Activating the Power of God’s Word

HAVE YOU EVER felt the fear and unease of being way beyond your own ability? What about the insecurity of feeling that you don’t have what it takes to accomplish a certain responsibility? I have! About halfway through writing my first book, I remember suddenly being confronted with the dread that I was in over my head with the whole process. For a few weeks, I was daunted by how much was left to write, the deadline that was looming, and the little that I felt I had left to say. With this, my mind shifted from the excitement of the opportunity to fears of failure. Numerous mornings I would awaken with nagging anxiety that I just couldn’t complete the manuscript.

At the height of it all, when I was tired, my mind felt spent, the words just wouldn’t come together, and time was ticking, I raised my hands in protest. “I can’t do this!” I shouted to the Lord. “I have come to the end of myself.”

What I didn’t realize at the time is that this declaration was the catalyst for my turnaround. You see, coming to the end of myself was exactly the place the Lord wanted me to get to in this process. Coming to the end of myself meant that I was beyond my own thoughts, words, abilities, and strengths. It meant that I was no longer in control but was solely dependent on God’s Spirit.

Within minutes of my protest—or maybe it was my surrender—I received an illustration that helped me complete a section of the book that I was stressing over. From that day forward I began my writing routine with the declaration, “OK, God, it is just You and me, and I want a whole lot more of You than me!” Of course, God was always faithful! Whenever anxiety attempted to rear its ugly head again, confessing these words of surrender brought me a supernatural peace that helped me finish the manuscript and see all other simultaneous responsibilities through to completion. Truly, when I came to the end of myself, God’s Spirit took over and empowered me to do just what I needed to do.

Do you feel weak or weary about something you face right now? Are you up against a deadline or a seemingly impossible responsibility? Does it appear as if you have been thrown into the deep end before learning how to swim? Then you have arrived at a great place! You have arrived at an opportunity to truly surrender to the Lord and to let His power do what you never thought possible.

In over their heads is the position the apostles likely felt they were in upon the ascension of Jesus back to heaven. Just imagine their insecurity. Jesus commissioned them to “go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). But with Jesus gone, how could they do this? Their history of doing things outside His presence was pitiful, after all. They were crippled by fear in a boat as a storm raged (Matt 14:22–26). They failed to cast out a demon from a mute boy (Mark 9:14–29). They fell asleep as Jesus went away to pray in the garden (Luke 22:39–46). When questioned by authorities, the most loyal even refused to acknowledge his relationship with his beloved Messiah (John 18:15–18). Yes, their lousy track record when away from Jesus likely gave them plenty of reason to worry that they couldn’t possibly fulfill Jesus’s Great Commission on their own. The task was just too monumental!

But Jesus never intended for the apostles to accomplish the goal on their own. No, just before His ascension Jesus freshly reminded His followers of the promise He spoke of so frequently—the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, who would come to enable His followers to do what they could never do on their own. “Wait here for the promise,” Jesus instructed. “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. . . . You will receive power . . . and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:5, 8).

Do you recall the rest of the story? Immediately upon His ascension, the apostles and some 120 believers gathered to wait for the promise of this power, though they weren’t quite sure what it would look like. Within days the power came. With wind, fire, and frenzy, God’s Holy Spirit swept through the room and filled all who were in attendance with a power they never had outside of the physical presence of Jesus. (See Acts 2.)

The firstfruit of this newfound power in their lives is seen in Peter’s reaction. This man, who just days before was too fearful to acknowledge that he even knew Jesus, suddenly stood up and more than acknowledged Him—He preached a bold sermon to multitudes in attendance. As a result about three thousand people were added to the faith in a single day (Acts 2:41).

Peter’s unnatural boldness and ability became the common evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all who believed. The Book of Acts chronicles the Spirit’s arrival through four more instances after the Day of Pentecost: on the Samaritans (Acts 8), on Paul (Acts 9), on the Gentiles (Acts 10), and on the Ephesians (Acts 19). While I don’t have the space here to review each of these in depth, after study you will notice that the primary experience of those filled with God’s Holy Spirit was the empowerment to do something that they couldn’t otherwise do on their own.

The power of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible wasn’t just relegated to select groups within the early church. No, Jesus promised the Spirit as an advocate who would be with all God’s people forever (John 14:16). Likewise, Peter proclaimed that the Holy Spirit was God’s gift for “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:39). And in Acts, Luke provided us with a clue that we should pursue and expect the same power that empowered the early church. Allow me to explain.

Acts begins with Christ’s commission to reach “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The remainder of the book chronicles this mission, made possible by His power, through Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. But the book closes with Paul imprisoned in Rome, obviously short of the ends of the earth. Surely Luke knew the rest of the story, so why didn’t he share it?

Many scholars believe the answer lies in a literary technique used in those days, which leaves off the ending so that the reader will continue the story in his or her life.¹ The significance of this is monumental! It means Luke intended to convey that you and I are to continue the works of Jesus through the same supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, just as Jesus called those in the early church, He calls us to impossible tasks, including far greater things than even He saw in His own ministry. Just before He revealed the coming of His Holy Spirit to His disciples, He promised this: “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

Perhaps it is curious to you how Jesus’s return back to the Father enables you and me to do greater works. Wouldn’t we be more powerful if Jesus were still on earth today? Surprisingly, no. While on earth Jesus was not omnipresent. That is, He was limited to a single human body that could be in only one place at one time. Because He returned to the Father, however, He released His Holy Spirit, who He promised would be present in every believer everywhere and at all times.

Think about some of the works Jesus did during His short ministry on earth. He healed the sick, cast out demons, resisted temptation by the devil, preached to multitudes, endured persecution, showed great compassion to the hurting, and even overcame the power of death. Amazingly, He didn’t accomplish any of this out of His own strength of being God in the flesh. No, He did it in the way that He assured we too can do the same and greater works—by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

—ROMANS 8:11, NLT

The magnitude of this truth is unfathomable. While on earth Jesus “gave up his divine privileges” and depended solely on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:7, NLT). In doing so, He modeled how we too can be obedient to everything God asks of us. To do the impossible, you don’t have to be God; you just have to let Him in and let Him take control.

The New Testament gives many names for the Holy Spirit, often determined by the particular role being described. These include “the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4), “Helper” (John 14:26, ESV), and “Advocate” (John 14:16), among others. Paul, however, often chose to refer to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Christ” or the “Spirit of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6).

In relating the Spirit as Christ, Paul emphasized that the power of Jesus we just reviewed lives inside of each believer. In fact, it was the presence of the Spirit of Christ through whom Paul boasted that he could do all things:

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

—PHILIPPIANS 4:13

“I can do all things through Christ . . .” is one of the most beloved declarations of the faith. We see it on posters and wall art, on bracelets and greeting cards, and even painted on the faces of sports personalities. At first glance, Paul’s words seem to bolster our American idea of personal empowerment—that we can achieve whatever we set our minds to. People use these words to build self-esteem in their potential to acquire great wealth, ace tests, lose weight, win games, or get jobs.

While it might be very inspirational to apply Philippians 4:13 to whatever we desire, the context in which Paul actually declared it gives it a somewhat different meaning. The preceding verses make Paul’s intent very clear:

Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.

—PHILIPPIANS 4:11–12

It is after saying all this that Paul then asserts, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Understand that Paul’s words weren’t those of self-empowerment, turning him into a superman who was able to bust out of the prison from which he wrote this passage. Rather, Christ’s Spirit in Paul empowered him to endure the difficulties and challenges of his calling. He was strengthened to achieve exactly what God had ordained him to achieve. And most importantly, he was able to go through it all with the joy of contentment and the assurance that God would finish what He started.

What Paul’s declaration means to you is that the Holy Spirit will supernaturally empower you to do whatever God asks you to do.

• If God calls you into ministry, He will provide the funds and the opportunities.

• If God asks you to stay in a difficult job, situation, or relationship, He will provide the grace to stick it out with a hopeful attitude.

• If God asks you to give beyond your means, He will provide the finances to meet your needs.

• If you are raising a child by yourself, God will provide the physical and emotional support you need to do it successfully.

• If you are in a crisis or a challenging circumstance, God will provide the wisdom to help you navigate through it.

What is it you have to do? Know that whatever it is, God never planned for you to do it on your own. No, He will do the heavy lifting if you will do the heavy trusting.

As I learned during some of the daunting moments of my ministry, the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, empowered the early church to fulfill Christ’s commission, and kept Paul content in his calling will undoubtedly strengthen you to do what you never thought you could. Here is how to put this all into practice so you can let go and let God take over.

There is no other choice: you must give up trying to make everything happen on your own. Your strength is a limited resource; it runs out. So rip off your Superman or Wonder Woman cape! You were not created to be all things to all people, nor to do all things on your own. No, you were created to be dependent on God’s Spirit, who is an unlimited source of power. The first step of supernatural strength is to lift your hands in surrender, as I did, and admit, “God, I can’t do this on my own! I need your strength.” Now immediately proceed to step 2.

Though the Holy Spirit enters you at the moment of your salvation, subsequently you can be filled and saturated with the Spirit’s power on a continual basis. In fact, the Bible models this as the source of the disciples’ ongoing strength.

And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

—ACTS 13:52, NASB

As the disciples did, you and I should seek the ongoing, fresh infilling of God’s Spirit to strengthen us. To do this, I encourage you to awaken each morning with a simple prayer: “Father, I ask for a fresh filling of Your Holy Spirit. Saturate me with Your presence. Fill me with Your power. Strengthen me to do what I need to do today.” The Bible assures that God gives His Spirit to anyone who asks (Luke 11:13). So after praying this, be confident that you are immediately filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

At His ascension Jesus instructed His disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit, who would come to enable them to fulfill Christ’s commission. Still, as we learned, they had no idea when this would happen or what this would look like. So they had to wait with expectation and trust.

In just a matter of days the apostles received just what Jesus promised—a supernatural strength not of themselves, to do what they could never do on their own. The prophet Isaiah spoke of this same principle many years before:

But those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

—ISAIAH 40:31

What a promise! God doesn’t say you might find new strength; He promises you will! Like the disciples, all you have to do is wait in expectation of it. Be assured: real breakthrough happens when you stop depending on what you can do and start trusting in what God will do in spite of you.^*

#ActivateTheWord

I can do whatever God wants me to do!

Because the Spirit of Christ is in me, I am filled with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and am empowered to do the greater works He promised. Christ in me gives me strength when I am weak, clarity when I feel confused, the right words when I need them, hope when I feel discouraged, joy when I am weary, and the ability to do whatever God asks of me.