How often we live our lives in our own strength. We run around doing what ‘seems good unto us’ and in the process we get exhausted, tired, stressed, pressurized, weak, depressed and worn out. I know a lady who carried so much with her. One day I spoke to her and asked her how she handled the weight of the burden she carried in life? She retorted by saying: ‘I’ve got broad shoulders’. Many of us have this ‘broad-shoulder approach’ and we are sure we can handle whatever comes our way. This is great, until one day, when things just get too much and we need help. It is then that we discover that we need God and His strength in our lives. The Bible tells us that we are ‘earthen vessels’. This means that we are not as strong as we think we are and we need God more that we realize.
QUOTATION – I heard someone make the following statement: ‘Everything we do in our own strengthen wears us down, everything we do through God’s strength enables (encourages, strengthens, builds us up) us!’
DEFINITION: Power – is the capacity to effect (do) something!
1. THE POWER OF GOD IS AVAILABLE TO US
Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
With God, we have the capacity, ability, endurance and perseverance to be able to really have an effect. This verse tells us that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead can live within us. In addition this power that is available to us will come and restore to life our physical bodies. When this happens everything changes. We are no longer the same. Our lives and the way we live our lives changes. We are no longer running on our own strength. We can switch over to His power in our lives.
2. WE CAN KNOW HIS POWER IN OUR LIVES
His power can be ‘at work’ within us. We can experience His power in our lives. We can live, behave and walk in this dimension on a daily basis.
1 Corinthians 6:14 And God both raised the Lord to life and will also raise us up by His power.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].
God’s power is at work within us. He often uses what we are going through, to bring about His purposes. We must not resist His working in our lives, but we must embrace it. God’s power wants to bring us through any current difficulties and challenges to a place where He wants us to be. God has great things in store, things that are super-abundant, far above what we could ask or think.
3. HIS POWER MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
His power gives us what we need.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.
We can only go so far in our own strength. Sooner or later we will need HIS POWER. Life can be like quicksand. It can swallow us up and the devil wants this to happen. We can struggle and fight this in our own strength and end up sinking even further. But when HIS POWER comes into play we can overcome and come out on top. One day I saw an old western movie. In this movie the hero landed in an area of quicksand. As he struggled to keep from sinking, he kept sinking further in, until all that was out of the mud was his head. Then along come someone on a horse and threw him a rope and tied it to the horse and the horse began to pull and slowly he emerged effortlessly out of the mud. All he had to do was to hold on to the rope and the power of the horse would work within his situation and bring him back to life, from a sure death.
4. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF ALL POWER (STRENGTH)
Ephesians 1:19 -20 And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places].
In a sense we have to come to the end of ourselves, to the point where we realize that we need God totally. At this point we get to a place of ‘desperate dependence’ as opposed to ‘partial dependence’. When we live our lives without this ‘desperate dependence’ we live life standing on a banana peel, ready to slip when the next hurdle comes our way. Often we look everywhere but to God for our strength. We will look to others, to our ability and skill, to our qualification and career, to our finances and resources, to our beauty or strength when we need to be looking to God. All these other things have the capacity to let us down – they are not sure things. But God and His power is what we can completely depend on. Don’t look to other places for your strength and happiness, look to God and find your peace in Him.
5. WE HAVE NO POWER APART FROM GOD!
There is a song: ‘I HAVE NO POWER OF MY OWN’.
John 15:5 I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
We have to stay vitally connected to God. Our strength flows from God as we remain connected to Him. If we cut ourselves off we will last for a while, but ultimately we will run out of strength. Often when people face difficulty they get disappointed with God and become disillusioned and turn to their own ways. We must learn to hold onto God and realize we need Him and His power in our lives to bring us out on top. (See quicksand story above)
6. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE KEY!
The song goes on: ‘I have no power of my own – Holy Spirit come and help to realize that I have no power of my own!’
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
The Holy Spirit makes this all possible. It is for this reason that we so desperately need the Holy Spirit. Before the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples they were scared, timid and cowards (so much for their own strength) but after the Holy Spirit came upon them they were bold, fearless and courageous even in the face of opposition and threat! We need the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our lives. We must invite Him and give Him right of way in our lives. Some years back Phil Driscoll wrote a song and the words went: “Welcome Holy Spirit. I am in Your presence; fill me with Your power. Move inside of me.” This needs to be our cry as well!
7. IT’S TIME TO STEP UP INTO A NEW REALM OF LIFE AND WALK IN HIS POWER!
Romans 6:4 Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave (walk) in newness of life.
There is another dimension of life to which we should arise. It is a newness of life into which we must step as we realise and take hold of the power and strength of God that is available to each one of us. I believe that God wants us to live on an ongoing basis (habitually) as it were addicted to this aspect of God. As a result it should affect our lives, our behavior and walk and we will never be the same! Are you ready to step up to and into this newness of life, where we depend on His power and not on our own?
