1 Corinthians 2: 4 – 5
My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
A friend of mine helped me to see that the church of God, the body of Christ has a problem. That problem also expresses itself in our evangelistic attempts. The problem is that we have lost the power. Unlike Paul, we do come in persuasive words trying to talk people into being Christians. As pastors, perhaps we spend too much time talking and not enough time actually letting God move by His power. Although Jesus was a great miracle worker, we have divorced ourselves from miracles and the display of God’s power.
All of us, every single Christian, are supposed to walk in the sustaining victory of Christ. Perhaps you, like me, look back at the Israelites and think we could and would do better but as I look around I see that we are not where we should be. Are we the victorious church? We were destined by God Himself to live in the fullness of the blessing. Our lives are supposed to be full of everything Christ is and yet I see us sick and broke, our relationships are a mess and we have become the disfavored stepchild instead of kings and princes. What happened to us? What happened to the glory of Christ? Where is this power that the Bible tells us about? We are not casting out demons and healing the sick. Jesus said that the things he did we should do even greater yet I certainly haven’t walked on water or fed 5000 people. Sometimes it’s hard to feed myself.
Every one of us is meant to walk in the spiritual power of Jesus. We are supposed to see Jesus’ miracle working power daily. Where is the power of God in our lives? How is Jesus’ victory being experienced or demonstrated in our lives? There are dozens of verses on prosperity. Are we enjoying the prosperity God set aside for us? There is an equal number of scriptures on healing but how is our health?
The heathen look at us and scoff the way we have belittled the Israelites. They don’t want any part of our God because they don’t see any victory in our lives. They see weak, mealy mouth people instead of the giants we should be. Why, even most Christians these days are not discernable as such. We live the same worldly lives as our pagan friends. We too have lost the allure of a mighty God. Sure, we pray when the chips are down but that is about the end of it. Where is the power? Where are the miracles? Where is the overcoming victory that Jesus promised us? Is he a liar? We certainly aren’t living it so something is clearly amiss.
I wish I had the answers. I don’t but I sure don’t like the way our Christianity has become a watered down version of faith. I don’t see us standing like Stephen or delivering people. We are supposed to be living a life in Christ but this certainly does not look like a Christ experience to me. And how did we get here? How did we fall so far?
You are the body of Christ. Are you satisfied? Do you want a whole lot more of Christ than you are currently experiencing? Are there things in your life which a touch from Jesus would resolve forever? I believe, I truly do, that we are meant for much more. I believe in my heart of hearts that there is power in the name of Jesus, that devils must flee, bodies must be healed and I believe there are angels all around us just waiting for something to do. I say again, you are the body of Christ and I am the body of Christ. We are Christ in this earth now. What must we do in order to walk in the earth as he did? What are you going to do about it? What are any of us going to do about it?
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