Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us
(Ephesians 3:20)
Many
believers do not experience spiritual power because they never get beyond the point of spiritual blessing. The Holy Spirit begins to move upon them and they feel
great joy. They may express it in singing, shouting, dancing, or crying. They
are blessed by God and respond emotionally. God may bless us materially in our finances, our job, career, marriage, family, etc. but God is calling us to more than spiritual and material blessings.
There
is nothing wrong with this. The Bible is filled with such spiritual
experiences. But God wants to move His people beyond the point of blessing into
the realm of spiritual power, beyond emotion to demonstration. We must never get to a point of complacency
in God nor should we be bound by fear, doubt, and intimidation in God.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
Serving God for the fish and the loaves may be what brought you in and though it very well may sustain or fortify you to continue your walk with God, it certainly is not all that God has called us for; there is a work that God has called us to do and it is imperative that we do it!
There
is an account in the Old Testament which illustrates this truth. It also
illustrates the link between a promise and the possessing of that promise. The
nation of Israel traveled a long period of time from Egypt through the desert to the
land God promised them. When they reached the edge of this Promised Land, Moses
sent in spies to check out the land. Ten of the spies brought back a negative
report. They said there were giants in the land and there was no way Israel
could go in to possess the land. Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb, urged the people to enter the land and possess
it as God had promised.
Israel
chose to listen to the negative report. Because
of this, although it was only an eleven day journey from where they were camped
to the Promised Land, it took Israel forty years to make the journey.
There
are eleven days' journey from Horeb
by the way
of mount Seir
unto Kadeshbarnea. And it came to pass
in the fortieth year,
in the eleventh
month,
on the first day of the month,
that Moses spake
unto the children
of Israel, according unto all that the LORD
had given him in commandment
unto them; (Deuteronomy
1:2-3
God
brought Israel to the point of blessing. They were at the edge of the Promised
Land. God's power was available to conquer the enemy. But Israel refused to move forward in God's
power. There was nothing wrong with the promise. The problem was Israel's
refusal to possess it.
We must not stop when we get to a point of blessing in our life. We must break
through into the spiritual realm of power. If we do not do so, we will
continue to wander in a spiritual wilderness of dry, powerless existence.
We must move beyond the point of blessing into the realm of power. We must become
a demonstrator instead of a spectator; a doer instead of only a hearer. When we do so, we will experience the true flow of God's power. We will
experience a life force and anointing within ua which we have never before
known. We will experience life after religion.
You
may think you cannot experience this power because of lack education. Perhaps you do not hold ministerial
credentials with any denomination. But
according to God’s word, we know that He uses people regardless of their
position, social standing, education, financial status and all other things that men count as
qualifiers to do the important work of God.
None
of these things need stand in the way of our receiving spiritual power. The
Word of God is filled with examples of ordinary men and women who were used of
God in mighty ways. For instance:
→ Abraham . . . lied
about Sarah being his wife because of fear, yet he was used
of God to found the
great nation of Israel.
→ Moses . . . was not a good speaker and killed an Egyptian in
anger, yet God used him to lead an entire nation of over two million people to
the promised land.
→ Peter
. . . sank while walking on water, always said the wrong thing at the wrong
time, and in the end denied he knew Jesus. . . yet this ordinary fisherman
stood and gave a powerful witness on the day of Pentecost which resulted in the
salvation of 3,000 souls.
→ Gideon
. . . a young man hiding in fear to thresh the harvest grain was called of God to
deliver an entire nation from oppressive captors.
→ King
David . . . committed adultery, took another man's wife and had the man
murdered, yet he was the greatest King of Israel and called a man after God's
own heart.
→ Peter
and John . . . both were poor fishermen and had no money or education, but the
healing power of God flowed through them to stir entire cities.
→ Apostle Paul . . . it was said of him that his letters were powerful, but his
bodily presence weak and his speech poor, (2 Corinthians 10:10). Not to mention that prior to his conversation he was greatly feared by the body of Christ. Yet, he went on to form many, many churches throughout the land.
→ Jacob
. . . was a deceiver, liar, and a schemer. But when God touched him, he became a
"prince with power with God and man."
If
men such as these can be entrusted with spiritual power with God and men, we
can also, despite our human failures! God calls ordinary men and women and
makes them extraordinary. He does not see us as we see ourselves. He does not
see us as others see us. God sees us as we can become when we are endued with
spiritual power. God uses ordinary people, what the Bible calls "earthen
vessels. The
reason He does so is. . .
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)(Biblical Studies)
11/20/14
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