Do I Really Have Power?

Now that is a great question. This mourning I just finished reading Luke’s gospel. I must admit that as often as I have read through the scriptures, I really for the first time have notice that Luke writes the parables of Jesus from a perspective that at least to me seems to be a bit different.

Ok, Okay so that I don’t alarm some of you biblical scholars allow me a minute to explain. I read the parable of the “Talents” and Dr. Luke tells this parable a little different than Matthew does, you know, that tax guy. Same story, same principals just a little different route to get to the main issue. And of course the point of the parable is to teach us that we all have been given spiritual gifts. God expects all Christians to use our spiritual gifting for his glory and honor.

Ok, where was I? Oh yea this “Power” thing, I was completing the Gospel of Luke, the last few verses to be exact. And Jesus is revealing himself to some folks who thought he was dead and he gives to them some curious instructions. He tells them that he must go, but he is going to send his HOLY SPIRIT and put his spirit in them with power, so he instructs them to wait there in Jerusalem until this power comes. Let’s check out the verse. Note Luke24:48-49“And ye are witnesses of these things.49And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

Ok, the “things” that Christ is speaking of are his teachings, and the fact that he was dead and he’s now alive, he’s risen. But what stands out to me the most, is the fact that he says wait in Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high. What does he mean by power?

Ok, I think it’s time for an illustration here. I played college and high school football. And what I learned over the years of playing the game was that the guy who had the most strength was going to win pretty much most of the battles. And so what most coaches do if they’re smart is they work to get their players “endued with power.”

Jesus knew that what the disciple had ahead of them was not going to be an easy battle. So he did what any good coach does. He gives to them and us as Christians this same power. This power is none other than his Holy Spirit and it can only come from heaven. We can’t get it in the weight room we only get it when we decide to make Jesus Christ the Lord of our life. But much like what happens in that physical weight room a person only gets stronger when they work-out. It’s amazing how many Christian will allow them self to be pushed around by the devil when we have in us this same Holy Spirit power that Christ used to defeat death and the cross. The problem is Christians are like a lot of athletes, lazy.

We have the power but refuse to get into God’s weight room and work out. We will not study the word so we never know what to do. We will not pray consistently, so we never have the Holy Ghost strength we need in order to walk in obedience. So while we have all this Holy Spirit power in us, because we refuse to work out spiritually we never seem to be able to win any battles and the devil just pushes us all over the field of life.

Here’s the deal if you want this spiritual power inside of you to get strong enough to help you win on the field of life, you have to get your self in God’s Weight Room. So here is a simple question. Have you worked-out today?

Didn’t I order a burger with no pickles & onions?

I am reading through the Old Testament and that sometimes can be a good thing or a bad thing. Good because whenever I read through the Old Testament I am ever so reminded of the Holiness of God. And bad because I tend to forget that I could never live up to the perfect system of laws that God created for the purpose of my protection.

During my high school years I like most teenagers worked at McDonald’s the burger joint. And what I learned while working at McDonald’s, is that as far as restaurants go, they have developed a system, where they expect every order that goes out their doors, to be perfect. They have monitors on the front line, where orders are placed and can be seen by front line workers. They have monitors in the back, where cooks can see the orders, whenever they are rung-up in the register. A printer prints out a copy of the order for the front line person. Every order is numbered, with a special number, so that the front line person can match the ticket up, with the bag and she or he is able to verify what’s in the bag, with the ticket number, before it’s given to the customer. There is really no way that a person should ever get what they didn’t order. But as you probably have experienced yourself, the wrong order often gets in the hands of the wrong person. And the reason this happens is because McDonald’s restaurant has imperfect people working for them. Nothing is wrong with their system, because the system that McDonald’s have created is a fail proof system. The problem is you guessed it. It’s the imperfect people who are supposed to be following the system to perfection.

This is exactly what I am learning as I was reading through the book of Jeremiah this morning in my study. Check out these verses in Jeremiah7:8-12 “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered and ye still do all these abominations? 11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen [it], saith the LORD.”Jeremiah lamented to the Jewish people because they were following the ways of the world and he warned them that God was going to judge them harshly if they continued to ignore his legal perfect law system. Then while reading I had a thought Jesus Christ brought in a whole new system that does not do away with the old system but proves even more that the old system was necessary to show us our need for the new system, the system of Grace.

Let me explain this using my experience with McDonald’s. You realize if your McDonald’s order is ever wrong, The McDonald’s manager is trained to replace it no questions asked. However, what usually happens is the manager will ask you for a copy of your ticket or receipt. After the manager gets a copy of your ticket they then go back to their fail proof system and they can almost always pin point where the mistake was made. The mistake usually is that the customer did not order what they thought they did or the cashier took in the wrong information. Even though McDonald’s can pinpoint where the mistake was made, McDonald’s managers are still trained to give to each of their customer’s a new fresh order. Sounds a lot like the gift of Grace doesn’t it?

Is that not like Jesus Christ, his law is perfect. God’s Ten Commandments reveal to each one of us an area where we have violated his perfect law. Yet he says to anyone who wants his gift of Grace Ref: Rom8:32“I will give it freely.” God’s law is never wrong it is always perfect. In fact the perfect law of God reveals even more to me of my need for his Saving Law of Grace.

The Old Law is the New Grace

I have been reading through the Book of Exodus for the past few days. I just finished the book in its entirety this morning. I am really trying to piece together the spiritual significance of this book in a nutshell. I know that Exodus teaches so many good biblical principals. After all, it’s in the book of Exodus that we are introduced to our beloved Moses. Also, in the book of Exodus, we meet Pharaoh for the very first time. And it’s in the book of Exodus that we see God keeping his promise to deliver his nation from 400 years of slavery.

However, by the time we get to the end of Exodus we witness God giving his moral and civil law to man through the mouth of Moses. In fact Moses is often referred to as the Law Giver. And that’s because it’s through Moses that God reveals His Character to man through the giving of the law. I only say that because it’s through the law that man gets a glimpse of what God’s character must be like, which at least to me, can be described in a single word “Holy.” It seems as if the people of Israel had forgotten this. And it may be because they had not heard from God for a very long time.

What I noticed, however, is that God’s Law seemed to be Old News. What I mean by that is that what Moses conveyed in the Ten Commandments were things that they already knew and understood to be right and true. I will just point out a few things I noticed as I read, note Exodus 20:8-9“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:” They knew that this was what God expected of them. Many of them knew that God created the heaven and the earth in six days and on the seventh day he rested and made that seventh day holy. This was something that was indeed imprinted into their spiritual DNA. Here is another one Exodus 20:13-14 “Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal.” They knew it was wrong to kill. Remember Moses slew the Egyptian who he witnessed beating his Hebrew brother and Moses fled for his life because he knew it was wrong for him to take another mans life. The Hebrew men knew it was wrong to sleep with another man's wife. And which one of us can say in all seriousness that we need God to tell us that it’s wrong to take that which does not belong to us.

I guess in a nutshell God has always made sure that his law was written into the heart of man. I believe that God, from the time he created Adam, also encrypted into the DNA of man a moral law. By moral, I mean right action vs. wrong action. So then when God gave his law to Moses on Mount Sinai, I believe He was revealing to man verbally what was already written into his heart. Now that sounds a lot like Romans 2:14-15“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 which shew the work of the law written in their hearts” So, then the bible is not just a dusty Old book filled with ancient stories. That Old ancient book holds the key in helping me to discover the inner most secret thoughts of my heart. And it's in that discovery that I find that I am a poor wretched old man in desperate need of a Holy God who is always ready to extend his matchless marvelous grace.