God's Power

God created the whole universe! No other power we’ve thought about comes anywhere close. The prophet Jeremiah figured that if God could create the universe, he has power to do anything! [Jeremiah 32:17].

Where else do we see God’s power at work?

God brought his people out of Egypt. Pharaoh didn’t want to let his slaves go, but God made him. That was a great demonstration of God’s power!

When Jesus came, he healed people. That was a demonstration of God’s power [Luke 5:17; 6:19].

Jesus was crucified but God raised Jesus from the dead. Wow! When Paul wants to talk about how powerful God is, that’s the example he uses [Ephesians 1:19-20].

So, God has enormous power! It’s extremely important for us to know this and to keep it in mind. People make mistakes when they forget about God’s power.

But does God give us power?

2. GOD GIVES HIS PEOPLE POWER

The prophet Isaiah wrote: ‘He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength’ [Isaiah 40:29].

So, the answer is yes, God gives his people power. There are MANY other verses in the Bible which say the same [Psalm 68:35, for example, or the account of Pentecost]. We all feel faint sometimes. We should go to God. God has power and he’s willing to give it.

3. God gives INTERNAL power

What do I mean by INTERNAL power? The world’s biggest icebreaker is a Russian ship called Arktika. It has a nuclear power plant, and it can crash through ice that’s up to nine feet thick! The ship’s nuclear power plant is INTERNAL power. God gives US power like that: INTERNAL power.

Let have an example from the Bible. After Jesus died and God raised him to life, he told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until God gave them power [Luke 24:49]. About 40 days later, God did just that. God’s Holy Spirit came on his disciples. It gave them power they’d never had before. They worked miracles. They had courage to answer the Jewish high priests – the people who’d had Jesus put to death! Jesus’ disciples had bags of get-up-and-go! Andrew went to Greece. Matthew went to Ethiopia and Iran. Bartholomew went to India. Peter ended up in Rome. Thomas went to Syria, Iraq, and India.

Where did this power come from? God had poured out his Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples. His power was invisible, but it was very powerful!

Let’s imagine how that might work today. Let’s imagine Jane. She’s a Christian and she’s 17. She’s just about to sit her ‘A’ levels. She wants to go on to study medicine. She prays to God to help her to be disciplined about her study and to give her understanding. And God answers her prayers. He gives her an internal power which is far beyond what she naturally has.

4. God gives EXTERNAL power

What do I mean by EXTERNAL power? The world’s fastest sailing boat is a boat called Vestas Sailrocket. It doesn’t have any engine at all! If there’s no wind, it has to be towed. But powered by the wind, it has reached 75 MPH! Wind is EXTERNAL power. God gives US power like that too: EXTERNAL power.

Let’s have an example from the Bible. There was a king called Hezekiah. An army of Assyrians came against him. Then King Hezekiah and a prophet called Isaiah prayed to God and cried to heaven. Then we read that God sent an angel and ‘cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria’ [2 Chronicles 32:21].