“I just need more of his Spirit.” Those words express a common heartfelt sentiment. Our minds know better, of course; by faith, we already have him in full. But we long for more experience, a greater encounter, a deeper sense of the Spirit who has been given to us. Whether we express the desire with complete theological accuracy or not, it’s nevertheless a legitimate desire. We want more.
How can we get it? Not by striving for what we don’t yet have but by believing in what we already do have. You didn’t get a piece of the Spirit when you believed; you got all of him. If you believed as a child, you didn’t get a junior Holy Spirit who would grow up with you; you got the whole him. The question isn’t how much of him you’re going to get; it’s what you’re going to do with the reality of him already living within you.
That’s why the message of scripture isn’t “strive.” It’s “believe.” You can go ahead and live as one fully inhabited by the eternal Spirit of God and with enormous expectations for what he wants to do in you, for you, and through you. Much of what we long for has already been given; we only need to step into it. By faith, you can. Live as one who has been filled to overflowing with God himself (Ephesians 3:19) because that’s the story he has already written for your life.
