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Power

The Power

by TerryLema

Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples. They were to go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them. It is found in Matthew 28:19-20. That Commission is still the fundamental essential command of Christianity.

But Jesus told them, before you go you need to wait for the Father’s promise. That promise was the power needed to fulfill that Commission. [Acts 1:4-5]

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” [Acts 1:8 HCSB]

If the Great Commission is still valid, then the essential power to fulfill the Great Commission is still needed. The power of the Holy Spirit is necessary and required. We must still wait for the Father’s promise!

And yet, we have in many places driven out or tried to silence the Holy Spirit in our midst. We have returned to that old way of thinking that we can do the LORD’s commands in our own strength. Down through the ages that has proven ineffective.

The Holy Spirit directs us with the wisdom of God. He leads us to opportunities. He gives us the wisdom to speak. He gives us the power to love. He gives us the strength to persevere.

Without Him, our testimony will be without power – for the Holy Spirit also prepares the hearts to receive.

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Pentecost Sunday

by TerryLema

We were blessed to go to church with our California family last Sunday. It was Pentecost Sunday, a remembrance of that first Pentecost promised by our Lord Christ Jesus following His resurrection.

Power. The funny thing about the church in California on Pentecost Sunday was that the church (and neighborhood) was experiencing a “partial” power outage. They were able to power up some lights, but not all. The coffee bar was closed, the screens were dark, so no words could be displayed. There was a piano and guitar, and they were able to power a few mics. It was like being in church decades ago!

We were also warned that the power company to restore full power might shut down all power any minute, and if the room got dark, we should use our cellphone flashlights to find our way out.

Power. Full power. Partial Power. No Power. With all that talk about electrical power, I could not help but think about heavenly power and the church on Pentecost Sunday.

Following Jesus’ resurrection, He gave His disciples instructions. First, He told them to go into all the world and make disciples. We call this the Great Commission. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  [Matthew 28:19 HCSB]

Then He told them to wait where they were until the Father sent them the power needed to carry out the Great Commission. “I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.” [Luke 24:49 HCSB]

Jesus then told them that the Holy Spirit would provide the power to be witnesses through the entire world. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” [Acts 1:8 HCSB]

Everyone agrees that the Great Commission is still in force today. We have not yet taken the testimony of Christ Jesus into all the world. So, it always seems funny to me that we often dismiss the spiritual power provided by the Holy Spirit that first Pentecost as not necessary in our day and age. If anything, we need it even more!  Full power, not partial power, is necessary to reach our world!

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A Form of Godliness

by TerryLema

In Paul’s second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, he wrote about the attitudes and actions of those who will be living in the last days. It is a familiar passage. [2 Timothy 3:1-5]

As I re-read the passage, I nodded my head over and over and thought, yep, that is where we are. We can just look out our windows and we can find proof of how bad the world is. Then I got to the last line in the passage.

“…holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.” [vs 5 HCSB]

Paul describes people who hold “to the form of godliness” but deny its power. The people in our streets are not claiming any form of godliness, they are shaking their fists at God. It is the people in our churches that claim godliness.

In these last days there are people who make an outward display of religion. They profess to be Christians, but their words and actions do not agree. Their worst feature is that they claim some form of godliness, but there is no evidence of the power of God in their lives.

True godliness results in the transformation of our lives. It changes hearts and lives. It bears fruit. True godliness is born through surrendering constantly to the indwelling Holy Spirit. True godliness is finding the character of Christ Jesus increasing in us, while the character of our natural man decreases.

In that, there is power.

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Power

by TerryLema

Have you noticed the movies and video games that are out now? Notice a theme that runs through almost all of them?  It may be defined by one word – POWER.

Our culture is hungry for someone that has power, real power…the kind of power that makes things right. We don’t have it in our politics. We don’t have it in our educational systems. And sadly, we often don’t have it in our churches. So, what does that leave? Hollywood steps in and provides imaginary, powerful, mighty superheroes on the screen, on television and in video games.

When Isaiah foretold of the character and nature of the Messiah to come, his second title was “Mighty God.” 

“His name will be called, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God….” [vs9:6]

 This one to come will be “mighty.” The shortened version of the word is “gibbor (ghib-bore) and it means powerful. It describes a warrior, champion, or chief who is mighty, strong, and valiant.

Not only will He be “mighty,” He will be “God.” The Hebrew word is “El” and it is used only of Jehovah God. The One to come is God Himself, Mighty, Strong, and Valiant.

God is not some impersonal force; He is not distant or uninterested in us. As John says, “The Word was God …. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  [John 1:1, 14]

 Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. The Word, God Himself, came to us in flesh and blood and dwelt with us. He is Mighty God. There is no power like His power. Hollywood can have their make-believe superheroes, I’ll take the real, eternal power – our Mighty God!

“Wonderful counselor, Mighty God.”

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Dire Threats!

by TerryLema

The mid-term elections are around the corner. If you have not noticed, both sides of the aisles are issuing dire predictions about what will happen if the other side wins. Both sides claim they are focused on differing issues, claiming their issues are the most important and that is why we need to vote for them.

From what I have observed, I think the only issue is power. I read a statement that once elected to a position of power, the only goal going forward is to get re-elected.

Earthly leaders want power, dominance, authority to put forth their own agendas and ideas. Yet in contrast to our Blessed LORD, even the most powerful have no real power.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [preeminent] over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” [Colossians 1:15-18 HCSB]

And this Blessed LORD we serve was willing to not demand His own agenda but do the will of the Father and die for us.

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation….” [Colossians 1:19-22 HCSB]

Today: Thank you LORD that I live in a country which gives me the right to cast my vote, but never let me forget who has the real power and authority! Let me honor You in all I do.

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Weary & Weak

by TerryLema

I have been working hard to strengthen my physical body and increase my stamina. Years of pain and fatigue from immune diseases and lately from a bout with a virus have stolen my physical strength and endurance. I do not want to be confined to a lounge chair. I want to do my worship walks again and have enough energy to enjoy life beyond the confines of my house.

I work hard to walk a little farther, lift a bit more, move more frequently. But there are still times, like last Saturday when all I want to do is sit. Fatigue sets in and it seems my whole body just hurts.

I find also that as I deal with the pain and fatigue in my physical body, it saps my emotional and spiritual energy as well. Pain demands attention. It seeks to rule.

So I went looking for Scriptures about strength and ended up walking through Isaiah 40.  “’Comfort, comfort My people,’ says your God.”

 As I finished the chapter, I sensed the presence of God. I felt His everlasting arms embrace me. The comfort we need for all of life is resident within the LORD.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless.” [Isaiah 40:28-29 HCSB]

It is Yahweh, the LORD, who gives strength to the weary and power to the powerless. The pain and fatigue in my body may not go away, but the LORD renews my spirit. He fills me with His strength to overcome the weariness and His power to overcome the weakness. Pain no longer rules.

Comfort, comfort My People! Amen

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ABLE!

by TerryLema

Yesterday I wrote about our God and some of His greatness displayed throughout the Scriptures.  I included a doxology from Ephesians.  A doxology is a hymn or formula of praise. There are three notable ones in the New Testament. We looked at Paul’s Ephesians doxology yesterday.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work with us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”  [3:20]

There is another one that ends that little letter of Jude.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.” [Jude 24]

The third doxology ends Paul’s weighty letter to the Romans.

“Now to Him who is able to establish you ….  to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” [16:25-27]

As I read those three this morning, my heart is refreshed and encouraged by those first six words in each … “Now to Him who is able ….”

Able. The Greek word is the same in all three doxologies, It is dunamai and is the word from which we get our English word dynamite!  It means power.

Our God has the power to keep us. He has the power to do even more than we can imagine. He has the power to establish us forever. That means He has the power for everything we are or ever will experience!

To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

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Power Over Sickness and Death

by TerryLema

I am meditating on the power and authority of Jesus seen in Luke 8. First, His authority over the natural world when He calmed a violent storm with only His word. Then, His authority over the spiritual world when He commanded a “Legion” of demons to leave a possessed man.  Those who witnessed these events were overtaken with fear.

But Luke does not end with Jesus’ power over the natural world and over the spiritual world. He has two more incidents to report.

After leaving the region of the Gerasenes, Jesus returned to the other side of the lake. There he was immediately confronted by a grieving father, Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, whose only daughter, 12 years old, was at death’s door.  He pleaded with Jesus to come to his house. [vs 40-56]

Jesus consents, but as they travel to Jairus’ home, a woman suffering with a chronic bleeding condition that left her “unclean” for 12 years touches the hem of Jesus’ robe in faith and is healed. Jesus stopped, immediately recognizing what happened, and seeks in the crowd for the person who had anonymously touched Him. Initially everyone denies it, but Jesus was not moving until He discovered who touched Him.  (Can you imagine what was going through Jairus’ mind during this delay?)

Finally, the woman confesses, and Jesus announces, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” [vs 48 HCSB]

They get to Jairus’ house and Jesus tosses out the hired mourners who think the child is dead. He then takes the child by the hand and tells her to get up. She does. And “Her parents were astounded,” Luke reports. [vs 56 HCSB]

In Luke 8, Jesus, exercised authority over the natural creation, over the spiritual world, and finally over sickness and death. He astonished everyone who witnessed that authority. I pray we too are astonished and amazed by our Wonderful Savior and LORD.

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Power Over the Spiritual World

by TerryLema

Reading Luke 8 on Tuesday morning gave me much to consider. Beginning in Verse 22, Luke tells us three amazing stories about the power and authority of our Savior and LORD, Christ Jesus.

He begins in verses 22-25 with the calming of the storm on the lake. After that when the boat reaches the other side, they arrive in the region of the Gerasenes, opposite Galilee. There they are confronted by a man possessed by demons.  Jesus commands the demons to leave the man.

The demons recognize the authority of Jesus that they must leave the man, but they beg Him not to “banish them to the abyss.” [vs 31 HCSB]

Jesus gives them permission to enter a herd of pigs. Unable to contain the “Legion” of demons, the pigs rush down a steep bank and drown. That upsets the men tending the pigs who rush off to report the incident to the town.

When the townsfolk come out to see what happened, they find Jesus and the formerly-demon-possessed man sitting and talking.  Verses 36 and 37 report the outcome and as it turns out, it is the same reaction the disciples had when Jesus calmed the storm – fear.

“Meanwhile, the eyewitnesses reported to them how the demon-possessed man was delivered. Then all the people of the Gerasene region asked Him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear.” [HCSB]

Fear was the response of the disciples when Jesus took authority over the storm, and fear was the response of the people in the region of the Gerasenes when Jesus took authority over demonic powers. In these two incidents we see the power and authority of our Savior, Christ Jesus, over the natural world and over the spiritual world.

No wonder we stand in wonder in the Presence of Jesus!  All authority, all power are His!

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Power Over the Natural World

by TerryLema

One of the new customs for the Christmas season is to read one chapter a day from the Gospel of Luke beginning on December 1. I was amazed by Luke 8, the chapter for Tuesday the 8th. It begins by telling us that women who had been healed and delivered were supporting Jesus and His Disciples. Then Jesus gives the Parable of the Seed and the Sower, along with a reminder that we are to be light for all to see. At one point, Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him but were unable to get through the crowd.

The part of the chapter that truly touches me begins in verse 22.  After a long day of preaching and ministry, Jesus got in a boat with His disciples and told them to go to the other side of the lake. He was so exhausted He fell asleep and did not even awake when a fierce windstorm arose and threatened to swamp the boat. [Luke 8:22-25]

Finally, the disciples woke Jesus and told Him, “Master, Master, we’re going to die!” [vs 24 HCSB]

Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and the raging waves and they immediately obeyed Him, and the storm ceased. In its place was a great calm. Of course, that frightened the disciples even more than the storm did.

As I thought on that passage all of a sudden I saw the storm in our country that is going on right now, and I started to chuckle. Let me explain why I laughed. Every politician, from local mayors, to state governors, to congressional leaders, president, and president-elect think they can calm the storm with their proclamations, directives, and strategies. But they cannot. They think – in a way – that they have the power over the storm when they are really in the same boat as the disciples! “Master, Master, we’re going to die!”

Only Jesus has the power and the authority to stop the storm. Even when He was at a low point, exhausted from ministry, He only had to say a word and the cosmos obeyed.

After quieting the storm Jesus had one question for His own, “Where is your faith?” [vs 25 HCSB]

We might ask ourselves that same question!

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