God. When it says: God works in you; its meaning: the Holy Spirit is at work in you. The Holy Spirit energises you.
Now if you are highly energised, something that you energise is alive. Have you ever seen that TV ad about the Energiser batteries - just keeps on going. So that's the word energise. God energises you.
Now the problem is, I don't see that happening in too many Christians, so I wonder why that is so. I don't want to focus on this today, but it's obvious there are other forces at work to de-energise us.
So the Holy Spirit works to energise us, and what I want to focus on today, I want to give you four simple things you do, that cause something to happen inside you - that activates the Holy Spirit to energise you.
You haven't got a different Holy Spirit to anyone else. You've got the same Holy Spirit. He didn't give a little bit to you, and a little bit more to him, He gave a person - the Holy Spirit. We are joined to the spirit of God, so it's the spirit of God that energises us.