Ending Your Power Shortage (Acts 1:8)
Right before Jesus acended into heaven He gave us a promise:
"But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, enablement and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (the very bounds of the planet)." (Acts 1:8) (Amplified)
We hear about problems of power shortages everyday during these hot summer days. Utility company strain to supply sufficient electricity to all of their customers who are sweltering in the heat and humidity of record setting temperatures. Yet, there seems to be an even more critical shortage of power in the lives of people regarding Christ’s great commission. When we read about terrorists threats around the world, many seem to grow hesitant to be involved with missions. However, the Lord Jesus did not shrink in the face of opposition but rose above it. Let us do the same with the following principles from His famous promise.
Illustration: One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas.
The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.
Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are “clothed with power” (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas.
Steve Blankenship, Source unknown
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 great victory. 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.
You Can Win!, Roger F. Campbell, 1985, SP Publications, pp. 35-36
1. POWER AND PROPER PERSPECTIVE - Jesus assured us that He would supply us with the dunamos (power) and the authority (exusia) to accomplish the preaching, teaching and discipling of all 18,800 people groups of the world. Surely, in ourselves we are indequate for such a great task, but with the Lord’s enabling, equipping and empowering He makes us completely competent to complete all that He has commanded. Christ’s commands carry the full force of His abilities to complete everything He requires. We can be confident that we will not lack one good thing even we may encounter opposition. Greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.
2. PROBLEM-SOLVING - The Lord Jesus knew that there would be a number of ways that the Holy Spirit would help us solve whatever problems that might seek to hinder the advancement of His kingdom and His righteousness throughout the earth. Let the Spirit of God give you the same wisdom that apostles employed in the fulfilling of the great commission.
"Now when they observed the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools (common men with no educational advantages) they marveled: and they recognized that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13)
Let the Spirit of God give you the wisdom, willingness and way making capabilities to do the works of God that are truly supernatural and stop settling for mere maintenance preoccupations.
3. POSITIVE SOLUTIONS FOR EVERY NEGATIVE - The Lord Jesus knew that our God has the capacity to work all things together for our benefit as we love Him. (Rom 8:28) He causes all hardships, contrary winds and human limitation to catalyze God’s ability to coordinate all circumstances for what is best for you. Too many times what we think is a set back can actually be an opportunity for God to show Himself to be the true miracle worker He is.
Illustration: Julius Hickerson, was a medical missionary with the Southern Baptist in Columbia but had no converts after two years of ministry. Then tragedy struck. Dr. Hickerson’s plane went down in the jungles of South America and he was never heard from again. Two years later some missionaries eventually found the crash site, but they were amazed at what they found. A native tribe of remote Indians found Dr. Hickerson’s Spanish Bible in the wrecked plane. One of the members read it to the rest of the people and they all turned to faith in Christ. Soon they were evangelizing the entire region for the sake of the great commission. God brought triumph out of ashes. Will you allow Him to do the same with your setbacks as well?
4. PROMULGATOR - The Lord Jesus wants to use you and me to be a disseminator of the greatest news in history. He is the only one who purchased the redemption for every one who puts their faith in Him as the substitutionary payment for the forgiveness of their sins. What is holding you back from being a purveyor of His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control? The HOly Spirit promises to give you the fruits that will be necessary to attract others to the Savior.
5. PIONEER AND PERFECTOR OF OUR FAITH - The Lord Jesus is the one we look to for the fulfillment of the great commission. (Heb. 12:1-3) We cannot accomplish this in our own power, cunning or resoruces. Paul wrote, "For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13,14)
6. PASSION GIVER - Whenever you are feeling depressed, discouraged or lack inspiration for the great commission consider Paul’s example. The apostle wrote, "I am pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, perplexed but not in despair, put down but not put out, always bearing in my body the death of the Lord Jesus so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in my body." (2 Cor 4:4-8) The Lord Jesus wants to give you the encouragement, energy and excitement about completing His great purpose if you will just ask Him.
7. PRAYER INTERCESSOR - The Lord Jesus lives to make intercession for you with groanings and travailing (actually birthpangs) too deep for human words. (Rom 8:26,27) Allow the prayers of the Lord’s intercesion to burn His will, His way and HIs wonders through your buoyant attitudes and actions today.
8. PROVIDER - Whatever you think you may be lacking the Lord will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19) Stop thinking of what you do not have and concentrate on what He has given you. Use the seeds you have and God will begin to multiply them for a greater harvest.
9. PRESENTATION ABILITIES - The Lord Jesus will give you the articulative capabilities to speak His word to the people He leads you to.
Illustration: Paul wrote, "When I came to you I did not come with superiority of speech of human wisdom. But we were gentle among you as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you we were well pleased to impart to you not the gospel only but also our own lives." (I Thes 2:7,8)
10. PLENTIFUL GRACE - The Lord Jesus promised Paul who suffered greatly from an infirmity, "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in your weakness. Whatever you are lacking my grace will be more than adequate to make up for what you lack.
11. PREVAILING - The Lord Jesus assures us that His love working through us, "Bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things as it never fails." (I Cor 13:6-8) To prevail means that we are enabled to gain victory over and have mastery over anything that stands in the way of God’s will for our lives. Jesus said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell (all opposing forces) will not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18)
12. POSSIBILITY MAKING - The Lord Jesus made a promise, "The things that are impossible with man are possible with God." (Luke 1:37) Do not let your own limited perspectives hinder you from thinking of the great possibilities that God is able to work through, with and for you if you will just become participant in the work of the great commission.
Conclusion: Car Problem
In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push.
After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life.
For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
J. B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20, “How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God.” When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.
Ernest B. Beevers, Source unknown
Putting Off & Putting On (Eph. 4:28-32)
Pride with Humility (I Pet 5:5,6)
Professing Goodness with Love without hypocrisy (Rom 12:9,10)
Pleasures with His pleasures (Psa 16:9-11)
People pleasing & popularity with His approval (I Cor 4:3,4)
Privileges with thankfulness (Col 3:16)
Performance orientation w/ Obedience (Josh 1:8,9)
Power Obsessions w/ Yieldedness (Rom 12:1)
Position Fixation w/ His appointments (Psa 73, 25,26)
Popularity with His affirmation (Jer 33:3)
Preoccupations w/ things above (Col 3:1-4)
Possessiveness w/ submission (James 4:7,8)
Possessions w/ Matthew 6:24-34
Persons and politics w/ Heb. 12:1-3
Problem-orientation w/ Phil. 4:6-8
Program orientation w/ John 14:21
Pollution with guarding the truth (2 Tim. 1:14-16)
Perversion with purity & truth (John 17:17)
Personality excuses w/ Matt 7:1,2
Presumptuousness w/ Job 42:1,2
Personalization of hurts w/ Eph 6:10-18
Personal preferences with Luke 9:23,24
Poor choices with wisdom (Prov 3:5,6)
Provocations with James 1:2-5
Poor discernment w/ Phil. 1:9-11
Prayerlessness with Eph 6:18
Program orientation w/ Col 1:9-11
Project fixation w/ being led by Spirit (Rom 8:6-8)
Pity for ourselves w/ I Thes 5:16-18
Poor health w/ 2 Cor. 12:9,10
Poor priorities w/ Matt 6:33,34
Pyrrhic Victories w/ I Jn 5:4,5
Persecutions w/ Matt 5:13,14
Poor perspectives w/ Eph. 4:15
Prosperity w/ contentment I Tim 6:8
Pressures w/ Rom. 12:1-3
Poor stigma & promotions w/ I Cor 4:4-8
Perfectionism w/ Jer 29:11
Perplexed but not in despair (I Cor 4:4-8)
Put Down but not put out (I Cor 4:4-8)
Poor Perspectives, Assumptions, Perceptions (Heb 5:14)
Poor Praise w/ I Cor 10:31 (All for the Glory of God)
Poor Vision w/ Col. 1:27,28
Petulance (Peevishly impatient, irritable) w/ love is patient and kind (I Cor 13:4-7)
