Only by God's Spirit
I can be very hard headed. Just ask my family. I prefer to think that I am just very determined to do what is best in every situation. However, I often fail because I try to do things on my own. I try to use the mind the Lord gave me to figure things out correctly. I try to keep my body as strong as possible, so I can physically do what I need to do. Still I come up short. Gradually over my life I have learned that I have to depend on the Spirit of God to empower me and to direct me. Then, I will do what God wants me to do and do it well.
God wanted Zerubbabel to learn this lesson as he was sent by God with a group of Jews from the exile to rebuild the Temple of God. So he sent the prophet Zechariah to give him a message. (Zechariah 4:6) "Then he said to me, "This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Heavens' Armies." Please, believe me and God's Word that this is a message for all of us, as believers. Let's let this truth sink in well today.
The Holy Spirit is given to each believer when we are saved. He is God living inside of us. He is the down payment for our future inheritance of heaven. Therefore, we have a sure hope because the Spirit lives in us and, we see Him doing things in us and through us to confirm our salvation. God knew that we, as human beings, are unable to live the Christian life, which is a life of holiness, without His aid, so He gave us His Spirit. We are foolish if we don't take advantage of His presence in our lives every day.
We are to be filled with the Spirit, and we are to walk in the Spirit all of the time. In other words we are to allow Him to control our life, and we are to live just like He directs us to live. He will show us what not to do, and He will show us what to do. Then, He will give us the power to do it in God's way. However, this won't happen automatically. We have to ask Him to fill us each day after confessing our sins to God and being cleansed. Then, we have to surrender to His control, doing God's will, not our own will. It is a challenge, but it is possible because God commands for every believer to live like this.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Zechariah 7-9.