026 - Releasing The Power Within!
RELEASING THE POWER WITHIN!By Rodney W. Francis There is a power, an authority that is given to the Holy Spirit-filled believer for using in his/her day-to-day walk with Jesus. The Scripture says (Jesus speaking), “But you shall receive power(“dunamis”) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NKJV). “Dunamis” is a Greek word and means: “act of power” (Young’s); “miraculous power, ability” (Strong’s); “natural capability, inherent power; capability of anything; then, absolutely, not merely power capable of action, but, power in action” (Bullinger’s). “Dunamis” is used 121 times in the New Testament and is translated into the following English words: ability (1), abundance (1), meaning (1), might (4), mighty deed (1), mighty work (11), miracle (8), power (77), strength (7), violence (1), virtue (3), wonderful work (1), worker of miracles (1), and mighty (4). Jesus was declaring that through the Holy Spirit living within us there would be a resident power that has the ability for us to overcome every obstacle that would come against us (to stop us from being His true witnesses) and can enable us to go to the furthest parts of the earth. In these days we need to know the reality of that statement ~ not in word only, but as a practical, outworking experience. The only limitations will be those that we place on ourselves! That power accompanies the Holy Spirit Who is the power of God NOW living inside of us! So when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives He brings with Him the power of God to enable us to serve God in “the power(“strength”) of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). The Holy Spirit is the anointing of God: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power (“dunamis”), Who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”(see Acts 10:34-48)! The same Holy Spirit now resides within us and we should also be going about doing good and healing all who are oppressed of the devil. This power is to make us true witnesses unto the Lord Jesus Christ; not only in our speaking, but in our whole manner of living.
Ephesians 1:13 tells us we have been “sealed (“impressed, stamped”) with the Holy Spirit of promise.” The Apostle Paul tells us that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). We have been sealed by God ~ sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit, making us to know we are part of the Kingdom of God. And we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)! The power of the Holy Spirit in our lives should be so operating within us that our witness of Jesus is reaching out beyond our homes, churches, wherever we fellowship, to the regions beyond, even to the uttermost parts of the world. WE MUST SPEAK THE TRUTH OF WHO WE REALLY ARE! Far too often we are not able to convince others because we are not convinced ourselves about what God has already given to us by His Spirit. If we say we are filled/baptized in the Holy Spirit, then the anointing and power of God is in the Holy Spirit Who is now residing within us. The minor prophet, Micah, lived in days when false prophets and ungodly chaos polluted the land; yet he dared to positively confess: “But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin” (Micah 3:8). That was his testimony: he was filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord! This is a power that is more than physical strength; it is a spiritual power, as Zechariah (another minor prophet) declared: it is “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). GOD HAS INVESTED HIMSELF IN US! When we begin to realize and understand that God has already given you and me this power (resident in the Holy Spirit Who is now resident within us), we will accept that truth and rejoice and glory in His Holy Name that we are indeed “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). We have become true “Jesus people” because of the Holy Spirit anointing and power now living, moving and working in and through us. Our bodies have now become “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:16 & 6:19). God has chosen your life and mine to place His Holy Spirit in so that He might live inside us forever (John 14:16-18). Right now He lives inside of us! Jesus sent Him to us so that He might indwell us for the rest of time and throughout all eternity! This is the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11)! God’s Word says so, and what God says is right! He cannot lie! So many times in life ~ because we do not know who we are right now as Holy Spirit-filled believers ~ we spend so much time asking God to do things that He has already “endued us with power from on high” to do in His Name! Now, irrespective of our feelings, if we want to know more of the Holy Spirit power working in our lives, we need not cry out, “God, do it! Do something . . . save, heal, deliver this person or that, etc.” we would be rather praying, “Lord, teach me more on how I can release Your power that is resident within me!” HE TAUGHT US TO DO HIS WORKS! Jesus came and taught these principles to His disciples (Matthew 10:1; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 6:7-13; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 9:1-6; Luke 10:1-20; John 20:19-23). His will was to empower them to do His works and, after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit power came, they went forth and did the works of Jesus. This pattern has not changed. The very first miracle (after the disciples of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit) happened through Peter and John on their way to a prayer meeting (not on the way home)! They knew the power of God was within them. They knew they did not get “more power” by being in a prayer meeting as the power was already resident within them. They did not tell the crippled man to wait until after the prayer meeting so they could ask God if it were His will or not to pray for him. They knew they had received a mandate from on high to exercise power and authority over all that was an enemy to the cross of Christ. Peter and John stopped walking and stared at the cripple, saying, “Look at us”(Acts 3:4). The man responded and gave them his attention. Then Peter spoke and said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Notice they did not petition God to do the healing ~ they exercised the power and authority of the Holy Spirit that was within them. They commanded the man to rise up and walk! And he did (read Acts 3).
The Apostle Paul had a revelation of the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. In Acts 19:11-12 we read: “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.” Paul’s heart and understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit to show him that the power of God was resident within him and that he could impart healing and wholeness from his body into a handkerchief or apron (or some other garment) that would bring healing and deliverance to others. Paul knew what it meant to release the power of God that was already inside of him! We need to know this too! We need to know that within each one of us there dwells the power of God ~ “But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the power (Greek word is “exousia” meaning “privilege, authority” – Young’s) to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). God has given to you and me the power to overcome every obstacle, every thing that will come across your path. He has given you and me power to overcome, and to become a son of God. What an awesome privilege. But do we know it? The power of God was working in Paul, and from his body this power (“dunamis”) of God was released. Yet his personal stance was: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony (“mystery”) of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (“dunamis”), that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power (“dunamis”) of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Paul did not present himself as an arrogant “know-it-all, look-at-me and what I can do” sort of person. His natural presentation almost defied his spiritual power and authority that he walked in. THE HOLY SPIRIT MASTERS OUR TONGUE! Think of the tremendous victories that God has brought about when His believers (disciples) used their tongue, by declaring and speaking out the word of the Lord. And today we have been given a mandate to speak forth “all the words of this life” (Acts 5:19-20), to release the “dunamis” power of God to the people. That is why Jesus taught His disciples to “tarry until they were endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The key to the early Church’s power and authority was the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the enduement of power from heaven! We are powerless without it! How did they know that they had been endued with power from on high? Because the Holy Spirit so got a hold of their tongues and gave them a spiritual language to build themselves up on their most holy faith to enable them to pray in the Holy Spirit (see Jude 20). Praying in the Spirit language built their faith to the point of action! The most unruly member of the human body was harnessed at Pentecost. The Bible says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (see Acts 2:1-4). (Notice they only began at Pentecost to speak in tongues, not finish ~ the Holy Spirit language is still available for you today)! TESTED IN WILDERNESS EXPERIENCES All who will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit God will use for His own praise, honour and glory. The power of the Holy Spirit is available for you and me today, even in every “wilderness experience” that we go through. Luke Chapter 4 teaches us this. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness! Nobody likes the wilderness ~ it is a desert, a dry place, a place where we are tested and tried (we all need these times). Jesus came forth out of the wilderness. He did not stay there and get overcome there! “Then Jesus returned in the power(“dunamis”) of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region” and then He declared: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He (God) has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed (“downtrodden”); to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (see Luke 4). Jesus was not defeated or lost in the wilderness, like so many are today. He came out in the power of the Holy Spirit!
WE ARE WITNESSES OF JESUS! The apostles gave witness of Jesus and His resurrection power because the Holy Spirit was ministering in and through their lives. They carried the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead!
They declared, “Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power (“dunamis”), and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-6). Let me remind you “to stir up the gift of God which is in you . . . for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power (“dunamis”) and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7). There are sufficient Scriptures and statements by Jesus to show us that what He taught His disciples about releasing the power within, and what we are generally taught today, make us realize that we do need to re-examine our Christian stance on this matter. Do we believe Jesus, or our own feelings? Do we believe Jesus and do what He taught us, or do we keep our Christianity in the realm of theological belief without the accompanying releasing of the Holy Spirit power? Paul very plainly declared: “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power (“dunamis”)” (1 Corinthians 4:20). In the verse before that he said he was not looking to know the Corinthians Christians words but their power! SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN OPERATION HELP US TO RELEASE THE POWER WITHIN! Spiritual Gifts functioning out of our lives are a major means of releasing the power within. Those nine beautiful Gifts of the Holy Spirit are resident within us by and with the Holy Spirit. They are there to be used in obedience to the voice of the Lord, to enable us to release the supernatural of God into peoples’ lives and situations that make them aware that “God is on their case”; that Jesus really does love them, knows all about them and has answers to set them free and bring them into a closer relationship with Himself. Spiritual Gifts in operation establish and build Christian believers and enable them to come to the maturity of the faith of Christ. They also cause unbelievers to know that God is real and can do great things for them if they will respond to those gifts that are released to help them and to give them answers to life. We are living in a day when the natural world is more and more dominated by a “religious spirit.” The only way a religious spirit is going to be truly combated is by Holy Spirit-filled Christians demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit, plus Spiritual Gifts, thus giving witness to Jesus being alive from the dead! Unless we can demonstrate the power of God then the world will not be convinced that Christianity is the only way to God, heaven and eternal life.
Jesus said: “. . . out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:34-35). Jesus said: “He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor)” (John 7:37-39, AMP.).
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