Acts 1:6-8
What is the source of your power?
Theme - We can only know the power of the Spirit through being His witnesses in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the utter most parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Quote:Faith in God makes great optimists. Over in Burma, Judson was lying in a foul jail with 32 lbs. of chains on his ankles, his feet bound to a bamboo pole. A fellow prisoner said, "Dr. Judson, what about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen?", with a sneer on his face. His instant reply was, "The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God."
The Presbyterian Advance.
Quote:Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.
Viktor Frankl, concentration camp survivor. Philippians 2:12-18.
Illustration; Henry J. Kaiser tells his personal story about building a levee along a river bank. Eventually a terrible flood buried all of his earth moving machinery along with his good work. When he went out to observe the damage the workers pessimistically looked at all the mud and destruction. But Mr. Kaiser asked them, "Why are you so glum?" They said, "All the machinery is covered with mud and the levee is destroyed!"
Kaiser said, "I don’t see the mud but I do the sunshine. I have never seen any mud that could stand against sunshine. Soon it will be dried up and then we will be able to move our machinery and start over again.
What is it that makes the difference between seeing the mud or the sunshine in your attitude?
Question - What are the reasons why many content themselves in living on low power?
Why are many people living on minimum power?
1. The primary power of the Holy Spirit is ignited through the ministry of the gospel. Robert Green wrote, "I know my God commands, whose power no power resists."
2. When people are living for their own selfish interests they are relying on other powers, besides that of the Spirit. Burnout is common for people who are not closely identifying with Christ or who are becoming fleshly driven rather than Spirit led.
Illustration: Oswald (1982) has identified the following sixteen symptoms of clergy burnout:
(1) Tendency to feel negative or cynical about parishioners
(2) Loss of enthusiasm for job
(3) Lowered emotional investment in work
(4) Fatigue and irritability
(5) Cynical and sarcastic humor
(6) Increased withdrawal from parishioners
(7) Increased rigidity in dealing with parishioners
(8) Feelings of isolation and lack of support
(9) Frustration in accomplishing tasks
(10) Increased feeling of sadness
(11) Physical ailments
(12) Lowered enjoyment of sex
(13) Tendency to blame others for problems
(14) Tendency to feel guilty much of the time
(15) Feeling of just hanging on until retirement
(16) Sense of emptiness and depletion
A look at this list makes it clear that burnout is surely not what God wants for us. I believe most missionaries truly want to say with Paul, "I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 20:24) But we must also be concerned that we do not burn out before we have completed the task God has given us.
3. The power of the Spirit is not under our control, but God’s. He sets the plans and enables us with His power to accomplish His purposes with His processes for the production of His fruit.
4. Many assume that political, economic or educational power enables one to produce change. All we can do is bring influence, but it the Spirit of God that gives the growth, fruit and blessings.
5. The Lord is the only one who can add favor that comes from a dispensing of HIs divine grace. All other favor that is sought from humans will eventually end in disappointment unless it is done in the power and in the direction of God’s word, His Spirit and His authority.
6. The Spirit works through the power of gospel to affect the greatest changes. His is a power that is given moment by moment as we live by faith.
7. The Spirit imparts His power through the gospel’s sowing, nurturing, and discipling ministries. Do not think that you can store up the power of the Spirit to be used whenever you prefer.
8. The Spirit is not like a battery that can be used whenever we feel like it. His is a supernatural power that is given as we give His love, grace, and wisdom to others.
9. If you are lacking power, try giving His power to those you come in contact. Speak His word to them through love, patience, and acts of kindness.
10. The more you give, the more power you will get in return. He will never allow your power supply to be exhausted.
11. There is nothing sublime that does not require His power. His power knows no limit, His supply of grace is unlimited, His love knows no boundaries.
12. Stop settling for minimum power when all power in heaven and earth is available to you.
13. Ask yourself what are the reasons why many content themselves in living on low power when they could be operating on the awesome power of the Holy Spirit of God and the word’s sanctifying influence.
Prayer - Lord, help us to live in, through, and by the power of your Spirit in all that we say and do.
Rom 11:35,36 - For from Him and through HIm and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
In the Holy Spirit you have the power to choose to be His witnesses. The Holy Spirit enables, enlightens and engages you in all kinds of ways that are supernatural if only you will appropriate them. Recharge through reconfiguring ways that you can be a better qualitative and quantitative witness for Jesus Christ to your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the utter most parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Illustration: In his book Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee describes a preaching mission to an island off the South China coast. There were seven in the ministering group, including a sixteen-year-old new convert whom he calls Brother Wu. The island was fairly large, containing about 6,000 homes. Nee had a contact there, an old schoolmate of his who was headmaster of the village school, but he refused to house the group when he discovered they had come to preach the Gospel. Finally, they found lodging with a Chinese herbalist, who became their first convert.
Preaching seemed quite fruitless on the island, and Nee discovered it was because of the dedication of the people there to an idol they called Ta-wang. They were convinced of his power because on the day of his festival and parade each year the weather was always near perfect.
"When is the procession this year?" young Wu asked a group that had gathered to hear them preach.
"It is fixed for January 11th at 8 in the morning," was the reply.
"Then," said the new convert, "I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th."
At that there was an outburst of cries from the crowd: "That is enough! We don’t want to hear any more preaching. If there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!"
Watchman Nee had been elsewhere in the village when this confrontation had taken place. Upon being informed about it, he saw that the situation was serious and called the group to prayer. On the morning of the 11th, there was not a cloud in the sky, but during grace for breakfast, sprinkles began to fall and these were followed by heavy rain.
Worshipers of the idol Ta-wang were so upset that they placed it in a sedan chair and carried it outdoors, hoping this would stop the rain. Then the rain increased. After only a short distance, the carriers of the idol stumbled and fell, dropping the idol and fracturing its jaw and left arm.
A number of young people turned to Christ as a result of the rain coming in answer to prayer, but the elders of the village made divination and said that the wrong day had been chosen. The proper day of the procession, they said, should have been the 14th. When Nee and his friends heard this, they again went to prayer, asking for rain on the 14th and for clear days for preaching until then. That afternoon the sky cleared and on the good days that followed there were thirty converts. Of the crucial test day, Nee says:The 14th broke, another perfect day, and we had good meetings. As the evening approached we met again at the appointed hour. We quietly brought the matter to the Lord’s remembrance. Not a minute late, His answer came with torrential rain and floods as before.
The power of the idol over the islanders was broken; the enemy was defeated. Believing prayer had brought a greatvictory. Conversions followed. And the impact upon the servants of God who had witnessed His power would continue to enrich their Christian service from that time on.
Roger F. Campbell, You Can Win!, 1985, SP Publications, pp. 35-36.
