So, how many of you cleaned behind your refrigerator this past week?  A severe thunderstorm visited Washington, Idaho and Western Montana this past Wednesday evening and left a widespread area across these states without power for about 18 hours. We have a small gas-powered generator that provides power for a couple appliances. We have two freezers and one refrigerator, so I kept switching cords to keep the three going (I believe that is called “alternating current”!).  The refrigerator had to be pulled out in order to gain access to the plug. Wow, it is amazing how much dust and crud collects behind your refrigerator!  It is not a place that gets cleaned very often!  So, it should be good now until the next major power outage!  I have several gas cans that I had planned to fill last week and had them set out to take in the night the storm hit. Fortunately I had just enough gas left to keep the generator going until the power came on, as the gas stations are also dependent on power to operate.

     When the power goes out it creates lots of problems for all affected. Fortunately, besides having a generator, we also have a hand pump on our well so we have water available, and we have a wood stove to heat water. Such is not the case with many.  One large local grocery store here has generator backup, but they ran out of gas for their generators!  So, they had an impromptu parking lot sale!   The storm reminded us anew of how dependent we are on the power grid. Life changes in a hurry when we are without power.  This past Thursday night, hurricane Helene slammed into the southeastern states, resulting in more than 50 deaths (with 600 still missing) and leaving several million without power. 

     As we experienced firsthand the challenges we face when we are without power, I couldn’t help but think of the importance of power in our Christian lives as well.  The Bible speaks a lot about power, with 272 references in 260 verses, 137 of them in the New Testament.  One of the attributes of God is His”Omnipotence.” God is “all-powerful.” He is El Shaddai (“God Almighty”…Gen. 17:1).  Nothing is too difficult for God. “Ah LORD God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm!  Nothing is too difficult for Thee” (Jer. 32:17). Some of the references in the Old Testament to God’s power (such as Jer. 32:17) use the word koach (ko’akh), which speaks of force and strength. Other references speak of God’s authority, using the word shalat (shaw-lot’), meaning to rule, govern, or have dominion.  As the sovereign God, He is all-powerful and has all authority. 

     Similarly in the New Testament, God’s power and authority are both mentioned.  When Jesus healed the  paralytic (recorded in Mark 2:1-12), He demonstrated His power by restoring his health, and His authority by forgiving the man’s sins (v. 10).  The Greek word, exousia (ex-oo-see’-ah) means authority or right.  Jesus again used that term in Jn. 10:18, saying: “No one has taken it (My life) from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again…”   Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry He manifested both His power and authority over His creation.  In what we call “The Great Commission” (of the Apostles) in Matt. 28:18-20, “Jesus came up to them, saying, ‘All authority (exousia) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’ ” (v. 18).   

     Earlier, when Jesus sent out Apostles “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing” (Lk. 9:2),  “He called the twelve together, and gave them power (dunamis) and authority (exousia) over all the demons, and to heal diseases” (v. 1). Jesus equipped them for the particular ministry on which He sent them.

      After Jesus resurrection, and forty days later, just before He ascended back to heaven, Jesus again called the disciples together and “commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised (the coming of the Holy Spirit…Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:7,13)” (Acts 1:4). Jesus went on to add, “but you shall receive power (dunamis) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witness both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (v. 8).  During the period after Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the disciples were living in confusion and fear. But after Pentecost, we see a transformed group who boldly went around preaching of the resurrection. What made the difference?  It was the power of the Holy Spirit that came to indwell believers.  From the Greek word dunamis, we get our English words “dynmo,” and “dynamic,” and “dynamite.”  

     Each of us who has trusted in Christ and been born again, has the Spirit of God dwelling in us (I Cor. 6:19,20), and has the same power (dunamis) and authority (exousia) to proclaim the Good News of the death, burial and resurrection. We are new creations in Christ (II Cor. 5:17), and  “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power (dunamis) and love and discipline” (II Tim. 1:7). “Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power (dunamis) that works within us” (Eph. 3:20). “And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power (dunamis) which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:29). 

     Sadly, as Christians, we too often try do things in our own strength and find ourselves powerless. We fail to “abide in Christ” (Jn. 15:1-5) and so don’t draw upon the power of the indwelling Spirit by allowing Him to be in control (Gal. 5:16; Eph. 5:18).  Needlessly we suffer from a “power outage” when the power is available. We just need to stay “plugged in” to the power source. Even the Apostle Paul, a spiritual giant, had to admit: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (II Cor. 3:5).  But then to the saints at Philippi, He wrote: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). “Strengthens”  means “empowered” (endunamoo). 

          If you are facing a “power outage” in your life, get plugged back in!  The power is available. 

Forever His,

Pastor Dave Nelson