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Enabling Power

This is a photo of Niagara Falls copied from Bing Images online.  It speaks volumes of God's wondrous glory and power!  God's power--that is what I want to talk about today.  Here are some wonderful verses regarding just that:

Zec. 4:6  "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."

2 Sam. 22:40  "For Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast Thou subdued under me."

Dan. 11:32  "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."

2 Tim. 1:7  "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
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These are all excellent verses.  Meditate upon them for a little bit, if you would…and notice the words I've put in bold print.  The point is this:  In our human flesh, we still struggle with sin and temptation, attitudes and actions, choices and our own free wills.  We will always have those struggles and temptations this side of heaven because we still have a sin nature. That sin nature again, struggles to have its own way.  Why?--because of pride, rebellion, self…all raising its ugly head.  Call it what you may…it is all still the sin nature within us.

Question is--do you want the victory?  I read a quotation yesterday and it said this:  "Things are the way you like them, or else you'd change!"  I'm sorry I do not know who originally said it, but it is very, very true.  We like our sin.  We do the things we want to do. 

But dear Christian, we are also very different than the world.  We have the Holy Spirit of God living within us!  And that changes us for two reasons--(1) We have God's power at our ready access! and (2) He desires to do a work in and through us--in us to change us into the image of Christ and through us that others might be saved!

I asked you a moment ago, do you want the victory?  Well, do you?  Do I?  What does that mean exactly?  It means are we ready to obey the Holy Spirit of God--when we face struggles  with our sin nature, times of temptation, or just day-to-day choices--are we ready to obey the Holy Spirit?  That's the bottom line!  And that is God's greatest desire! 

In a previous posting, I listed three important steps to God's process of changing us: Step One--"put off the old man" or the behavior of our old nature.  Step Two: " be renewed in the spirit of your mind." (Eph. 4:23).  God is able to work in you as you read His Word!  So we need to saturate ourselves with the Word of God so that He can not only work in our hearts, but give us the power to continue on for Him.  Step Three: "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph. 4:24).  We need to follow hard after God, obey His Word and His Holy Spirit, that we might produce lives that are pleasing to Him.     Why?--that we might glorify God! 

Yes, those are our responsibilities as Christians; but the point I really want to make is, we cannot do what God desires without the power of God.  Though our "new man" desires to please God, we cannot please God without the Holy Spirit enabling us by His power to do so. 

In closing, let me turn your attention to a well-known passage, John 15, verses 4-5 which says, "Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches:  He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing."       God is our power.  The Holy Spirit is our enabler.  We cannot move forward for God without Him empowering us!

            May we depend fully
               on God’s power!
            Merle
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