Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt
My son-in-law’s parents are missionaries to Peru. They first went to Peru in the early 80’s and at that time, they would only have electrical power for a period of hours each day—an inconvenience that took getting used to. Over the years, as the country progressed, power became available throughout the entire day.
As you well know and understand, the potential for power was always available to this country. It would take time, knowledge and resources to learn how to tap into the power that was there, and keep it on—something that would benefit all. The power sources we use today have been in the earth since the creation of man. It would simply take those who were gifted by God, to discover and learn how to take hold of that power and make it available in a form for everyone to benefit from. That has happened and we all do benefit from it greatly. Because of energy crises and the problems they create, the world continues to discover how to harness new forms of power.
As you study the history of the church, you learn that the body of Christ has gone through spiritual -power crises. I believe we are living in a day where there is a spiritual-power crisis. In many parts of the world, Christians have stopped going to church, fully embrace and participate in sinful attitudes and behaviors, and have become “lukewarm” to Christ. They desperately need to experience and encounter God’s power that He has freely made available to them. Spiritual strength and power is almost non-existent in their life. The evidence of carnal thinking, speaking, and behavior proves this out. Many Christians are wandering or drifting. For too many Christians, it seems as though God’s power to live pure and godly, to live excited sharing the love of Jesus Christ, and to live purposeful lives ministering to others, is limited to brief and sporadic periods, or non-existent. The body of Christ is suffering from a power-outage even though power is readily available. Is that really true? Let’s examine the Word of God and see.
After Jesus had trained His disciples to emulate Him in the earth—after Jesus had died on the cross and risen from the dead—after Jesus had washed their sins away and clothed all who believed in Him with His robes of righteousness, meaning He made us spotless in God’s eyes—after all this, He gave these final and parting words before ascending to return to Heaven. Jesus said, “All power has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. ” (Matthew 28:18 NKJV) Jesus was now transferring His power to His church—to all who would believe— then and forever! It was the power needed for Christians to live out the God-kind-of-life He wanted us to live in a world of chaos filled with demonic influence designed to kill, steal, and destroy.
Jesus told them to wait for it. Why? Because it would come from above—directly from the Father. When Jesus was before Pilate, He told Pilate, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above…”(John 19:11 NKJV) True power comes from above. It comes directly from God. Jesus had given His disciples a foretaste of that power before His death when He sent them to cast devils out of the demon-possessed. He said then, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19 KJV) They were euphoric to see God’s power working in and through their lives!
Then, just before Jesus left this earth He would tell them about another form of power they would shortly receive—power they would never be without again. Jesus said, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49 (NIV)
That power came on the day of Pentecost and was given to everyone who believed it would come and waited for it. The Apostle Peter teaches us that it would become an ongoing source of strength for our Christian walk. “God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 NIV
Okay, so I laid the foundation for this power source available to us in our life. Now can you be honest? Is your life like a third world country where there is only intermittent times of power, if at all? Does your life seriously feel empowered by God? If not, would you like to change that? You have the power of God within you. The first step is to believe it and draw upon it. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” The word for power here is dunamis meaning “miracle-working power.” Say and pray this: Heavenly Father, I thank you that I am not powerless in my life but to the contrary, you have given me the Spirit of miracle-working power. Let it become evident in my life as I walk in it to live wholeheartedly for you! Now get back in a church and believe that God is going to baptize you with His power and let it lead you where He takes you. Things are about to change in your life!
John 14:12 (NIV) “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father.”
In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
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Your post continue to be an encouragement.
Hello. My name is Jennifer. I want to share what we are dealing with at this moment. My husband and I are followers of Christ. We are praying, reading his word and trusting the Lord to work out this adversity we are facing. We relocated to New York for my husbands job six years ago. We knew this is what we were to do and had peace in it. A year or so later, he was let go from his job, just 4 years shy of full retirement. We entertained the idea of selling and relocating, but it seemed hasty at the time and we decided to stay. Upon arriving here, we visited different church bodies and attended steadily for a while, but it never seemed like we agreed that “yes” this is where the Lord wants us to serve. Many events have happened over the last several years, deaths in the families, loss of our pets, my husband heart surgery. We still stayed here and perhaps it was best with what went on in the families to be able to travel for help and support. Here in New York, we have no family. They are all in other states. Maine is where we were needed for family issues. Since my husbands recovery from surgery, he is healthy and able to get back to work and really wants to be doing something. Thus started the search for employment. Nothing has developed. We have nearly exhausted our resources and our home is our asset. We need to do something and have been seeking God to open a door, either here or elsewhere. Still nothing. In selling our home, we would make a good profit and probably could relocate to a low cost of living area and he would probably find part time work. I am just putting this out there for your thoughts, for Godly wisdom.
I appreciate your time in reading this and any insight you have from the leading of the Lord.
Thank you,
Jennifer
lewisjenn@hotmail.com
Jennifer, I responded to your email.
Thank you for another great and powerful devotional Pastor Tim, there’s power in the name of Jesus to break every chain!
Unfortunately, it seems to me that most of the churches that I know seem powerless today and almost like glorified social clubs, I know that this is not God’s plan as your devotional clearly mentions. I’m very thankful that I have been in a church that recognises the power of God and allows time for the spirit to move, I desperately want to take this power to the people in my neighbourhood and show them that Jesus is alive!
I believe that the best way to see the power of God move is to obviously call on the name of Jesus and to walk in faith. And, to have strong people of God around us, I’m very grateful for the small powerful prayer group that I am in, that believes in the miracles of Jesus.
I know that God has given us so much, in fact, everything we need to live on this earth, but we need to call on his name throughout the day.
Blessings to you all.
Amen Roy! God gives us His name, the Holy Spirit, prayer, and His power to do greater works. Praise God you are walking in it!
God bless you!
Great message.