Now That is Powerful

Several years ago a group called Team Impact visited our church.  This team believes that  we live in a "sight and sound" generation. The truth is that fallen man has been seeking to fulfill their emptiness with what they can see, hear and touch since man's first disobedience. Since that time we have been pulled in every direction by a world that promises  everything and offers nothing. Team Impact has learned that if you can get a person's attention - they will listen to what you have to say- and boy, has Team Impact found a way to get that attention!

Their unique style of ministry uses the talents of elite athletes performing a mesmerizing production of strength which  demands the  attention of old and young alike. The appeal is nearly irresistible, especially for those who would normally never attend church. While the method may be unconventional, the message is timeless-salvation through grace by faith in Jesus Christ.  These former athletes performed such amazing feats as bending a frying pan, blowing up a hot water bottle,tearing a large phone book in half, splitting concrete blocks,   breaking a bat behind their back and  lifting  enormous amounts of weight.  These are just of few of the awe inspiring methods they used to get the attention of the audience.  They were sheer power houses!

Several weeks passed, following the event at our church, when one morning I walked into the living room to find my phone book torn in half.  Immediately I went and questioned my husband.  He indicated that after I went to bed he had been watching television and saw a program which revealed the secrets to various "tricks," one of which was tearing the phone book in half.  He wanted to show me that although he didn't have the bulging muscles of the Team Impact members he was quite capable of pulling off some of their feats.  It wasn't enough that he had proven to himself that he could do it-he also wanted to 'show off' to his friends.  He tried it at our Sunday School class fellowship and with a group of close friends.  After watching him struggle for quite some time  and strain to the point of a possible hernia he managed to tear the book apart.  I reminded him that for some reason the Team Impact member didn't look like he was about to pop an artery in his neck when he tore the book apart.  There may be some skill involved the tearing the book, but the team member possessed some pretty awesome physical  power to make it happen,

Physically I will never be as strong as the athlete, but spiritually as a believer I posses an amazing power that is at work in my life.  Scripture says,

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be opened so that you will know the hope to which you have been called, the riches of his glorious inheritance and the incomparably great power to those of us who believe.  That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms."  Eph 1:18-20

As the apostle Paul wrote this he understood the Christians in this area of Ephesus.  He was well aware of the many moods and experiences the believers were subject to.  He knew that they ran the risk, just as we do today, of having luke warmness set in.  He was well aware of the apathy that can arise after a hopeful beginning.  He didn't want them to loose their vitality in their Christian struggle.  He desired that they have a vibrant experience with Jesus Christ, but knew that they were capable of falling very short of that mark.

Paul also understood the hostile environment in which the Ephesian Christians were living. Each day they faced ridicule, persecution and hostility.  The apostle Paul understood the believers needed to understand that there was a power at work in their lives  that was beyond anything they had known-this power was beyond compare, because it came straight from the Creator.  It is the same power that He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead.  Our God who gives us more than we can ever imagine has a power available to those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. 

In Ephesians 3 Paul writes,

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! "  Eph 3:20-21

Not only is His power available to us, but it is at work within us. It is the power that helps us resist temptation, to persevere in the midst of struggles, to walk in the Spirit, and to face our worst fears with a courage that we never realized that we possessed.  It is a power based not on our own strengths for scripture says,

"But He said to me,'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more greatly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  2 Cor 12:9

In our deepest darkest times, in our heartaches, our inadequacies, our loss, our failures, our everyday struggles we can trade our weakness for His power and find that His power and His grace are more than enough!!