True Power
I have human limitations.
I have no Heavenly power. I have no spiritual strength.
I am filled with sin and spiritual weaknesses.
My doubt leads to fear. My fear leads to discouragement. My discouragement leads to anxiety. Then it ends in confusion. It clouds my mind because there is no certainty.
There is nothing in me that can ever point me and take me on the path of Righteousness as Jesus has called me. Nothing!
I will deny Jesus. I will reject Him. I will break every promise that I make to Him.
Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.
Matthew 26:34-35 NKJV
This is me. This is you.
Believing that in our own strength,with our own thoughts, in our pride and arrogantly thinking we will serve the Lord with our dying breath. Claiming that I will NEVER deny the Lord!
Just like Peter it all crashes.
Peter denied Jesus three times before the sun came up.
And he wept, bitterly.
He didn’t have the power to NOT deny the Lord.
Jesus goes to the Cross. He takes the sin of the world. He dies. He is buried.
Peter runs to the tomb,looks in,empty! Jesus is not there. It’s too late.
What about all the promises Jesus made?
I will never leave you, I will never forsake you. I will leave you the Helper, the Comforter.
Then I remember
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 4:6 NKJV
It is not about my capabilities to do anything. But what is it that the Lord can do through me.
Jesus always has the love,mercy and compassion to restore the hearts of those willing to face and admit their failures and short coming. Jesus Restores Peter.
Not just that, but gives specific instructions to go feed His sheep!
If the power of the Lord’s breath to forgive isn’t enough He gives us the responsibility to go out and let others know about His Amazing Grace!
He knows our weakness. Jesus knows our limitations. He knows that we all lack something,but He is willing to share with us the One thing that will make us whole,
His Holy Spirit!
you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 NKJV
We must have the Holy Spirit living in our hearts,our minds.We must have His power,His strength, His wisdom and understanding.
I need the Power of the Holy Spirit to have the boldness to speak of the Kingdom of God! I need His Wisdom to point people to the truth! I need the peace and comfort of His presence living inside when my thoughts wage war with my heart. I need Him to give me the words to speak. I need the power of His conviction to keep me on the path the Lord has me on,and it is so narrow!
I have fallen when I try to lead and make Him follow. He sometimes lets me fail to show me that I can do nothing without His Power! The Holy Spirit of God is this Power that strengthens me to get up again,and again, and again!
And when I don’t have the ability to pray to the Father,the Holy Spirit will intervene on my behalf through my pain and groans!
Pentecost is so much more than a rushing wind filling the hearts of those that were waiting for the promise from our Lord. It is so much more than speaking in different tongues. It even goes beyond the boldness to proclaim Salvation in Jesus Christ!
It is our constant connection to the love of God. It is His mercy,His grace ,His compassion living on our hearts. This is what makes us complete! This is what keeps us one with the Father. This is why we have the boldness,because the love of the Father is with us to encourage us to go forth and do what He has called us to do.
The Blood of Jesus Christ gives us the free gift of Salvation, but the Holy Spirit will allow us to live through our Salvation!
Are you living through your Salvation?
We must all have this connection to the Throne of God!
How did God give life to the first man Adam?
By the power of His breath!
So now, Jesus gives us the breath of Spiritual life by the wind!
The Holy Spirit came like a rushing wind!
To refresh, restore and bring new life to all those that repent, believe and follow the Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth!
I have human limitations.
I have no Heavenly power. I have no spiritual strength.
I am filled with sin and spiritual weaknesses.
But thanks be to the Glory of God through His Son,my Savior Jesus Christ that He has granted me not just the promise of Heaven but by His Holy, Precious,overlooked and forgotten Spirit I can be in direct communion with HIM!
Then I know without a shadow of a doubt, that He never leaves me,He never forsakes me and that He is with me until the end! That is what strengthens me.
That’s why I have confidence and peace.
Jesus kept His promise to us all. If we are willing to obey. If we are willing to seek and follow then the Father will show and guide you through the Truth of His Gospel by the Power of His Holy Spirit!
That’s the Power of Pentecost!
I now know my weakness.
I know where I fall short.
I know what I am without the Spirit of God.
But I know that it is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grips of death is the same Spirit that lives in me.
I pray everyday that He purges in my heart anything that is not of Him.
Then I ask this same Spirit to fill those gaps to make me whole again!
I need Him to do this daily!
This is how we continue to live by and through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Be made whole!
Pastor Ed