Power

On September 13, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 1: 8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

We know something about God, and we know Jesus but who, really, is the Holy Spirit? The answer is that He is the power of God, the creative force of God. In the first chapter of Genesis we see that the earth was formless but the Holy Spirit was moving (or hovering) over the surface of the waters. Then God spoke the word and the Holy Spirit responded to that spoken word and created all that God spoke. So, by the Holy Spirit God created the earth.

Then we see in Luke 1: 35 that it was the Power of God through the Holy Spirit that caused Mary to conceive. There is the creative power of God at work. All three persons of the trinity have their place. They each have their own roles and characteristics. We are beginning to learn who the Holy Spirit is. When we do, we will be able to work with Him more effectively.

He is the one who is in the earth right now and who was promised to remain with us forever. He was sent to be our helper, guide and teacher so the more we can understand his role in our lives, the more we can learn and the more we can be led by Him. It is by His power, the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are able to positively affect our lives and the lives of others.

And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving (hovering) over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1: 2

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Luke 1: 35

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Luke 4: 14

And it came about one day that He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. Luke 5: 17

And you know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power. Acts 10: 38

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15: 13

“…in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit…” Romans 15: 19

And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. 1 Corinthians 2: 4

[T]o be strengthened with power through His Spirit. Ephesians 3: 16

[F]or our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 1: 5

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Witness This

On January 28, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 39: 1 – 2             NIV

I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good.

If you want to keep yourself from sin, the tongue is an excellent place to start. Most of us do more damage to ourselves and others with our mouth than any other way. In my book, Journey Through the Bible, chapter 64 is titled Loshon Hora. This is a Hebrew expression for derogatory speech. If you study Loshon Hora, you will discover that the Rabbinical teachings advise against derogatory speech, otherwise called evil talk, not only because of the negative impact upon others but also because it is damaging to the speaker. The words which come out of our mouths either edify us or defile us. So, when we speak negatively about someone else, even if it is true, we tear down ourselves. I encourage you to take this to heart as absolute truth.

David knew the truth of this. Sometimes it is more beneficial to remain silent even when you want to speak truth. Fools cast their pearls before swine. Yet we find ourselves with many words. We want to preach people into the Kingdom of God, but God never told us to do that. Preachers are for the saved, to train them and teach them so they can do into the world and save the wicked. Paul said, “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” (1 Corinthians 2: 4). If Paul’s witness was demonstrations of the Spirit and his power, then why do we choose to talk people to death? We are on the wrong path entirely. We should all know by now that people aren’t listening to what we say, they are watching what we do. So, are our lives demonstrations of God’s love? Are we harbingers of His power and grace? People are not interested in what we think. They are interested in God’s presence and we can be those carriers of God’s presence to people, literally, everywhere we go.

Our goal should be to honor Jesus’ commission to us by first obeying Romans 12: 2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” See, our job is to be transformed so that people see that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Not us, but God in us. We aren’t perfect in ourselves, but He is. Our mission is to allow the Lord to transform us. That is accomplished through the renewal of our minds. You see, mine and your first task is not to tell the world how to be. It is to let God show us who we should be. Our effort should be focused on our own renewal and subsequent transformation. When we are renewed and transformed, we won’t have to say much because God in us will be loudly visible. We will demonstrate the love and power of the Almighty as did Paul.

We have had this all upside down for so long and we absolutely must correct this. We are the church, we are the temple of the Almighty. That is where people are looking to see if God is alive. We must become more attractive images of Christianity. Don’t try to change them so they can go to heaven. Change you with the power of the Holy Spirit so they want to go to heaven. We’ve been making heaven look like hell. We’ve got to right this ship and mirror our Lord. We are to be his disciples which means we act like him, we talk like him. David said, “I will watch my ways.” We’ve been busy watching their ways. We’ve been acting like the world and frankly, talking like them too, and then trying to persuade others that we know truth.

Let us save ourselves. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” (Philippians 2: 12). Let derogatory speech have no part with you. Keep your tongue from sin. By this we guard ourselves and minister to others.

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Foolishness and Power

On October 3, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 1: 18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Let’s talk about evangelism a bit today. When you find something good, don’t you want to share it with others? The news about Jesus is good news and we often want to share it with others so they can experience his goodness as we do. Beyond that, though, there is a certain expectation in the church that we share this gospel of good news. After all Jesus did say, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,” (Mark 16: 15). So, we try to do our part to share the gospel to those we know and people we meet. Unfortunately, it is utter foolishness to them. One version says it is nonsense. To the unregenerate mind the things of God cannot be understood. For that reason, people need to see Christ in addition to hearing of him.

Paul said that Jesus sent him to preach the gospel but not in cleverness of speech that the cross of Christ might be made void, or meaningless (1 Corinthians 1: 17). What do you think he meant by that? How can the preaching of the gospel void the testimony of the cross? In the second chapter of First Corinthians Paul wrote, “And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power,” (v. 4). Using the word demonstration, he intimates that people need to see the Spirit of God at work, not just be preached to about it. This is where most of us fail in our evangelistic efforts. We don’t let the Spirit of God be seen.

You see, it really is the Spirit’s job to evangelize. We are, as they say, boots on the ground, but the master architect of salvation is the Spirit of God. Paul reveals in verse 2 of First Corinthians: One, that people are called to salvation. By whom are they called? They are called to Jesus by the Holy Spirit. We are the light which, going into all the world, people see and are subsequently called to Jesus.

You and I can save no one but we can be light bringers. We can have testimonies. We can tell of God’s goodness, but we can never convince anyone because it is all foolishness to them. Secondly, Paul said the gospel, to us, is the power of God. This goes along with verse 4 from chapter two, “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.” The power of God can be demonstrated; it can be seen. That is our part in evangelism. We are to demonstrate the power of God. Think about this for a moment and let it sink in. Does this make sense to you? Is this what Paul is saying? If you agree that this is the point Paul is making then we need to each ask ourselves, “When was the last time the power of God was demonstrated through my life?” I grant you this is a challenging question and I think most of us will have to admit we have been living powerless lives. Powerlessness in not God’s will for our lives. Would you agree with that? If so, then what are we to do? Are we to continue in our drab existence doing nothing to show God’s power and love to the world? Shall we simply continue going to church on Sunday but keeping our heads low all the other days of the week? Or maybe we will continue to convince ourselves that when Jesus told us to go into all the world he meant for us to preach at the unbelievers until they are persuaded. Do we believe we will find the persuasive speech which will evangelize the world?

It is time we, the church, each one of us, began to take this gospel seriously and allow it to rock us out of our comfort zones. It is time we call upon the name of Jesus to be Lord in this world. It is our time; time to lay hands on the sick and heal them, time to mend broken hearts, but not by persuasive speech, rather by the power of God. Jesus, it is not me who heals, mends, and saves, but rather you. We need to get ourselves out of the center of this dynamic so that Jesus can step in and wield his power. We need not be so concerned that we cannot perform but be convinced that he can. What would it take for you to pray for someone? What kind of miracle is required for us all to begin walking in the earth like the early disciples did? Are you a disciple of Christ? Are you filled with God’s Spirit? Let the goodness and the power of God flow from you. Don’t be a hoarder. God is the God of overflow meaning that He wants His power to overflow from you onto others.

Look, evangelism is easy when people get healed. It is not difficult to convince people of God’s love when you raise their child from the dead. Let’s all get busy. Let’s fulfill the commission Jesus gave us. Go into all the world and share the good news of Jesus.

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Power Generator

On January 25, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 10: 38

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Let’s talk power! Power is what we all need for our lives. We need to overcome obstacles, defeat enemy attacks and we need to create. Jesus went about doing good, healing and delivering ALL who were oppressed by the devil. This verse reveals that it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that he was able to accomplish these things.

God has given you a vision. You need creative power to complete it. The Holy Spirit is that creative power. Let’s look at the creation of the earth in Genesis 1, “The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light,” (Genesis 1: 2 – 3). What is the purpose of disclosing that the Spirit was hovering over the formless earth before God spoke? Through it we learn that the Holy Spirit is the creative power of God. God had a vision, spoke The Word, who we know to be Jesus, and the Holy Spirit brought the vision into being.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God. Micah 3: 8 reads, “I am filled with power—With the Spirit of the Lord—And with justice and courage.” Micah understood that the power he exhibited to prophesy was the power from the Spirit of the Lord. Of course, Jesus was well aware of the source of his power. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you,” (Matthew 12: 28).

Paul described his ministry in 1 Corinthians 2: 4, when he wrote, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,” (NIV). His desire was that all believers would know this same power that is in the Holy Spirit. He prayed, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” (Romans 15: 13).

That which Jesus had, which Paul embraced is what we also need. That is the Holy Spirit and the power that comes with him. There are more scriptures in the New Testament that reveal the Holy Spirit as the source of power. Go to www.Biblegateway.com and search “power” in the New Testament for further study. More importantly though, make it a point to search out in your heart and with the Father what you can do to increase your daily fellowship with His Spirit. Seek the Lord and His Spirit.

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