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Topic: Power (05/10/04)
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TITLE: Powerless or Powerful? By Glen Spaugh 05/11/04 |
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“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not knowing the
Scriptures nor the power of God.’” Matthew 22:29 (NKJV)
“…having a form of godliness, but denying its power…” 2 Timothy 3:5a (NKJV)
The sobering words of 2 Timothy 3:5 somehow ring true of many believers today. We live in an age of power hungry people. Where the strong survive and the weak are considered worthless. We often witness power that has been corrupted by desires of the flesh. The great “I” is on the throne and I AM has been relegated to servant boy. When we operate in worldly circles with this attitude it brings conflict and discontentment. When we carry the same mind-set into the church it ushers in disaster.
Recognizing the power of God should cause us to step down from our place of piety and become the slaves instead of the masters. We must be willing to walk in submission and realize that nothing can be accomplished on our own. After all, our limitations will reveal themselves when we try and fail.
The other part of this issue lies within the appearance of being godly but having no power or authority to carry out His commands. We often fail to recognize the power which He has placed in us to complete His work.
There are too many people who emanate the appearance of holiness but do not live it, or speak in religious terms but neglect their rightful authority from the Word.
The Bible tells us to avoid these people. To detach from the “powerless” and get to the source of the Power! We are witnessing a time when our enemy is winning too many battles. When his ways seem to be the only choice and we think that the standard which can be lifted up against him somehow toppled to the ground in the Old Testament. (Isaiah 59:19a) When was the last time we took authority over a situation in Jesus’ name? Not because our flesh desired it selfishly, but we realized the power of God at work in our lives. How often do we ask God for something but fail to believe that He has the power to do it? We can glance over the decades of time and quickly discern when powerless people of God have allowed the enemy to take what belongs to them. In many cases, he did not invade their territory, they simply wrapped it up and handed it to him as a gift.
So, what actions do we take to keep His power?
1. Plug In: We fail every time we attempt to build the Kingdom using our own efforts. Therefore, we must connect to the Source.
2. Believe in Him: It sounds simple enough, but it is hard to practice. We need to really believe that He can do anything and He needs no help from us. We should trust in His divine power and expect it to happen.
3. Sacrifice Self: Place our own wants and desires on the back burner. Better yet, toss them into the fire of His Spirit.
4. Learn the Word: The number one task we have as believers is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. How can we expect to be effective if we do not believe that what He says He will do? His Word gives specific instructions on how we should live and what actions we can take to be victorious. He will never do anything contrary to His Word.
Are we living in the power of God? Or have our lives been short circuited? We cannot allow ourselves to become a people who appear godly but on the inside have no power.
Glen E. Spaugh © 2004