YOUR GREATEST POWER
Proverbs 1:28-33; 22:6 l Corinthians 10:13 2 Cor. 6:2 Jn. 10:10, 27-29
Ezek. 18:1-4, 20 Josh. 24:15 Jas. 3:2
24 year old Danny Simpson was sentenced to 6 years in jail for robbing a bank. Danny was convicted for stealing $6,000 at gun point. The irony is that the gun he used in the robbery ended up in a museum.
The .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic turned out to be an antique made in 1918 by the Ross Rifle Company. His pistol was worth up to $100,000 on the collectors market. If Danny Simpson had known what he had in his hands, he would not have ended up in jail.
Many Christians live like this. They spend their lives searching for God’s power and presence, not realizing it’s already in their hands.
Today I want you to ask yourself, "What do 1 see as my greatest power?" If your response is, "I have no power", then you couldn't be more wrong, and I say to you, "Think again. What is your greatest power?" Think about it.
Is it the power to think logically and rationally? Is it the power to alter your environment? Or do you think that your imagination's your greatest power? While these certainly are powerful, none of them is your greatest power.
1. God’s gift and your greatest power is the power to choose.
Each of us possesses this powerful force which we either use, or misuse daily. Our actions have their origin as thoughts. It’s been said, “We become what we think about all day.”
2. You are in charge of your thoughts. You also have full reign over their power, and by using it wisely, you cannot help but become a better person. You are the possessor of a great and wonderful power. You generally express your thoughts by your words. James put it this way, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” (Jas. 3:2) Our words reveal our thoughts which will either betray our self centeredness or empower our love.
3. This power can give you a new lease on life. It’s a power that can turn success into failure or failure to success. It's a power that can turn tears into laughter; that can turn a life of disappointment into a life of growth and joy. This power was given to us by God, and God will never take it away.
John 10:10 says, “The thief comes but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
When we fail to achieve our goals, we sometimes look around for something or someone to blame. We attribute our success in living to good luck or bad luck, as though luck was a god or goddess intervening in the affairs of men. We look outside ourselves blaming others rather than tapping the great power we possess in our own hearts.
How many times have we connected with this power and did not recognize it? In fact, God gave this power to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it determined their destiny. It was a power that we inherited from them. How very often God gives us opportunities, and we throw them away because of a rash impulse, or because we didn't recognize it? This power to choose is one of the greatest powers that humankind possesses. Yet, how often do we timidly leave our choices in someone else’s hands?
4. It’s the power to control your own thoughts and make your own choices.
The amazing part about this power is that anyone and everyone has it and can use it. It doesn't require any special education, but to be successful at it, we do need discernment. Making the right choices does require purposeful self-discipline. The sooner we recognize this power, and take control of it, the quicker we get out of the briar patch and onto the main road.
There is nothing outside yourself that has control of this power you possess. Neither God nor Satan will overrule this power of yours; not Satan because he cannot; and not God because He will not. God wants us to use it with faith and trust in His leading. Satan wants only to deceive us into self-destruction.
A little boy came home from the playground one day with a bloody nose, black eye, and torn clothes. It was obvious he'd been in a fight and received the worst of it. While his father was patching him up, he asked his son what happened. "Well Dad," said the boy, "Larry was making fun of me so I challenged him to a fight, and I gave him his choice of weapons."
"Uh-huh," said the father, "that seems fair."
"How was I to know," exclaimed the boy, "that he'd choose his big sister!"
While that little boy gave the "choice of weapons" to Larry, he nevertheless chose to do so. When we fail to make a choice at a critical time in our lives, someone else will certainly make it for us. And just like the little boy, we may not like the outcome.
Today's parents have been taught that children are born neutral and good, and any contrary behavior is imprinted later. This is called the "Blank Slate Theory". The ultimate problem with that theory is that, when argued to its logical conclusion, no one is really responsible for what they do. If you do well, it's because that's how you were programmed. If you fail or do something terrible, that's the fault of society. Accountability is gone.
Buying into this theory, some parents accept too much blame for everything their children do. But to do so denies the power of choice that children exercise as they grow, and the responsibility we each have for the choices we make. Certainly parents are a major influence– but not the only influence. God places us in children’s lives, often not even our own, so we can help form them, to give something no one else can.
The forces influencing today’s children are staggering. So much so that mental and emotional overload are becoming very serious problems. They’re often unaware that it’s even happening to them. All they know is they’re angry. Adult’s, however, need to be mature enough to recognize when things aren’t quite right. More than ever, we need time with God; time to listen and reflect.
You’ve heard the expression, “We’re known by the company we keep.”
5. Our company influences our choices. Just watch most any college kid at a TGIF party, and you’ll see what I mean.
We've become a society obsessed with fixing blame on others and trying to avoid our own accountability. Lawyers have always had a field day with that way of thinking. The fact remains, however, that we are still accountable to God. Even the Supreme Court can't let us off that hook. We are accountable for the choices we make.
There’s some who use a misinterpretation of Proverbs 22:6 to claim that “the sins of the parents are visited upon their children.” Ezekiel 18:1-4 is more helpful in understanding the behavior of children.
The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?’ As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son - both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.”
Ezek 18:20 elaborates further: The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. God gives us the freedom of choice, and God also makes us accountable.
In the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Carl Lewis won four gold medals. Despite his out-standing performance, he was accused of holding back in the long jump. Instead of going for the world record, he stopped competing after his first jump, knowing that he had won the gold. His response to that criticism is inspiring. Carl said that the Olympic trials had taken more out of him than he had expected, so he decided to save his strength. He explained that he was there to win gold medals-- not to set records that would probably last only a short time. So rather than risking injury or overexertion in pursuit of a world record long jump, he conserved his energy and went for the gold in his other events.
Carl's decision reminds us of an emphasis made in the Word of God. The Bible tells us that we must make choices about what we’re going to do. Those choices often determine our happiness or sorrow. The right to choose gives power to how we live life and how we face death.
Gen 2: 16-17 tells us about the consequences that some might pay for their choices: And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Joshua 24:15 tells us about Joshua's choice: "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves . . . whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served . . . , or the gods of the Amorites, . . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
Did you notice how Joshua understood that they will clearly serve A GOD. He didn't say, "then choose whether to serve a god." He said, "choose for yourself WHOM YOU WILL SERVE."
6. Everyone serves a god! The only question is, "Which GOD?" In choosing whom we serve, we are also choosing how we serve. To serve the God of Scripture means to obey God. I
A Sunday School teacher asked her class, "Does anyone know what we mean by sins of omission?" One little girl replied, "Aren't those the sins we should have committed, but didn't?"
It's been given to us to make a choice regarding sin, and no, there are no sins we're supposed to commit. This power that God has placed in your heart is so great that you can never be defeated unless you choose to be defeated. Blame God all you like for bad consequences to poor choices, but it was still your choice.
It's been said, "We are all faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." If we believe it's impossible to avoid sin, then we have already sinned (we’ve missed the mark) for we have lost faith in God. If we see the obstacles before us as impossible to overcome, then we've already failed.
If however we see obstacles as hidden opportunities, then we'll eventually succeed. It's our choice. It's also our choice to sin or not. The beauty about this is that, if we should stumble, we can make a choice to turn back to God and receive forgiveness. As long as we have His forgiveness, and pursue God’s way – we'll come out alright on the other side.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man: and God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide you a way out, so that you can stand up under it."
In the Christian's battle with temptation, the will is vitally important. This is because we choose to sin; that is, with our will we choose to break God's law.
7. Behind every sin is the choice to disobey.
Some of you serious Presbyterians might be asking yourself about now, "What about John Calvin's doctrine of predestination? Aren't we pre-ordained before we were even born?" My response is simple. DON'T EVEN GO THERE! Calvin's teachings were never intended to exonerate us from our sins by saying, "God made me do it." Rather, predestination means that God knows what choice you'll make, but it's still your choice. No one is defeated by sin unless they choose to be.
It might be just as well if we stopped using the terms "victory" and "defeat" to describe our progress. Rather, we should use terms like "obedience" and "disobedience." When I say I'm defeated by something, I'm subconsciously slipping out from under my responsibility. I'm saying something outside of me has defeated me – sort of like that god of clay called, "bad luck". But when I say I'm disobedient, that places the responsibility squarely on me.
Evil thoughts will pop in and out of our minds. For the most part, we can't entirely stop that, but we DO have the power to say "NO" to them, and cast them out.
John 10:27-29 "My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater then all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."
Making important choices is seldom simple or clear-cut, and we have all made average or even below average choices. It doesn't always have to be that way. It's our choice and ours alone, as to what we will do with our lives.
I’ll close now with this thought from 2 Corinthians 6:2, "For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."
Please join with me in prayer:
