I always hated it when daddy made me work in his garden. Cruel and unusual punishment, I thought it.
Dad said, “You’ll want to eat what comes from the garden!”
Yeah, sure! Can you imagine an eight-year old getting excited about green beans, onions and tomatoes? But dad was dad and the slave doesn’t have a lot of choice. So work I did (kind of).
But when I had a family of my own, I also made a garden. Don’t ask me why. It must build character or something. One day I borrowed a tiller to break up the ground. When I finished, I discovered that the “off/on” switch wasn’t working properly and I couldn’t turn the motor off.
What to do?
Then I had a great idea. “If I take coil wire loose the motor will stop.”
That statement was partly right. It would have if I could have. But a surge of electricity raced up my arm and I got one of the shocks of my life. An old song says, “Something Got Hold Of Me” and that described the situation as well as anything I can think of. Last time I ever did that.
Power can be destructive or incredibly constructive.
Jesus knew He was leaving his disciples in a seemingly impossible situation. All the forces of Satan aligned themselves against this little band. But He gave His people a gift of His power (Acts 1:8), and that made all the difference.
His power wasn’t limited to them. He offers us the same gift with the infilling of His Spirit (Acts 2:38). What can we use this power to accomplish in our lives?
• His power saves us from our sins (1 Corinthians 1:18).
• We become His witnesses by this power (Acts 1:8).
• His power gives us spiritual weapons to win the battle (Ephesians 6:10-18)
• It’s a power to heal relationships, to give knowledge of God, to make hearts ready to receive the Lord. (Luke 1:17)
• This power of God trumps the power of demons and heals sickness.(Luke 9:1; 10:19)
• We can abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He’s the spirit of a sound mind and His power flowing in our lives injects hope into us (Rom. 15:13).
• We need the power of God in church discipline (1 Cor. 5:4).
• The power of God strengthens our inner man (Eph. 3:16, 17, 18).
• The power of God gives us the muscle to persevere when we’re tried. (Col. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:8)
• It’s God’s power that enables us to live holy lives and that causes what we do for God to bear fruit (2 Thessa. 1:11).
And this power accomplishes a ton of other things in our lives.
(For a more complete study check the welcome page of this website and look under “Coffee Pot.” There you’ll find a study of the Greek word “dunamis” and how’s it used to change our lives,).
I tell you, no more coil wires for me, but I still want God’s power to “get hold of me” so that I can be all He’s called me to be.
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Huummm …
Swiss philosopher Max Picard warned: “Nothing has changed the nature of man so much as the loss of silence.” “I compare it (silence) to the zero in mathematics. People think it’s nothing, but actually it’s not. It can be very powerful.” French writer and director, Michel Hazanavicius (cited by Maureen Dowd)
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If you’re interested in knowing more about our ministry check out our Facebook page:
Porter’s Friends of France
http://www.facebook.com/groups/342550179095842/
This is a page for those who have a heart for France–interested friends, praying friends and supporters of David and Phyllis Porter’s ministry in France.
Here you’ll find pictures of France–the country itself and ministry there–as well as prayer updates.
There are some striking pictures of Paris at Christmas on the page right now.