Let’s Wake Up To Who We Are
As I sat at my desk doing some routine work that needed my attention, worship music was playing softly in the background. Although my inability to multi-task with focus usually prevents me from listening to the words of a song while working, something that Jeremy Camp was singing grabbed my attention so powerfully that I immediately could not resist the urge to get up from my chair and begin to dance – not something I normally do nor do well. That was followed very quickly by falling to my knees as the meaning of these words reached my mind and then enraptured my heart.
The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The Same Power, Jeremy Camp
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us….
After that, almost like in a dream, I pondered the Scriptures and realized how important and true the words of Jeremy’s beautiful song are.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15, New International Version (NIV)
Is it not time that we appropriate all the benefits and responsibilities that come with the fact that God dwells not only with His people but also in us as individuals? The problem many of us have is that we don’t realize how well God has equipped us to exercise this priceless gift of power and wisdom to do good in the world, beginning with our marriages and our families.
I spent over twenty-eight years as a naval officer and cannot imagine a warship’s captain going to sea without understanding the capabilities of the weapons he has at his command. So many of us, including those of us who are married and have children, do not have a full understanding of what it means to have the Holy Spirit’s power and wisdom operating in our lives. These are our weapons for success in every area of life, standing ready to use.
Sadly though, most often without a thought, we try to power through life and use only our human limitations to build our marriages, raise our children, and do ministry. That is not what God intended for us.
Thirty times throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments the Holy Spirit is associated with power, and fifteen times the Holy Spirit is associated with wisdom.
The Holy Spirit is more than just a resource: He is God! God that dwells in us! He is the one in whom we have our being, the one who comes alongside us and helps us in our needs. He is the one who empowers us to do the work of God that includes both becoming more and more like Jesus and doing the works that He did on this planet.
His words, not mine:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12, NIV
Blessings and love,
Ted
