Recently, the Holy Spirit has led me to discover the power of God. I have always known that God is powerful, but it seems He has opened my eyes to the fact that his power is not limited by any means.
While cleaning my daughter's room I stumbled upon a note card, stuffed in a corner, with a verse from Psalm 147:5 typed on it. The verse reads...
"Great is our Lord and mighty in power..."
It was not by accident that I happened to find this amongst the Barbie dolls, baby dolls, dress up clothes and what not. Our God is powerful and when He is sought, He will be found.
He has revealed His power to me in numerous places in His Word.
I have been reading about Elijah in 1 Kings. One of many examples where God uses His power to show His people who is Lord.
King Ahab of Israel is told by a prophet that he will defeat a vast army of Arameans, so that he may know who is Lord. He is told that he will defeat this army using the young officers of the provincial commanders (232 men). He also assembled the rest of the Israelites (7,000 in all). What is important to understand is that the Lord said: "The young officers of the provincial commanders will do it." With only 232 men, young men, the power of God will defeat a VAST army. I italicized young, because when I think of young, I think less experienced. Without doing any research on "provincial commanders", it seems as though God is saying here that He can defeat a vast army with young, less experienced men and He doesn't need a vast army to do it.
The first battle ends with the Arameans fleeing the young officers of the provincial commanders and King Ahab overpowering some of the fleeing horses and chariots, which inflicted heavy losses on the Armaneans.
The Armaneans did not stop at that.
The Armaneans were foolish in thinking the reason King Ahab and his men defeated them was because, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they." (1Kings 20:23) They go on to devise a plan that includes raising an army like one they had before the first battle, thinking "...surely we will be stronger than they." (1 Kings 20:25).
God had prepared King Ahab by sending a prophet to him.
"...This is what the Lord says: 'Because the Arameans think the Lord is god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord." (1 Kings 20: 28)
The second battle resulted like this:
"...The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room." (1 Kings 20: 29)
Lets take a look at numbers on both sides. The Israelites consisted of 7,232 men. The Aramean army consisted of 127,000 men.
Like King Ben-Hadad I would certainly flee and hide for my life. I would have also humbled myself before the Lord and sought his mercy and grace.
The power of God cannot compare by any means to that of man.
I feel that the Holy Spirit has awakened me to a new understanding of the power of God. Today, we either feel we don't need to call on the power of God- we are comfortable with our situations, our surroundings, we open the door just enough, we are lukewarm- we rely on God's power in some situations, but not all. Also, I think we forget that we can still call on the power of God. Finally, most of us just don't believe that God would use his power in our circumstances or situations.
We also understand from this passage and many other examples throughout God's Word, Daniel, Timothy, Esther, David and others, that God will use the young to act according to His will, His plan. His power can be used by anyone who seeks Him and has faith to believe God can do the unexplainable.
Jim Cymbala, author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire and pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle writes:
"If we prevail in prayer, God will do what only he can do. How he does things, when he does them, and in what manner are up to him. The name of Jesus, the power of his blood, and the prayer of faith have not lost their power over the centuries."
"When it comes to spiritual matters, you and I will never know our potential under God until we step out and take risks on the front line of battle. We will never see what power and anointing are possible until we bond with our King and go out in his name to establish his kingdom. Sitting safely in the shelter of Bible discussions among ourselves, or complaining to one another about the horrible state of today's society, does nothing to unleash the power of God. He meets us in the moment of battle. He energizes us when there is an enemy to be pushed back."
Do you call on God? Do you seek Him? Do you believe He can use you in a powerful way to bring Him glory?
I do.
Jim Cymbala states,
"In every century, on every continent, warriors such as these are the ones who press forward the kingdom of God. They lay aside the distractions of life to do exploits in the spiritual realm. Whether or not they become famous on earth is beside the point. They are heroes and heroines nonetheless."
God spoke so powerfully to Ezekiel that afterwards he sat for seven days-"overwhelmed" (Ezekiel 3:15).
I want the Holy Spirit to overwhelm me with His power, so that I may do not great, but awesome things in mighty ways for my Lord, the one who is, who was and is to come.
It is time we (the world) recognize who is king and to call on His power to move in a mighty way.
I want to end with a vision of the Lord God who is king over all the earth, "who is and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8).
"like a son of man," 'dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance" (Revelation 1:13-16).
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