When We Think Of Power And Strength We Have ...

When we think of power and strength we have images like WWF and body-slamming 250 pounds on the mat! Or husbands suggesting something to our wives and they agree – now that’s power! It is short-lived but we’ll take whatever we can get! It’s the picture of “My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding” – the husband was raving about being the head of the home. His wife says to their daughter, “He’s the head, but we’re the neck – and the neck controls where the head moves!”

The power God give us is not a brute strength or violent force. It is a strong, steady, confident strength that no circumstance can move, no other power can shake. We are bombarded with pressures and we’re faced with evil all around us. What we have to help us deal with these realities is the power of God’s presence within us – 1 John 4:4b, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” The Message: “the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world.”

• Example: Jesus standing before his accusers. He endured the spitting, and slapping; the insults and punching; the rod on his back and the nails in his flesh yet he never opened his mouth to oppose them. That’s strength.