Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
Electricity is a phenomena that can be difficult to understand even by scientist and engineers, but that does not hinder any of us from using it. Likewise, we do not have to understand the power of God to tap into it.
The Bible is clear that we have the power of God residing and working in us (Eph. 3:20). There is also another level of power available when the Holy Spirit comes upon us (Acts 1:8). So all true followers of Christ have some level of His power available all the time, but similar to the electrical outlets in our house nothing happens until we plug into it. How do we do that?
Jesus told us how to plug into His power when He said, “You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven” (Matt. 16:19 Msg.).
It is primarily our words of agreement with Him that enables us to plug into His power. Paul brought this out in the spiritual armor metaphor in Ephesians 6:10-18. The two edged sword of the Spirit represents God breathed words that we agree with and speak out of our mouths. That is the spirit of counsel and might at work (Is. 11:2,4).
We see this when Peter healed the man at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3:1-12. Notice that Peter didn’t pray for this man. He also didn’t ask God to heal him. He said, “Such as I have I give to you.” This didn’t mean that Peter was the source of the healing. It was God’s power that healed this man, but that power was under Peter’s authority and was released when Peter spoke in faith.
This sounds so simple, but we all know from experience there are way, way too many times when we have tried to plug into the power of God and nothing happened or even worse, a mess was created.
There are lots of things that can go wrong with electrical circuits that can cause a loss of power and worse – fires, shock and even death. Likewise, there are things that can hinder the power of God from flowing in and through our lives. Here are three common hindrances.
1. Fear – when we are afraid we start compromising. Fear of men, fear of rejection, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of loss, and so on. God did not give us a spirit of fear, but power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). Fear opposes and hinders power, love and soundness of mind. Fortunately, embracing the Father’s love and believing in His goodness will cast out fear (1 John 4:18).
2. Doubt – Doubt sunk Peter as he was walking on the water (Matt. 14:31). Like Peter, we might not doubt that God can do something, but we may start to doubt when circumstances rage against us. I have faith that God can heal, but at the same time may not believe that He will do it right here and now. I know that God can supply all my needs, but still not be so sure if he will do it in my situation today. Doubt cuts us off from Him. Peter took His eyes off Jesus and sunk like a rock. At the core of doubt is a double mind (James 1:5-8). A renewed mind is the answer for a double mind.
3. Disobedience – If God tells you to do something – just do it, even if it might not look like the smartest thing to do. You might need to have some wisdom in how to do it or when to do it, but regardless, set your heart to do everything He tells you. Even when you mess it all up He will cause it to work for your good if you will allow Him (Rom. 8:28).
Many Blessings, BW