You CAN Make A Difference (Part 3)
Again with the cheesy title. Read the previous blogs first.
(Continued)
This kind of power is not power as we may think that can be exercised at will. Power that can be exercised at MY will is called witchcraft. Evil stuff. But power that is excercised at the will of the Spirit is miraculous, always giving glory to God. But this power is not really power as our society defines it. A better word would be responsibility. If God can trust you in such a way as to be able to cause miraculous things to happen by your word then you have a GREAT responsibility. You are responsible for the faith of many. God has called you to build other’s faith and set people free.
Put yourself in this scenario: You have this great power. With this great power comes fame. Sadly, it is inevitable. Many will know you and many will have seen your works. What if one day you miss it and tell some wet rocks to catch on fire or a mountain to be cast into the sea, when it’s not the will of the Spirit. Nothing happens. The faith of possibly millions would be damaged. Because like it or not(and though it may be ungodly) many of those people have based a portion of their faith on you. Now, consider a worse scenario. You are tempted and sin. People find out. The taller the tower, the greater the fall. It has happened a handful of times where someone who was given great responsibility was caught in sin. Churches destroyed, people turning from God to sin, people questioning God’s existence. Do you think you’d feel a little guilty? I know I’d feel guilty enough to consider killing myself, like Judas. I wouldn’t go through, but the temptation would be strong.
This is the meaning of the verse: For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required. - Luke 12:48
You: Then how do I receive this power?
Me: Do Nothing.
To paraphrase one of the previous verses: “I do nothing, unless the Father tells me to.”
Nothing… ‘I do nothing’ doesn’t mean I go to church on Sunday; it doesn’t mean I read my bible everyday; it doesn’t mean I have a Jesus fish on my car; it doesn’t mean I pray alot. It means I do nothing. Jesus didn’t know if He was going to wear a red shirt or a yellow shirt for the day until He’d prayed about it. In fact, He didn’t even know if He was gonna wear one at all, til He prayed. He ate when God said ‘eat.’ He slept when God said ’sleep.’ He prayed when God said ‘pray.’ He preached when God said ‘preach.’
The real answer isn’t nothing. The real answer is you must die. Die to yourself. Too many of us (myself included) make the mistake of thinking that taking up our cross daily means to put on a necklace with a cross on it every morning, which (lets be brutally honest) half the time we hide under our shirt. Again, we must die to preach the Gospel, physically if need be. This is the ultimate act of humility. Humility is to act for the highest good of another(in this case God) regardless of personal cost or sacrifice. The greatest sacrifice is to die. Again, physically if need be.
Brace yourself, a description of perfect humility follows.
And when God said ‘you are going to take the sins of the entire world upon yourself, be beaten, crushed, hung on a cross, mocked, ridiculed, die, then be separated from Me for three days, and tormented in the flames of hell.’ Jesus’s reply? “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Got Humble? Then you got power.