POWER

by Barbara Chadwick

 

“They can’t go back to their homes ‘til they get power.”

“I wonder what the pioneers did.  You can’t go west ‘til you get power!”  My friend was speaking tongue in cheek, of course.

We were discussing the High Park fire in Colorado and the people who were evacuated from their homes.  It was eight days after the fire started.  About 2000 families had been displaced, 180 homes destroyed, many more damaged and one person killed. (Note: Today, after 2 weeks, the fire is 45% contained and has burned 75,537 acres with 191 homes destroyed!)

A forest fire creates its own power. It develops intense winds that fuel and fan the flames. What would it be like if believers were filled with the Holy Spirit today as they were at Pentecost and if that Spirit and power would overflow and be spilled out to others?  What an amazing thought!

Charles Spurgeon said, in his devotional book Morning by Morning, about the Holy Spirit, “Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit’s presence. As sacred oil, He anoints the head of the believers and gives them grace to do His work properly. As the only truly purifying water, He cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us to holiness. As the light, He first revealed to us our lost condition, and now He reveals the LORD Jesus to us and in us. As fire, He both purges in us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature on fire. As the dove, with wings of peaceful love He hovers over His Church. As a Comforter, He dispels the cares and doubts that mar the peace of His beloved. As the wind, He brings the breath of life. Would to God, that we might feel His presence this day and every day.”

Jesus told the disciples before He was taken up into heaven, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will baptized with the holy Spirit…. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:4; 8)

Father, God, fill us with Your Spirit. Light a fire within us. Make us aware of Your presence in our lives. Let the light of Your love and grace emanate from our words and actions to touch others.