Power 'n Love

I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I think about the circumstances of our world today, I just want to stick my head in the sand and forget about the whole sordid mess! It makes my heart heavy when I listen to the news or think about the world my grandchildren will grow up in!

There is a part of me that wants to restrict myself to church and Bible study. To surround myself in isolation and put on the blinders to hate. But God has been tugging at my heart - to see things from a different perspective. To look for hope and love.

Hope and love. That does NOT describe our world today. How am I supposed to see through the noise and chaos to find hope and love?

Jesus. That still small voice keeps leading me towards Jesus.

The Bible nerd in me decided to LOOK for hope and love through a word study. Did you know that the word LOVE is mentioned almost 200 times in the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? That's a whole lot of love while Jesus ministered to a world that hated Him. A world of political darkness. A world that did everything they could to get rid of Him. A world that wanted to do away with our connection to God.

Sound familiar?

And in a world full of hate and lies, what did He do? He loved. He loved the poor, the sick, the people the world refused to acknowledge. He loved those the world wanted to throw away - the ones who were just trying to survive the world they lived in.

Sound familiar?

Throughout the gospels, Jesus was the perfect example of love. And when He was asked what was the greatest commandment, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30) Love Jesus and love others. Not just love others, but love them as much as you love yourself.

That is exactly the OPPOSITE of what our world wants us to do! The world is screaming at us to forget God! To forget who we are. To forget the most important words He said. They are counting on all that noise to be so loud that it's impossible for us to hear that still small voice. Their volume is their ticket to winning the battle. And there's a lot of that "love yourself" going around.

The battle. We are definitely at war! The war between good and evil... the classic standoff.

Every battle ends the same way. Someone wins. Someone loses. One side overpowers the opponent. To that thought, I smile. For the world forgets who they are up against... who holds the power in HIS hands. The key to winning this battle is for US to not forget!

Power. There's so many perspectives of POWER. Who holds the biggest weapon. Who has the largest army. Who can outsmart the other. Who can hold on to hate the longest. Is that who we are? Someone hanging onto hate like it's our only hope?

NO. No, no, no!

Jesus spent 3 years ministering love, but before He joined the Father in Heaven, He poured out POWER! The word power is mentioned 129 times in the Book of Acts and not one time is the word love mentioned. Power. He wanted us to know the power of Holy Spirit. He couldn't leave this world without telling us how to defend ourselves IN this world while He wasn't in it.

Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. If we stop feeling conviction, then we have bigger problems. He teaches and reveals God's word to us. He's the Spirit of truth. And Holy Spirit brings believers closer together. “All the believers were united in heart and mind." (Acts 4:32)

And Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus. He empowers us to do the same ministry Jesus did as He walked this earth - signs and wonders, healing and miracles. Holy Spirit gives us power to testify - to find courage in our witness. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Without Him we cannot do as Jesus did.

So, have we forgotten who we are? WE are the power and love this world is missing! If WE don't show up for this battle, how many will be overpowered by the opponent? How many will leave this world never knowing THEIR opportunity to have power and love?

It is for those very reasons that we cannot hide from the battle. We are the winners (I read the end of the Book). The only question is HOW we want to win. Do we hide until it's all over? Not me! I will fight until the end! I will "recruit" and add to our army until I breathe my last breath on this earth. And then I will breathe walking the streets of gold.

CHARGE!

Isaiah 11:2

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD.