Power Failure
Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel,whose power is in the heavens.
You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people Psalms 68:34-35
Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. Volcanos. Besides the fact that they are all natural disasters and that we have seen them all in the last few weeks, hat do they have in common? They all cause power failures. Power failures make everything much worse. There are the obvious problems, such as no power to prepare or store food or to get relief from the heat. There is the problem of not being able to work and the problem of not being able to communicate. No jumping on facebook to reassure family and friends or using your cell phone to console a hurting friend. There are also difficulties that I had not considered. For example, I learned that without power there is no way to pump water for drinking. Transportation systems rely on electricity and are in chaos. People are having to use physical labor to do work that they could do easily with power tools.These things are all bearable for a while, but then people start to get irritable and resentful, than anxious and depressed and finally despair can set in if the problems are not dealt with.
The disasters have taken over the news, but there is an unreported problem that is just as serious. This is the problems Christians face when they try to live without the power God has made available. We can do the work he asks us to on our own power but it is much more difficult. Have you tried to love your spouse, your toddler, your teenager or your aging parent on love that you produce yourself? It works for a while but quickly leads to exhaustion and resentment. How about communication with God and our faith family? Are you feeling disconnected?
What are the power tools we have at outr disposal?
These are the ones that come to mind.
Miracles
Miracles are God's way of showing us both his power and his nature. Not done just to "show off", they are either done to show dominion over a false God (such as the gods of the Egyptian in Exodus) , to show power over a need such as the feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14) or over nature, such as walking on the water (Matthew 14) or raising the dead (Mark 5:22) They were not an end in themselves, but called people to God.
Salvation
Sin separated us from God and we were hopeless. We could not reconcile to him, but He sacrificed Jesus and paid the price for our sins. Every other religion leaves the burden on the believer, but God came "demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:8) This is so amazing that it leaves us in awe, saying as Paul did, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16)
Holy Spirit
Many believers have not been taught about the Holy Spirit. We are not able to use the many things he offers us because we don't know that they are available. This includes sealing us at our baptism (Ephesians 4:30), comforting us (Romans 15:13) teaching us (Luke 12:12), interceding for us (or being our go-between with God), gifting us ( 1 Corinthians 12) and many more. Take time to learn more about this third member of the Godhead and the power he provides.
Scripture
We are told in Hebrews 4:12. that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword and able to separate bone and marrow and soul and spirit." Never underestimate the power we have in the "Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6)
Prayer
We are told to pray without ceasing(Romans 1:10), "to come boldly before the throne of God" (Hebrews 4:16), and that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:12)
God is willing to give you his power. Are you willing to receive it and use it?
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