POWER WEEK!

4 of 5

Disciples Slow to Believe

   The power that raised Christ was a hard sell to the 11 remaining disciples. Jesus suddenly appeared to them while they were eating. He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their refusal to believe the women who had first seen him. They were startled, thinking they saw a ghost.

   Look at my hands and my feet, he said, showing the scars of crucifixion - transferred to his resurrected body. Still astonished, they watched him eat a piece of broiled fish.

   From that moment on, they would never be the same. All were willing to die rather than deny the truth.   

   Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them to stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. – Luke 24:45, 49. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8.

   And with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. – Acts 4:33.

Power Offered to Us

   Ever since, believers are offered the same indwelling power. The Spirit is given to all who ask. He convicts of sin, regenerates, imparts God’s love, and enables us to say, “Jesus is Lord.” He reveals God’s truth and helps to distinguish truth from error, baptizes us into the body of Christ, and gives power and boldness to witness.

   Note: This paragraph replaces one that included many ways the Holy Spirit enables believers. We don't feel qualified even to list them for you. You can find them in New Testament letters. 

   From heaven, Jesus blinded Saul (renamed Paul), saying, I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of darkness to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sin. 

   (Paul’s own account in Acts 26:17-18).      

Tomorrow: End times, and rejoicing in heaven

 

POWER WEEK!

3 of 5

Invisible Power ... Tangible Results

    Some 420 years after the last prophet, Malachi, powerful Rome ruled Palestine. Jews were still without independence, and the Messiah had not yet come.

   God sent the angel Gabriel – not just any angel – to tell Mary, a young virgin in Nazareth, that she will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign (have power) over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.

   Mary was bewildered. Gabriel explained, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over-shadow you. Mary believed. I am the Lord’s servant, she replied. There was power in Mary’s belief, for her cousin Elizabeth, by the Holy Spirit, exclaimed, Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!  - Luke chapter 1

He Alone Satisfied the Law

   When Jesus begin his mission at age 30, he was tested for 40 days without food or drink, but he had the power to refuse Satan’s temptations. You know of his teaching, healing, driving out demons…and once even walking on water.

   What kind of power dwelt in authorities who knew all this, who were there when Lazarus walked out of his tomb after four days? Yet they wanted Jesus dead. Of course, it was God’s plan from the beginning, that he should suffer the punishment for all our sins, and offer grace and eternal life to those who believe, repent and obey.

   Paul later wrote, At just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. – Romans 5:6.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. – Romans 8:3.

  

Tomorrow: The power of resurrection

 

 POWER WEEK  

2 of 5

Kings and Prophets Attest to God’s Power

   O Lord … you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you.  2 Chronicles 20:6

   Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria and the vast army … for there is a greater power with us than with him. – 2 Chronicles 32:7

   How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. – Psalm 66:3 

   Great is the Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. – Psalm 147.5

The Lord Himself Declares

   I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? – Jeremiah 32:27

   Meanwhile, the people – like all people – were not pleasing the Lord. First the Northern Kingdom, then the Southern Kingdom (Judah) were conquered. After 70 years, some 50,000 descendants of those exiled to Babylon travelled to Judah, built homes and importantly, a new temple. Zerubbabel, the governor, led the effort to build the temple, 520-515 B.C.

   Notice the transformation in God’s dealing: An angel told priest and prophet Zechariah, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.’  - Zechariah 4:6

   The Messiah did not come, as people had hoped. But the Lord gave Zechariah extraordinary prophecy concerning the future.    

Commentary, the book of Zechariah:

(1) Messianic references occur in all 14 chapters.

(2) Of the minor prophets, it contains the most specific prophecies about

end-time events. (3) It merges the priestly and prophetic roles in Israel’s history.

(4) Its visions and symbolic language resemble the apocalyptic books of Daniel

 and Revelation. (5) It prophesies the Messiah’s betrayal for 30 pieces of silver.

(6) Prophecy in chapter 14 - the Warrior-King reigning over Jerusalem.

 

Tomorrow:  Invisible power. Tangible results

 

 POWER WEEK!

1 of 5

Who has power? Who doesn’t? What forms does it take?

   By his word, God created light, water, land, vegetation, stars, planets, predictable creatures and unpredictable creatures made in his image. Jeremiah wrote that creation involved wisdom, understanding and power.

   For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen. – Romans 1:20

   Our globe has power of its own: hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, fires, lightning, ocean waves, gravity and more. As for humans, machine power has left horse power in the dust since the late-1800s, for better or worse.

   Words have power, as the devil demonstrated in the Garden. God will allow Satan to exercise miracle power toward the end of this age.

God is Unmatched 

   Through Moses, God proved himself powerful in Egypt. His strong wind parted the Red Sea...without retaining walls. He changed bitter water into drinkable, and made such a commotion on Mt. Sinai – the mountain trembled and so did the Israelites. He wanted them to know his power, and that his Presence would go with them.

   Remember ... the Lord your God is he who gives you the ability (and power).  -  Deuteronomy 8:18.

   After the Israelites settled the Promised Land they wanted a king, like other nations. God was all they needed, but he obliged them.

Introducing Spiritual power 

   Samuel told Saul, The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will … be changed into a different person. –1 Samuel 10:6. Later, Samuel anointed David king, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. – 1 Samuel 16:13.

   David’s prayer: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.   1 Chronicles 29:11

Tomorrow: Spirit replaces might

 

  

The "With-God" Experiment

Pick a day. Do what you normally do. Only, do it with God.

If you can spend one day with Jesus, you can spend every day with him.

We are not meant to embrace moments, but to embrace God.

Moments are not always good. God is never anything but good.

Moments are simply the times and places where we meet him.

GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK           

         Special

          Monday- Friday: POWER WEEK

                          God is love. But he is also "wonder-working power." 

An Interruption Might be a Divine Appointment

It's possible that when the phone rings

or there's a knock on the door

or somebody wants a favor 

or we see someone with a flat tire...

it may be a divine appointment.

Jesus allowed himself to be interrupted.

Many of his miracles were Spirit-prompted interruptions.

On his way into town, a blind man named Bartimaeus 

interrupted him and received his sight.

Jesus was on his way to a good deed

when a woman with chronic illness touched him and was healed.

He was interrupted by a leper and healed him.

At a Pharisee's home a "sinful woman" crashed the party,

weeping many tears at his feet, and he forgave.

The ultimate interruption, on the cross,

was in fact the Father's greatest work for him.

- John Ortberg

 

Don't miss: Views this Monday-Friday...power from Genesis to Revelation

In the Beginning

    God created the heavens and the earth.   …and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. - Genesis 1:1-2

 Commentary

    Without the Holy Spirit there would be no creation. He is a divine person with individuality. He thinks, feels, wills and enjoys fellowship.

    The Spirit brings believers into the intimate presence of Jesus. He is infinite, loving God within our hearts.

    He convicts us, reveals truth, the new birth, and associates us into the body of Christ.

(author uncertain)      

  Starting Monday:

Visible and silent power!

Don't miss this.