Day Nineteen - Availabe Power

I want to marry my last post on Might and Power with Sunday's message on decisions. I love to read the timeless interactions between God and His people in the Old Testament of our Bibles. It gives example after example and miracle after miracle displaying God's Power to provide for and protect His children. Do you have a favorite?

There is the ark, the Red Sea crossing, provisions in the wilderness, the giving of the Law, the walls of Jericho falling down, crossing the Jordan River, David and Goliath, Elijah on Mount Carmel, Elijah caught up into Heaven, Elisha healing Naaman, the axe head floating, Esther saving the Jews, Daniel in the lion's den, the fourth Man in the fire, Jonah in the belly of the fish. These, and so so many more move us with awe and wonder. Why?

I love them all. Maybe because they are entertaining, but maybe I love reading those accounts of how God's Might and Power delivered His people through the hardships because, if He did it for them, He can do it for me too.

Remember, in the Old Testament era, the Holy Spirit (i.e. His Power, provision, protection, and presence) would visit upon the Prophets and people as needed. Also, do not forget that everything in that time period led up to the arrival of the Lord's Christ, Messiah, the long-awaited coming King. The Power, provision, protection of God (i.e. God Himself) was incarnated in the person of Jesus. His presence took on flesh and they "handled Him," Peter wrote. What a moment! How liberating!

Have you ever had a feeling of such sweeping peace? It could be a check in the mail, a clean bill of health, someone who you know is going to make it better, you know what I mean, a moment in which you just know everything is going to be okay now.

Jesus did that for Anna and Simeon, and so many more. In fact, countless more who have recognized Jesus for who He was and is, what He came to do, what He did, what He is doing, and what He is yet to do. The babe,  the unborn John the Baptist, whom Elizabeth was carrying, leapt in her womb when Mary, who was carrying the unborn Christ Child, entered the room. I pray you have had a leaping moment in your life. Dare I say, I hope you have had many.

When the wood doors opened in the back of the sanctuary, and there stood my bride-to-be, I could hardly contain my emotions. What a moment! What a rush! What beautiful, sweet, peace. Does knowing that the One who died for you is seated at God's right hand and is advocating for you make you feel confident, comfortable, and assured of victory? Does He make you feel peace?

I hope knowing that His Holy Spirit lives within you and, with all things, you now have God at your constant disposal, assuring you that victory is possible.

Read Romans 8

I know thirty-eight verses is a lot, but I actually suggest you read at least the first eight chapters.  It is that good. In fact, it is that necessary, but for today, let's focus on 8:26-27 and 31-39.

Honestly, I can no more explain to you how God's Power works than I can the peace of God. Over the years, I have had more than one person ask: "How do you know that you have been saved?" You start by doing what the Bible says you must:
You repent and follow Christ in total obedience, confess with your mouth, and believe in your heart that Christ has been raised from the dead.

But the way I know He lives and that I am His is because I feel Him in my life. I know He is there. There is no doubt whatsoever that I belong to Him. I hope you feel the same way about your salvation and relationship.

So, Maleigh, my daughter, suggested after posting my last blog that I should practically define the Power of God. Unfortunately, I cannot definitively expound that kind of Power. However, God's Power is His Spirit. His Spirit lives within us; everything we need from God is available to us through the Spirit. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord. The practicality of His power is appropriating His Word, applying His Truth, believing and accepting Him and His Word, as well as positively responding to the conviction that the Spirit produces.

Conviction leads to the unleashing of God's power. Conviction leads to repentance, yes, but it also leads to obedience. This is a state of mind that enables us to deny ourselves and follow Him.
I am convicted that my God is real.
I am convicted that all things are possible through my God.
I am convicted that He who is within me is greater than Satan.
I am convicted that the Power that enabled Peter to walk on the water, the Power and Spirit that raised Lazarus from the dead, and all the other New Testament miracles, including the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, is more than capable of empowering me.

My decision today - by the way, it is theorized that the average person makes over 30,000 decisions per day - is to trust in the Power to deliver me through it all. The same Power that saved me can keep me.
And it can keep you, too.



In Christ,
Pastor Todd