Believing the Promises of God - in His Word

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Without weakening in his faith… Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. ~ Romans 4 [selected 18-21]



Wednesday, April 29, 2009

POWER SOURCE


1 Corinthians 2:1-12
1 When I [Paul] came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom,
but on God's power.
Wisdom From the Spirit
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him" 10 but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. [emphasis added]

Who or what is your power source? Do you rely on man's wisdom? Is your job your power source? Is your ministry? Is your schooling? Is your spouse? Is your child? Is your own mind? Or is it the true and living God that lives within your heart - the very Holy Spirit of God?

We all want to answer 'yes' to the last question - and score an "A" with the LORD. But I ask you as I have asked myself, does my LIFE match up to relying on that very power source as the key to my everyday living? In the choices I make? The places I go? The sites I visit? The way I spend my time?

Do we truly access that power all day - every day? Or is our power cord unplugged for much of the time? Or worse, plugged into another source?

God continually brings me back to this Scripture passage again and again. Perhaps He knows I need to check the cables of my power source.

PRAYER accesses the power source as soon as the heart speaks! What changes do you and I need to make to be connected to the right source - all the time - to access all that God has for us? I don't know about you - but I don't want to live on half power, do you?

Choosing JOY,

Stephanie
[JESUS - the One I Worship]

11 comments:

Alleluiabelle said...

Hi Stephanie,

This is another powerful post. You really make me think about so many things when I come here. I don't want to live on half power at any time in my life. That is one thing that I am certain of.

I know for the past 2 1/2 years I have had a problem with balance in my life and commitment. Because of our health issues, I haven't been able to commit for a long time to so many things. One thing is for sure, my heart is committed to the Lord. I strive to breathe and live life through Him and Him through me. Balance is a tough one for me. I want my life to be in balance with Him. He needs to show me a little more in how to do that. I think I fall short on that at times because of so much that goes on in our lives.

Thanks for sharing this today. I loved the picture. It's correlates exactly with your wonderful post.

Love and Hugs,
Alleluiabelle

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Love this scripture; actually, I love them all, but this one is particularly helpful in times of needing to root through all the extras to get to the one single thread of truth that keeps us anchored to our purpose.

The preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Everything else is just extra!

Thanks for the encouragement.

peace~elaine

Warren Baldwin said...

Good thoughts. I'm preaching on prayer this Sunday (Col. 1:9-14). You have some good food for thought for me here.

Yolanda said...

What a great visual!!!!


Love you,
Yolanda

Beth Herring said...

wow. I want to keep plugged into that power source daily!! Forgive me Lord, for when I have allowed myself to get unplugged. May I keep myself connected to the One who has the power of all powers!!

Thanks for this today Stephanie.
Beth

Susan said...

Hey Stephanie,

Now, this was VERY creative!! Great verse.

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

Lisa Smith said...

Hi Stephanie,

Yes, I choose to live with full power. I pray I'm wise enough to realize when my cables are slipping!!

Pam said...

This was great Stephanie! I have been realizing lately that we can become so involved in ministry, or doing other things for God, that they can become our reason for the day! It is amazing when you think about being connected entirely to Him and NOTHING in this world. Although we are in the world, but not of the world! It is so unworldly!! We are to even worship our children according to the world! I, too am learning balance, and trying to stay connected! Thanks Stephanie! Awesome post! Love, Pam

TRUTH SHARER said...

Pam:
Your comment reminds me of my favorite quote that is listed along the side bar on my blog.

"Never allow your service for God to become a substitute for your relationship with Him."

It's sooo true - we must keep a balance - keeping our relationship to God FIRST - then allowing that love relationship to produce service - but never
at the expense of the other.

We all need that reminder......

Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

We live in a house built in 1893. Originally had no electricity and the house hasn't been "updated" since 1960. You could say we have all sorts of "issues." Trying to live in 2009 without up-to-date wiring is difficult!

What a WONDERFUL lesson and visual and correlation you give us. I want so much to be grounded in HIS WORd and HIS WILL.
I want to be connected only to CHRIST for everything else is just wired wrong.... Trying to live without the proper wiring is not only difficult - but the eternal consequences . . . .

LisaShaw said...

Stephanie -- this says it all:

"We all want to answer 'yes' to the last question - and score an "A" with the LORD. But I ask you as I have asked myself, does my LIFE match up to relying on that very power source as the key to my everyday living? In the choices I make? The places I go? The sites I visit? The way I spend my time?"