Power Up

Power Up

The Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

1 Corinthians 4:20

Several years ago I invested in a whole-house generator. Because my office is in my home and because the power goes out a couple of times a year, I didn’t want to lose work time during an outage. There’s just one little problem. Each time we’ve had an outage, the generator has failed. Because of a glitch in the system, it won’t go on until an electrician comes to the rescue.

Without power it’s hard to accomplish much. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Many of us feel weaker than we should because our lives lack the power that comes from God. There is a glitch in our spiritual systems.

In his book Spirit Rising, Jim Cymbala makes a similar point. “I love,” he says, “to look at the buildings of Manhattan, especially at night when the lights are all on. . . . However, regardless of how influential New York City and its people can be, if you take away the electrical power—which happens occasionally during a blackout—the whole thing shuts down. . . . Without power, all that potential is wasted.

“The same is true for us believers. If we don’t have access to spiritual power, how can we accomplish what needs to be done? Power to overcome sin. Power to overcome spiritual enemies that attack us. Power to endure hardship and affliction. Power to witness. Power to speak. Power to pray. Isn’t more spiritual power probably the greatest need we have today?”^a

If you have felt powerless, overcome by weakness, assailed on all sides by frustration, put a stop to it today by refocusing your life on God’s purposes—recommitting yourself to doing his will by spreading the gospel and serving those who are lost and hurting. Ask God to glorify himself in you despite your weakness, and he will.

Father, I am tired of being beaten up by troubles and surrounded by difficulties. I need your power to overcome sin in my life and to do your will with boldness and confidence. I want to recommit my life to you. Forgive me for being more interested in building my kingdom than yours. Empower me to do your will, and fill me with your Holy Spirit, I pray.

^a Jim Cymbala, Spirit Rising (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 106–7.