The Power Within

Have you ever thought to yourself what it must have been like for disciples to spend all their days with Jesus.?  Can you imagine all of the one on one conversations?  The questions and insights gained by this time were invaluable.  They also enjoyed watching him do miracle after miracle.  Jesus calmed storms, cast out demons, and even made a marriage more fun by turning water into wine.  That had to be awesome.  Then Jesus said this:

John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Jesus couldn’t possibly be serious.  First of all, Jesus is saying “I am doing the basic works and you guys will really do the great stuff”. Also, this promise just isn’t for the disciples.  It is for anyone who believes!  Not only that, but Jesus says that we can only do the great stuff after he leaves!  How is that possible?

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

You might be asking yourself, what is the big deal with the Holy Spirit living inside of us?

Jesus is speaking regarding the kind of life that would exist for those individuals that would believe in him. Prior to Jesus coming to the earth, the Holy Spirit would come upon certain individuals and then the Holy Spirit would leave.  When the Holy Spirit was on them temporarily, great things would occur.  Now Jesus is indicating that this Holy Spirit wouldn’t just come upon us and remain BUT he would live in us permanently!

The implications of these next scriptures are amazing for those who believe in Jesus Christ:

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

You are God’s Temple!  Do you believe that?  How does that make you feel? Those who believe in Jesus have the greatest power source in the universe on the inside.  We must be aware of the Holy Spirit within us! The same power that raised God from the dead is available to believers right now.  With that in mind, it should be easier to see why Jesus said that we would do greater works.

In order to do these greater works we must examine our focus.  If we are focusing on ourselves and our shortcomings then we have missed the point.  Our focus should be on Jesus’ promise and the Holy Spirit within to give us the power to bring forth these greater works!

The bottom line is that we have to know that God hears us when we pray. That is a major concern for a lot of Christians. “Does God hear my prayers?” I have exciting news for you.  God hears us based on what Jesus has done and not what we have done!  We just have to believe it.  Here are two more scriptures that speaks to this point.

Romans 8:31b-32 If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

1 Corinthians 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

BAM! I have just blown your mind, didn’t I?  God gave us His only begotten Son to die for us and this is the reason why he will answer our prayers.  In fact, the scripture says that God will freely give us all things. ALL THINGS! When you pray God’s promises are you aware that God wants to answer these promises before you ask?  He wants to freely fulfill his promises with no strings attached.  All you have to do is what?  Believe.

For many years I struggled in the area of believing.  This is why this topic is so important to me.  I was always afraid that I didn’t have enough faith.  The problem was that I was focused on my faith and not on the One who is at the center of my faith.  That would be Jesus Christ.  I didn’t have confidence. I want YOU to have confidence! Not in yourself or your ability to believe….but in God!

1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Question: Do you remember how we can know God’s will?

Answer: The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth.  The truth I want you to get today is that God wants to freely give you all things and the Holy Spirit will show you the things freely given to you by God.  Isn’t that exciting.  No more stress in your prayers.  You can have childlike faith!

Let’s end on this final scripture. Galatians 5:6 states that our faith works by love.  You must be rooted and grounded in God’s love.  Paul prays that for us in Ephesians 3.  Not only did he say that we need to be rooted in grounded in God’s love but we needed to comprehend the depth, length, breadth and height of God’s love.  We have to know it!  Do the scriptures above show you a side of God’s love that you haven’t pondered?  If yes, please take time to think on these scriptures over and over until faith and confidence comes.  You will know when it arrives in your heart.

If I have done my job correctly, you now feel like a superhuman!  You have God’s own Spirit living inside of you.  You are God’s sanctuary.  You are a worthy partner!  Again, not because of what you have done but because of what Jesus has purchased for you through his death on the cross.  Isn’t that exciting?  Are you ready to be God’s partner with confidence?!

We are all set to dig into the nuances of faith and believing God.  One day it will be easy to believe God’s promises. It’s a day by day process.  Be patient. In my next post, I will continue to explore the value that God places in humans and how that affects faith and our partnership with God.

Until then,
Take joy in your salvation!
Doug

Note: NKJV is cited.