All tagged power
Great power accompanies great faith. When we have an abiding faith in Jesus Christ we have gained access to the ultimate power of the creator. Nothing is beyond His ability, and in the name of Jesus nothing is beyond ours either. Jesus said this openly of Himself, and we should not be apologetic about the faith and power in our lives either.
I read a discussion of prayer in which the author was talking about powerful prayers, and he proposed that for a person to be able to pray powerfully that it took work, and much practice to perfect. He went on to say that the more a person prayed the better they became at it. Well it is good to pray without ceasing, or for our prayers to at least be habitual, but the unrehearsed prayer of a child carries as much weight and power in it as the most ornate prayer of a robed pastor, the humble prayer if a priest, or even the expectant prayers of a prophet. The power of prayer rests in our righteousness, sincerity, and relationship with the Lord as we open our hearts to Him, and is not in our oration, diction, nor the perfection of our deliverance.
The world sees strength and power in the mighty acts of nature and life. When the ground shakes in an earthquake, the wind roars during a violent storm, or the forest groans and screams as a fire races through it, but as powerful as these things are Christians see true might and strength in a very different way; we see it in the calm before and after these events. We witness it in the calm before, when all hell is preparing itself, and mounting up against us, and we see it in the still moments just after God Has bridled and overcome the onslaught. These moments reveal God’s strength to us. We see the ultimate strength it takes to gather these catastrophes in the palm of His hand, and then still them so perfectly that we can hear nothing more than His whisper… “Be still”.
How powerful are the words that flow from our mouths as we deliver the Gospel of Jesus to those who are lost in the world? Well, they will lay them open like a wound from a sharp sword, and reveal their innermost selves. They will also pierce their hearts like arrows of truth. Our mouths are forged by the hand of God to slay sin, to fell death, and conquer the dark one, but when the enemy is near, do we use these weapons? Do we pull the sword from its scabbard, or an arrow from its quiver? We are fast to don the armor of God to defend, and protect ourselves, but do we bare the weapons, and go into battle to save others? Do we confront the enemy, and protect those he seeks to destroy, or rescue the captives?
Each of us who believes carries Jesus Christ, and His power, within us. This is certainly the test of our faith. We must ask ourselves if we believe this to be true, and if we can say “YES”, then we have passed the test of faith, and the glory of God will be found within us. If Jesus is not in us, and we display no evidence of His power, then we are surely lost, and destined to continue seeking until we can at last accept Him, and invite Him to abide in us.
As we humble ourselves in our faith it is easy to forget that this requires us to be strong. Those who are in the world look at humility and strength as being diametrically opposed, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus stood in strength before Pilot, and yet He did so in silent confidence. Are we strong enough in our lives to stand in quiet defiance against the forces of evil that come against us, and the sin that tempts us every day? Do we ask God to strengthen us in our love, character, resolve, and in every way, and thing, with which we serve Him?
Living water flows from Jesus Christ, and we accept this readily, but we don’t consider often enough that this same living water flows from us. We hear that we should believe in Jesus, and that He is the living Son of God, but we don’t dwell so much on how the power of Christ abides in us. Scripture tells us that Christ abides in us, and we in Him, and as the truth of this becomes apparent to us, the further truth of His power residing in us becomes apparent as well.
What did Jesus say about the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that should thrill our souls? He told us that the Spirit would not only glorify Him, but declare Him to us. In the Spirit we will see and know Jesus clearly, and will also receive those things that God the Father has given to Jesus. Are we ready to glorify God, and through our belief and faith in Jesus to receive what God gave Him to be His? Can we even comprehend what this means?