BY MY SPIRIT

——Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.–Zechariah 4:6   The Christian life is the life of Christ reproduced in the child of God by the Spirit of God for the glory of God. We become what we ought to be by His power, not our effort. We need to remember that! Human effort is never enough. We need Divine aid. Without God we can do nothing.   Selwyn Hughes wrote: The minister of a large church, when asked what was the outstanding need of his congregation, said: “Faithfulness. Fifty per cent of church members are hangers-on, getting a free ride, contributing nothing from purse or person; twenty-five per cent promise to do something and then, after a few stabs at it, drop out. They lack fidelity. The life of this church is carried on by the remaining twenty-five per cent.” D. L. Moody, the great American preacher, said: “If we could get people who put their hand to the plow and never draw back no matter what the wind or weather, we would have a growing and powerful church.”How many of us, I wonder, have loose ends, broken promises, half-fulfilled tasks cluttering up our lives? Whose fault is it? It cannot be the fault of the Holy Spirit, for He dwells in us to provide the power to see things through — if we let Him. Success in this area of the Christian life, as in all areas, is letting go and letting God — letting go of self-effort and surrendering to the power of the Spirit who is resident in us. As someone once put it — the Christian life is not my responsibility, but my response to His ability. I tell you, never does the Holy Spirit appear more wonderful than when He appears in the fruit of faithfulness.