Are you sometimes blown away by the power God displayed in and through His people in the Bible? Do you sit in awe at some of the miracles God did? Like in the Old Testament through Elijah, Moses, Daniel, Joshua, David? Or in the New Testament through Peter, Paul, and the early Christians? Do you wonder… Has God displayed amazing power since the first century? Does He still rise up within His people with GREAT power? Does He still do miracles? The answer? ABSOLUTELY!
I’m reading a book called “The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent” by Erwin Lutzer. In this book, he shares testimonies of Muslims who are coming to Christ. One man, named Abdul, shared that he had grown up in a strict Muslim family and when he was young, his parents handed him over to an imam, one of the leaders of their local mosque. They wanted their son to really embrace his Muslim heritage. At one time, the leaders sent Abdul into the Christian church basically as a spy. He was to report back what he had learned. One day he was invited to a youth event from this Christian church. It was here he heard the gospel and accepted Jesus. But that wasn’t the first miracle this Abdul witnessed. On three different occasions, God intervened and saved Abdul from death. He is now a missionary in Nigeria. I would say that God is still in the habit of displaying His power in mighty ways, and this power is not limited… it’s for everyone.
But you may wonder… then why do I feel weak? Why haven’t I experienced God’s great power in me? Let’s examine this for a minute by asking some questions…
Does every believer have power? YES! Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8). This answers TWO questions… you and I have power and the source of that power is the Holy Spirit.
How much power do I have? Paul says in Romans 8:11 that “the Spirit of God who raised you from the dead lives in you.” That’s an amazing power, don’t you agree?
How is this power activated? Again and again in Scripture, Paul tells us that we are to LIVE by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), be LED by the Spirit (Romans 8:14), be CONTROLLED by the Spirit (Romans 8:9), and to be FILLED with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Therefore, when the Spirit of God is working in us, then His power rises up. So the question becomes? How can I live this way… letting the Holy Spirit have control of me?
Well, Paul reminds us in Romans 8:5 that Christians have two natures – a fleshly nature we were born with and a spiritual nature we were given at the moment of salvation. The fleshly nature is VERY strong and can easily dominate. So, Paul says that “those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). In other words, we need to let truth prevail in our thoughts.
Of course, we only scratched the surface here, but what does this mean? It means that if we put into practice these things and we let the Spirit dominate in our lives, we have power… power to overcome, power to speak up in the face of opposers, power to break addictions, power to stand firm when pressures are mounting, power to stay strong when the enemy is attacking, and power to do mighty things for God. God can and will display His power in and through us, but we must LIVE by the Spirit, be LED by the Spirit, be CONTROLLED by the Spirit, and be FILLED with the Spirit. Do I hear an AMEN?