Acts 1:8
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.”
I’m not a “theologian” but I have a burning desire to seek
truth and it has become apparent that I need someone to guide me into all truth. I remember that Jesus addressed this in John
16:13-15, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide
you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever
he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All
that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine
and declare it to you.” The Psalmist shared the following with us, “I will instruct
you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon
you.” (Psalm 32:8 ESV) And
going back to the saying of Jesus, “But the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV)
So did you receive
power when the Holy Spirit came into your life? Is
this power for todays Christian or was it just for those few apostles? Now, before you run to your doctrinal
teaching by some religious group from your past, stop and ask the Helper to
guide you into truth. My hope is you are
a truth seeker and as such you will talk with the Holy Spirit about 2 Peter
1:3-4, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory
and excellence, by which he has granted to
us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in
the world because of sinful desire.” Folks
this is addressed to all who are in Christ, it is not something in the future
after some great effort on our part for Christ, it is already done, but may be
laying dormant because of ignorance or unbelief. Often, I answer the second question first,
and there is power for today’s Christian.
But we also answered the first question; you did receive
power when the Holy Spirit came into your life.
So what does this power that we received look like? Does it give us the ability to leap tall
buildings, be a super hero, to over come the powers of darkness? Can you think of anyone whom you live with,
work with, or go to church with that expresses these powers? My wife of 47 years is a great example of
God’s power, Jan has always been very tender and giving, but she has gone from
a very shy person who was so emotional that often she would not or could not
express herself and hid what she believed.
Over many years and through time in the word of God and prayer Jan has
become very wise in the ways of God, she listens to His voice and she has
become a person I look to for guidance.
Now, I’ve given you someone who I live with each day, let me
give an example of a man who I’ve only seen and read about. He was a President’s closest confidant, he
was an ex-Marine Captain and was known as the White House “hatchet man” and
this statement is contributed to him; “I would run over my grandmother to
reelect the President.” His name is
Charles W. Colson, and he went to prison for trying to cover up the sins of
Richard Nixon. In 1973 Charles Colson
ask Jesus Christ into his life and the rest of the story is about how the power
of Christ changed a “hatchet man” into a servant of Christ to prisoners all
over the world.
I have found it easy to see the power of God in many others,
and I’ve also learned that 2 Corinthians 13:5, is a requirement for myself on
very regular basis. If you are not doing
this, stop and do so; “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.
Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ
is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” I passed the test, but it was only
by grace through faith, not of any works of mine. And in those times of examination it becomes
clear that my flesh is self centered, and I am becoming a man who places no
confidence in myself, but great confidence in a big God, who has given me a
Helper to guide me into all truth.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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