Power of God

Something that has been on my heart for a little while is the Power of God. It has struck me how little I depend on the power of God after reading different verses and other biographies. First, I don't think we fully realize that we serve an all-powerful God and second I know we don't fully realize that God has given us power and authority on earth through Jesus. I pray that I am not like the Sadducees who Jesus said this to, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God." Mt 22:29

May we come to a deeper understanding of the Scriptures and have our eyes opened to the power of God that dwells within us.

Are we trusting in the power of God to heal, to provide or to intervene in a difficult situation? Are we turning to Him first or turning to the things of the world? Do we give God the opportunity to move in our lives or do we take control thinking that God won't come through for us? Do we have the faith that He will move? Is our lack of faith restricting God?

I did a search of all the places where the word 'power' is used in the New Testament and here are some of the results. These might be familiar verses to many of us, but let's examine if we are really living them out and living by faith in the power of God. I know I fall short trusting fully in God's power.

Luke 9:1-2 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

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.”
-I believe these and other commissionings were not only given to the disciples, but to all that would believe after them.(Mark 16:17)

Acts 4:33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.
-How I desire this to be said of us someday.

I cor 1:18, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
-The Cross is the Power of God in our lives!

2:4, My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

4:20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
-Lets depend on the Spirit's power and not our own wisdom as we share and teach others the gospel.

II Cor.12:9, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
-Our culture teaches us that weakness is bad, but God uses our weaknesses to display Christ's power in us.

Eph 1:18, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
-May this be our prayer for us and for all believers. We have the power that raised Jesus from the dead within us! see next verse

3:20, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us
-God can do way more than we ask or imagine according to His power within us, but are we allowing that power to be at work?

Phil 3:10, I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
-I want to know the power of His resurrection

II Tim. 3:1,5, There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money...having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
-Sounds a little like our present day, both outside and inside the church. May we not be people who deny God's power. Here are ways people are denying God's power:

• Simply believing that God does not have power
• Believing that God only displayed His power in biblical times and that after the apostles His power ceased
  
• Putting trust in man's wisdom over God's wisdom and power

We are not seeing God's power at work very much because we are not asking and believing in faith that God will move. Here is a small example of God's power at work:

Time Period: 1800s --

A man who had artificial limbs (unlike the sophisticated limbs of today) was told by a Christian, "Go and get a pair of new shoes in the morning." The man thought he was kidding, but God spoke to him in the night, saying, "Do as My servant hath said." And he could not go back to sleep.

The man arose early in the morning to go to the shoe store. He asked for a pair of shoes. The clerk was hesitant when he saw the condition of the man's feet, but gave them anyway. "The man put one stump into a shoe, and instantly a foot and leg formed! Then the same thing happened with the other leg!

"He walked out of that shop, not only with a new pair of shoes, but also with a new pair of legs!"

(Documented in Hibbert, Smith Wigglesworth: The Secret of His Power, 1993, pp. 42-44, as qtd in Madden, The Wigglesworth Standard, 1993, pp.19-20)