Commissioned: Passion to Purpose: Living the Great CommissionSample

The Power

Have you ever turned on a lamp…and nothing happened? You check the switch, check the bulb—the lamp is fine. Then you realize the problem: The lamp is not plugged in. Of course! A lamp is not designed to work without electric power. It brings light to the room only because electricity is at work in it.

The same is true of Jesus’s disciples. We are not designed to work without the power of the Holy Spirit. We bring light to the world only because the Holy Spirit works in us.

Being Jesus’s witness to the whole world is a big task, one that could totally overwhelm us. If we are being honest, witnessing to even one of our friends can seem overwhelming! But the Holy Spirit empowers us to show and tell others about God’s love for them. Jesus knows that we cannot be His witnesses without the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why he told his disciples to “stay in the city” until they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Since that first Pentecost, believers in Jesus have been empowered by the Holy Spirit at their baptism and confirmation.

We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit but sometimes we don’t realize the power that is at work within us. The apostle Paul, again writing from a Roman prison, reminded the disciples in the Philippian church about what an awesome thing it is to have God at work within us. He says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.” The phrase “fear and trembling” is often used in the Bible and it means “to be filled with awe.” Paul is saying that we should be filled with awe over the reality that it is God Himself who is at work in us, enabling us to do what He wants.

Telling people about Jesus can be scary. But the Apostle Paul reminds us that the awesome power of the Holy Spirit is at work with us as we obey Jesus. We could never do it without Him, but He never asked us to do it without Him. We are obedient to His command to witness to others not because we are afraid of what God will do to us if we don’t obey, but because we are aware of the awesome power of God at work within us when we do.

Let’s stay plugged into His power through the sacraments, meditation on the Bible, and devotional prayer. And may our “fear and trembling” not be because we are afraid of people, but because we are aware of the awesome power of God that is at work in and through us!

Stop, think and pray:

Meditate on the awesome fact that the God of the universe is at work in and through you! Confess any known sin and ask God to fill you afresh with the Holy Spirit. Practice being “God-inside-minded,” remembering that God Himself is within you throughout the day.