Tuesday, January 9, 2018

January 9 Thought for the day....power of God



I love to read especially apologetics, science, and the exegesis of the Bible. I love gaining and growing in knowledge, I always have. However, my knowledge is not limited to that which I can feel, see, or touch, but I desire daily to grow in the knowledge of the power of God. I was raised in a denomination which did not believe in the miraculous; they were very clear that the miraculous power stopped with the age of the apostles. What was frustrating for me, they continued to ask for prayer for the sick and disabled but did not believe in the power of God to do something.  Since that time, I have seen with my own eyes, and at my own hands, God perform nearly every kind of miracle; blind eyes, deaf ears open, lame walk, dead come to life, demons cast out, the seeing made blind, and the enemy forced to see angelic forces protecting me, to name a few. Still, some believe none of this is possible nor necessary. I believe Paul puts that to rest in

1 Corinthians 2:4,5

"And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

Paul spent time preparing teachings and sermons, but he wasn't content to rely on persuasive words. Through the Holy Spirit's demonstration of power, lives were impacted in even more significant ways. The translation here is actually very accurate. There are many who have great knowledge and understanding of God's word, but if we are not open and ready to believe in the power of God to perform the miraculous then we are just like any other religion in the world, we have a great philosophy but no power.

Paul is saying our wisdom should not be resting only in the wisdom of men. Men are limited in both understanding and power, but in God, there are no limitations. What our world needs to see now is a regular demonstration of the power of God, and that power needs to be shown in a miraculous love and demonstration that God can still do the miraculous.

You may be saying, "that's impossible!" But the Bible says nothing is impossible. Let's trust God's word over our words and beliefs from now on! However, this should go without saying without the incredible power of love even the miraculous is limited in actual power and impact. I believe part of the true demonstration of the Spirit and power is love (1 Corinthians 13).

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