Jesus' Power

 

    Jesus was fully man and is fully God.  That is a hard concept to fully grasp.  It requires some faith and trusting the Bible.  Jesus was powerful because he had authority to be powerful.  The thing that is not always considered is: How much did Jesus hold back?  He could have done more if he wanted to, but he found the perfect balance to get his message out there.  When he returns he will display his full power.

    Jesus shares some of his power with his apostles, but first they had to be commissioned.  There are steps to empowerment that require obedience.  If God can't trust you with the small things, then he will not give you big things.  Jesus gave the apostles the power (authority) to do what he had been doing on earth: heal, drive out demons, and teach.  It is a responsibility to be taken serious.  Saving souls is not a game.  

    The first step to be empowered by Jesus is to believe.  Faith is the biggest and hardest step.  Then you have to learn how to deny yourself, so that you can follow Him.  It requires obedience.  You follow him through the Word, prayer, and learning from the Holy Spirit.  Ove time you will grow and become strong.  Once you become a mature Christian, then you are ready to follow His calling.  That may require being commissioned into ministry or it may be just how you live your life.

    Faith starts with choosing to believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you.  It starts empowering you when you start to understand that you no longer have to fear death.  Our bodies will decay, but our souls will live forever in heaven with the angels and God or the other option (hell).   If a person refuses to believe, then let them live their lives.  Pray for them, but don't keep at them.  It is a waste of your time and energy.  At the same time, don't hinder anyone from going to Jesus.

     To follow Jesus is to give up your core selfish desires for yourself.  It goes as far as sometimes you have to give up comforts of life like a permanent home.  It is putting your relationship with Jesus before everything including a good nights sleep.   It is letting go of what you think is important to accept what he says is important.  There is no time to look back and do the what if mind game.  That will only bring misery.  It is looking forward, so that you can keep your eyes on him.  The hardest point is not taking your eyes off him because of all of life's many distractions.  

    Following Jesus also requires relying on other people.  You need a prayer partner.  You need support of your church.  You can't be victorious if you go out on your own.  Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs with almost nothing.  The pairs had each other, but it also meant that they had to rely on other people for food and shelter while out in the ministry field.  When they returned, they would report all that they had done to Jesus.  We would report to our church.  

    There is power in prayer.  It can change everything.  It is a conversation with God, so that means you have to listen or you may miss something important.  Jesus prayed to prepare himself.  You see more of his prayer life when the end of his life was getting closer.  He still headed toward Jerusalem knowing what he would face.  

    Jesus doesn't expect you to follow him blindly.  He wants you to think.  He wants you to figure out exactly what you believe on certain subjects and why.  He wants you to be able to defend your beliefs in a respectful and loving manner.   One of the messages that Jesus tries to teach is about miracles.  As a Christian, we should not be surprised by miracles.  She should expect them.  They should not be rare, but a part of our lives.  If we don't see them, then we need to ask ourselves why.   If you don't have faith, then you will not see it.  There is no room for doubt.  There is no time for delay.  The time to focus is now.

Luke 9