“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:7&8
Who doesn’t want to have power in their life? The ability to overcome obstacles, the power to finish out the day strong instead of being emotionally exhausted, or the power to excel at what we put our hand to? However, what about the power to be Christ’s witness? The mindset of a faithful follower of Christ, seeking to put Christ first so that Christ is the center of his or her life, is the one to whom this promise belongs and to whom the power is for.
“All power comes from the Lord, which is why dunamis demonstrates the power, strength, and force of the Lord God at work in His creation and the lives of His people. The power of God is at work in His people to bring Himself glory ( which is the heart of a true believer).”
Dave Jenkins, Christianity Today.
We get our English words dynamic and dynamite from dunamis. However, when Christ spoke this to the disciples, this was not their mindset.
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
An authentic Jewish mind, still thinking about the physical Kingdom of Israel and the glory and prestige they once had as a nation under King David. They even argued among themselves who would be the greatest in this new kingdom. They longed for Christ to rule and to share in his glory. They still did not grasp that the rulership that Christ sought was not an established worldly Kingdom but an eternal Kingdom born anew in the heart of man. All that Christ taught and sought was for this. The disciples eventually understood, but it took a while to get the Jew out of the Jew and connect him to Christ’s agenda.
Luke 9:46-48 Who Is the Greatest?
“An argument arose among them as to which of them would be the greatest [in his new kingdom]. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great. [ ] not in the scripture, stated for clarification.”
What is your agenda, do you know? Are you or I seeking to build a kingdom here as well? It’s not wrong to work hard and be rewarded for your effort, but what is the motive? Is it to honor The Lord or for ourselves? It is very hard to know. We may think we have the right motives, but until challenges come, or sacrifices are made, or hardships or failures endured, we do not know where we stand. As it was hard to get the Jew out of the Jew, it is equally as hard to get the ego out of our pride. It is only through hard times, failures, and repentance that Christ begins to take His rightful place in our hearts. We must dethrone ourselves and put Him there instead. Through these trials, we can get a window into ourselves and begin the process of surrendering areas of our lives until we are entirely His. It is absolutely a struggle, but it is a struggle worth fighting.
Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it (this is the moral depravity we have all inherited via the fall, most of us do not even realize it. Just like soiled clothes don’t look so bad until you hold them next to clean ones. Our depravity compared amongst ourselves is the norm until we compare ourselves to His Word then there isn’t words to describe our fallen state, only repentance and humility is the answer.”
As the disciples had to receive power, we also need to. Dunamis is the Greek word for power. Its supernatural power refers to the Holy Spirit indwelling in a believer and then activating that believer. It means several things, but internally, it means to be able to overcome and defeat the enemy within. Bitterness, lack of forgiveness, the strong walls of lust and self ambition, jealousy and the like; just like the impenetrable walls of Jericho that came down, these walls can and must come down. I have stepped forward several times in church meetings to receive the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome my Goliaths, and it has been fruitful with many tears.
James 5:16
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working.”
Psalms 51:15-17
“O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering ( the sacrifices and burnt offerings became a thing of pride/works).
[But]The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
Brokenness and obedience are the sign of a changed heart. We all approach Christian maturity uniquely, but our common thread is to see more of Christ in us and less of self. Brokenness, “sabar” meaning crushed, shattered, to break in pieces also means to bring to birth. The birth of godliness, be it one’s salvation or the end of jealousy, fear or strife, etc., in one’s life only, comes by something of the flesh in us dying first.
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Luke 11:9-13
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Essential to understand the tenses of ask, seek, and knock. In the imperfect tense as in-keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking for the treasure or the pearl of great value is Christ. He is worth every bit the effort of disciplining ourselves to say no to the flesh and yes to His Grace ( His favor over our life which is only experienced via obedience) and Truth. And it’s important to know that God wants to fulfill our needs, but are we seeking the gift more than the giver of the gift? That would be wrong. The Giver of the gift should never be second to the gift itself. Getting this confused has cost many a soul pain. We confuse our wants with our needs, making our wants our needs and vice versa. Whether we have the maturity to see it or not, our absolute need is for Christ, period. Everything else is second to Him.
It will help if you trust me here. Having gone through 40 years of seeking and knowing Christ and wrestling with my flesh for this thing or that, going down the various rabbit trails that the flesh will take you on only to come back to the truth of Jesus and His Word. If possible, I would like to spare you the pain.
John 14:6
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life…” period. Not the big house, or the new car or that promotion, though all this can be good but it should not be what we are living for. These are the things that the world seeks, and they do very little to give us inner peace, improve our marriage or family life, or grow us in purity, inner strength, security, or joy. These are the internal qualities that we seek and desperately need. As people we live life from the inside out, therefore seeking outward things to satisfy an inward need is unwise, to say the least, deception and foolishness at its worse. Unless we maintain a close walk with Christ, we too shall be fooled.”
Jesus says he is THE WAY, not a way. Choosing Christ puts us on a path of righteousness from which there is no regret. Therefore the Truth and the way we assimilate it is critical. The lies that the media wants us to believe and the lust that society is entertained with, and trapped in, all point to the importance of saying no to the flesh and yes to Christ. And as a result of saying no to the flesh, LIFE grows in us.
His love, His peace, His wisdom, and His joy take time, just like a baby in the womb, and it doesn’t come easy. It doesn’t come without sacrifice, but as He died to gain us, we die to self to gain Him. Hopefully, by now, you realize we got a far better deal than He did. There is absolutely nothing in this life that can compare to what we receive by living in harmony and fellowship with Him – nothing. If you do not yet realize this, you will. It just takes maturity.
John 10:11-15
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep ( can we find greater security anywhere else?).”
The key is this, if your needs are filled at a soul and spirit level as only God can do, there is very little that we want. Another way to say it is if you eat regular full meals, then the temptation to eat junk food lessens significantly.
I noticed the only time a donut temps me is when I’ve skipped a meal. I believe the application is accurate spiritually as well.
“Soul hunger,” which we all have, is the result of the fall. When the Spirit of Lord departed from Adam and Eve and they “saw they were naked,” what did they really see? They had always been naked, but they did not see their humanity because they were clothed with the Glory of God. When God left, He left a void in the heart and soul of man wider than the Grand Canyon, pictured in the physical with them now being “naked.” And with that, their physical being became an embarrassment to them, so they attempted to clothe themselves to cover their inner nakedness. Ever since that day, man has needed to fill or cover the void.
We feel the emptiness in ourselves when we skip our times with Christ. That is what gives lust its power. That person, thing, or thought has power because of the lust behind it. All lust is spiritual in nature. So we have to work through it by saying no. Finding the scripture or scriptures that address the temptation, meditate upon them, and allow God’s Word to strengthen us. It’s a process, and failure is part of growth. However, we have a Loving Dad that forgives and strengthens us for the next time around.
Some temptations/trials are more challenging and take more diligence to overcome. Have you ever noticed how as we become closer to the Lord, our joy and peace increase, contentment and clarity also? And vice versa, being out of prayer and study, it doesn’t take long for our sinful nature to rise. There’s an old song that speaks of a man dancing with his best friend’s girl, and the lyrics go “guilty feelings have no rhythm.” Whether the singer is singing about himself or not, the point is sin is wrong; we know it, others know it, and it doesn’t feel good inside. We either repent of it or spend a lifetime trying to justify our actions. Such a waste of time and energy. We are not happy, and we know it.
James 1:12-17
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Do not be deceived ( tricked, fooled, lied to) my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (purity) with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Father God,
Place deep within us the joy of being found by You, the determination to never change course despite the difficulty or cost and let us live as though we see the finish line, rejoicing with great joy knowing that you are cheering us on. Amen
We love you,
Your sons and daughters
Grow in His Grace and Truth – Arthur