Tag Archives: power

Kept – By The Power Of His Name!

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KEPT – BY THE POWER OF HIS NAME! 

“‘I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

“‘I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.

“‘While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by the name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.'” John 17:9-12 NIV.

What a power-packed prayer! Not much asking — in fact only one request, but nevertheless full of assurance and affirmation!

What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer?

The first thing I notice is that this was a Son talking to His Father, expressing His confidence in and submission to the Father — not begging, cajoling, bargaining, demanding or manipulating. This is Jesus, Son of God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, communing with His Abba in the language of intimacy and trust.

Secondly, Jesus expressed His oneness with the Father. Everything they owned, they shared. The men whom Jesus loved and trained for three years belonged to the Father, given to Jesus as a sacred trust. During His earthly life He protected them by the power of God’s name.

Where did the idea come from that is bandied about in many parts of the church today that we must “plead the blood of Jesus” over our loved ones and possessions, when the Bible teaches us that we are kept by the power of God’s name? Unlike us humans who blindly follow the error of others because it sounds good, Jesus knew the Scriptures!

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10 NIV.

Everything that God is, is in His name; His character and His attributes are represented by His name. To invoke the name of God is to call on His love, mercy, grace and power to intervene on our behalf. When Moses requested to see God’s glory, God revealed His name.

“Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.'” Exodus 33:18, 19 NIV.

From what was Jesus praying that His disciples be protected?

We erroneously think that the devil is our worst enemy. If that were true, we would be helpless victims of his wicked schemes. No, we are our own worst enemy because there are in our old, selfish natures the seeds of self-destruction. We have the power to choose. God has given us His nature (2 Peter 1:4) but it is our responsibility to nourish that nature through faith in His promises. We are transformed into His image by gazing at Him (2 Corinthians 3:18) and contemplating His glory – His name.

Kept – by the power of His name – not some external power descending on us from above but the power of God’s nature wrought in us and at work in us by the Holy Spirit that makes us immune to the deception of the devil because we know the truth and can discern his lies.

Thirdly He was one with the Father in their nature and in their purpose to redeem mankind through His death. He would not deviate from the Father’s plan no matter what the cost. It was His passion that His disciples become one as He and the Father are one because, in that unity was the power to witness to the world that He was no self-appointed upstart but that He had come from the Father.

 

 

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Seven

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DAY SEVEN

 To whom, then, will you compare God?

What image will you compare Him to?

……Do you not know, have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught

and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

No sooner are they planted,

no sooner are they sown,

no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than He blows on them and they wither,

and the whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.”

Isaiah 40:18, 21-4

 This Scripture is a prophetic vision of God’s creative power and government over the nations and their rulers.  In this world of political turmoil and endless power struggles in the nations, we need to keep our focus on the God who is sovereign over the whole earth.  We may not like the ones who wield political power. We may not like their decisions or what they do, but we acknowledge with gratitude that they are only there for a season and God is able to raise up and put down governments and rulers to serve His greater purposes.  When our eyes are on Him we will not be shaken by the things that go on around us.  History is His Story and He is writing it through the lives of human beings, and moving everything towards His desired goal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer: Lesson 6 – The Outcome Of Prayer – God’s Kingdom

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LESSON 6

THE OUTCOME OF PRAYER – GOD’S KINGDOM

 INTRODUCTION

Prayer is primarily about bringing about God’s rule on earth so that His glory can be put on display. God has personally involved us in this enterprise because He gave man the earth to manage for Him as His vice-regents.

The kingdom of God is His family business. God relates to us as sons and daughters and allows us to share His rule by carrying out His will on earth.

The best way to get an understanding of our role in bringing God’s kingdom to earth is through watching and listening to Jesus who is our perfect  pattern.

1. JESUS IDENTIFIED WITH THE HUMAN RACE

Jesus came as a human baby to grow up and be one of us. He had to learn to be human and to experience everything that humans experience.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15 (NIV).

He also had to learn the meaning of being a son.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered and, once made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation for all wo obey Him…” Hebrews 5:7-9 (NIV).

Question: In what ways was Jesus just like us and in what ways was He different from us?

He was made like us in every way: He was tempted like we are; He functioned as a human being; He was empowered by the Holy Spirit; He had to learn.

He was different in that He was both fully God and fully man. He did not function as God in His earthly life. He set aside His deity and lived purely as a human being.

2. JESUS PARTNERED WITH HIS FATHER AS A MATURE SON

He was already aware of His sonship at the age of twelve. His obedience to His heavenly Father took precedence over His earthly parents.

“Why were you searching for me?” He asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49 (NIV).

He spent hours with the Father, nurturing His relationship with Him, growing in confidence in His Father’s disposition and will, learning how to partner with Him in His ministry and how to establish His kingdom on earth. He spent hours watching the Father and listening to Him.

“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees the Father doing because whatever the Father does, the Son does also. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.’” John 5:19,20 (NIV).

Question: In what ways can we imitate Jesus as a son?

3. JESUS ALWAYS PUT GOD’S GLORY AND GODS KINGDOM FIRST IN EVERYTHING HE DID

Jesus always viewed every circumstance from God’s perspective. relating to God’s rule.

Three examples:

1. He viewed sickness and death as an opportunity to show people what God could do.

“Walking down the road, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?’

“Jesus said, ‘You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.’” John 9:1-3 (The Message).

Jesus received a message that His friend, Lazarus was sick.

“When Jesus got this message, He said, ‘This sickness is not fatal. It will be an occasion to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.’” John 11:4 (The Message).

2. He viewed all circumstances as relating to people’s relationship to God.

“About that time some people came up and told Him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, ‘Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you will also die.’” Luke 13:1-3 (The Message).

3. He taught and brought the kingdom of God into people’s everyday lives.

“He tried again, ‘How can I picture God’s kingdom for you? It’s like yeast that a women works into enough dough for three loaves of bread – and waits while the dough rises.’” Luke 13:20 (The Message).

If we are the sons and daughters of God, we need to be imitating Jesus. Since it is our role to continue the mission of Jesus on earth, we cannot do it in a hit-and-miss fashion.

Jesus gave His life to transfer us from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light.

“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” Colossians 1:13 (NIV)

4. OUR RESPONSE TO JESUS PASSION FOR GOD’S KINGDOM

Jesus came to announce God’s kingdom and to set it up in people’s hearts by dealing with sin and opening the way to the Father.

His work would be in vain if we are not passionate about what He is passionate about.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15 (NIV).

Paraphrase: If you value what I value, you will do what I tell you so that you do not break my heart.

Jesus focussed all His energy on teaching and establishing God’s kingdom. His prayer was directed to doing His Father’s will.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 (NIV).

Question: In what practical ways can we imitate Jesus in His passion for the Father’s kingdom and glory?

CONCLUSION

1. Jesus is the model we are called to follow.

2. His passion for God’s rule in people’s live spilled over into everything He said and did.

3. His prayer life was the engine that drove Him. Anything less is unworthy of Him.

 

The Power To Transform

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THE POWER TO TRANSFORM

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.'” Luke 6:31-34 (The Message).

Jesus was brilliant!

What an amazingly simple, yet powerfully effective prescription for creating harmony in the world! But it takes far more than the disposition of ordinary humans to do that.

We humans have far more inclination to destroy that to build and to sustain. Watching television is enough to convince us of that. How many TV programmes and movies and books and news stories are about destruction? And we thrive on them all! Watching or reading about everyday stuff is tame and boring. We like murder and war and bloodshed.

Jesus challenged His hearers, and He challenges us today. Try living this way for a month and see what it does to your depression; your stress; even your anxieties and fears. How many of the issues you have with others will melt away? How much suspicion, mistrust, dislike, offenses will dissipate? How much peace will you experience in the place of inner turmoil?

Just imagine how far the ripples will go out from the pebble you drop in the pond! You have issues with your husband? Try doing for him what you are always nagging him to do for you. Your wife refuses to be your servant? Try lovingly serving her without expecting any reward. The outcome beggars imagination. Homes would be transformed from war zones to havens.

Jesus put His finger on the nerve centre of our problems — selfishness! What if we dethroned ourselves, just for a month, put Him back on the throne of our lives where He belongs, let God be the centre of the universe, not us, and practised these simple ways to create harmony, not chaos, around us? Jesus said our behaviour would be as visible as a candle in a dark room.

None of these things are difficult to do, but we have strong resistance from inside because they are foreign to our natural disposition. That is the reason why we need a supernatural solution to our problem of selfishness. It may take sheer grit and will power to do what we are not disposed to doing, but it will not last. We will soon be back to our old ways because every kind thought or act would be cutting across our real selves.

What Jesus was describing is “kingdom” living and He said that it takes a “birth” from above to understand and live the way God does. This kind of “power” makes no sense to the person who is used to living by the sword. Is that why the disciples switched off when Jesus spoke about His death? It made no sense to them then that the way to overcome the world system of power through force was to absorb the evil without retaliation until that power could do no more to Him.

Nothing about God’s kingdom makes sense to the person who is still dark inside. The disposition of darkness only understands the power that pushes others around. Jesus was advocating a new kind of power, the power to subdue one’s own heart to the advantage of others. The power of love. What the world calls “power”, He called weakness. What He called “power”, the world called weakness, foolishness, but it turned out to be the most powerful event in the history of the world — the cross!

The cross changes things for the better like nothing else can. Force can change the world — for the worse. But the cross changes lives.

Has it changed yours?

By What Power?

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BY WHAT POWER?

“The next day a meeting was called in Jerusalem. The rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander — everybody who was anybody was there. They stood Peter and John in the middle of the room and grilled them: ‘Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?'” Acts 4:5-7 (The Message).

Get the picture? All the religious ‘who’s who’ in Jerusalem, in full regalia and in all their blustering authority, confront the apostles who have done something they did not authorise. Man-power and God-power go head to head. Which one is God going to back?

We must remember, according to the teaching of the Apostles Paul and Peter, that the governing authorities are ordained by God and delegated by Him to maintain order in society. Therefore, no matter what they do, God backs the government because He put them there. But, of course, He also holds them accountable for what they do because He makes the rules and, if they do not uphold and obey them, they are culpable.

But now Jesus has put a spanner in the works. He came to re-establish God’s kingdom on earth. This kingdom takes precedence over the kingdoms of the world. He commissioned His disciples to announce this kingdom and invite people to enter it by way of faith in Him through His sacrificial death. This kingdom is one of righteousness, joy, peace and power which they had just demonstrated by healing a crippled man.

The kingdom of God is not about maintaining order. It’s about restoring everything that is broken. Broken bodies, broken spirits, broken lives, broken relationships, broken hopes, broken dreams, everything broken by the Fall stands in line for the power of God to restore. What happened to the crippled beggar and what happens to millions of people around the world is a foretaste of the final and complete restoration of all things when Jesus returns to finish what He began.

Who does God back in this conflict? The apostles, of course! The religious hierarchy threw all the power they had at the apostles but it could never match the power of God. It was His determined purpose to set up His kingdom in the hearts of men. He was revealing the true nature of the King by healing hearts and bodies. No threats, intimidation, persecution or imprisonment could stop His emissaries from delivering the message to whoever would receive it.

Even if they lost their lives in the process, they had nothing to lose. Death held no fear for them because Jesus had conquered death and delivered them from its terror, as Paul said, “‘for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.'” Philippians 2:21 (NIV).

What these poor benighted religious leaders did not realise was that the apostles were actually supporting them in their role as governing authorities. Every new member of God’s kingdom signed on to be law-abiding citizens of the state as well as obedient children of God. They should have been rejoicing and supporting the apostles instead of opposing them and shutting them up in jail.

Such is the nature of deception! What the religious leaders wanted was not true allegiance to God but the power to control the hearts and consciences of people; and they were losing it. They were determined to control at any price – even resorting to murder again as they had tried to get rid of Jesus. Would they never learn!

To try to oppose God is as foolish as trying to empty the ocean with a thimble. Not even the most powerful civil authority or religious force can prevent God from achieving His goal. Hitler tried and lost. Communism tried and failed.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelation 14:15b (NIV),
is the triumphant cry of heaven.eligious force