Power From On High

Luke 24:49  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

I’m always reading and listening to Christian messages with a thirst for learning more about the Lord and the Word of God. Sure, Bloggers are looking for subjects and material to post about, but seriously, the topics and issues are endless because of the infinite depth of omniscient Almighty God and the non-ceasing confusion of finite human understand. It is easy to believe that the physics of this tangible world (that which is perceivably evident to the senses) acts upon naturalism of our flesh to focus on the “here and now”, to the illusion that this life, this moment, is the purpose. The “Original Sin” (which was “not believing, not trusting and not obeying God) led to the “fall of mankind” (which was the death of the “spirit” of mankind – the relationship separation with Father God and spiritual discernment lost – Habakkuk 1:13, John 3:3, 1 Corinthians 2:24). Blinded from the spiritual presence of the Creator by sin, natural mankind lives daily by nature’s power which can be physically sensed and human logic based upon incomplete knowledge, because it is void of nature’s Creator God, and trusting in our perceived power rather than the “power from on high” – the power of God – the true power. This absence of truth leads to the question and endless pursuit of “purpose”. But there are bigger and eternal consequences to sin that need to be addressed.

Luke 12:4-5 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!

Not only is there the question of how to have the virtuous and “fruitful”’ life today of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, but the question of where will we go when this life is over? Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God “has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts”. Nobody can hide from the questions, because the kingdom of God and His power, His providential love and care for His creation and children, is the only answer; the light in the darkness that will restore the “spirit”, that we can see and know truth and really live.  How do we get there from here is the next question.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

God, Himself, provided the way by His power from on high; a power beyond our limited comprehension, but is obvious in nature. This word “power” is the Greek word “δύναμις”, pronounced “dynamis”, which we get our English word “dynamite” from. By God’s almighty power, the power from above, Jesus Christ is that Way, that Truth, and the Life (eternal life that begins the moment we believe and accept Him as Savior and Lord) that we seek. Jesus is the rescuer with the remedy to our blind pursuit for “the “real” life, sent by our loving Creator God, by His power, out of His mercy and grace, received by our repentance of sin and accepting the free gift. Let’s quit looking, by our own power, in all the “wrong” places.

I opened with the Bible verse Luke 24:49 and close with the verses that precede it. Luke 24:45-48 Then He (Jesus) opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed  in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are  witnesses of these things.”

Be a light and witness to the world of “the Truth”. Life is in Christ, so live there. That’s why I always end these posts with the words:                          In Christ, Brian