God is our Sovereign King. His reign in our hearts today and in the world until the return of Jesus is His saving kingdom. It is built through human hands but not by human hands. (Google image, Preach the Word).
It is built by the power of God working through the cooperating joint ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit-filled.
"The kingdom of God never means an action undertaken
by men or a realm which they set up . . . the kingdom is
a divine act, not a human accomplishment, not even the accomplishment of dedicated Christians." (Marshal,
Pictorial Encyclopedia, 805).
The power of the kingdom is operative in and through God's representatives. But the power is not their power; it is the power
of God. Christ gives to His own the keys of the kingdom to use in binding and loosing through prayer and obedience (Matt. 16:19;
18:18-20).
But the power of the keys remains God's power and is usable only by the Spirit's guidance and enabling.
Kingdom power was present in the ministry of Jesus, and it was present in the ministry of His followers. Indeed, it can be present in your ministry today. But it is not your power. It continues to be given and manifested through you only as God makes it operative and evident.
The spiritual measure of Christian leaders is the fullness of the Spirit and his enduement of power. Oratory, effectiveness of delivery, and speech are good, but the are not enough. Content, orthodoxy, and solid biblical truth are essential, but they are not enough.
Personality, graciousness of speech and action are important,
but they are not enough. The power of the Lord must be upon them. All these qualities can exist on the human level. The kingdom must be built, advanced, and manifest on the level of the divine empowering of the human. It must by God working through us.
Paul reminded the Thessalonian church,
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also
with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
You know how we lived among you for your sake"
(1 Thess. 1:5).
Paul was deeply conscious that the power of God was at work. The Christian leader is usually aware when God's power is specially present. Are you frequently aware of this in your ministry? It was normal to Paul.
To Paul this power was so all-essential, so characteristic of his ministry, that he was willing to pay any price so that Christ's power could rest on him. It was as if Paul kept crying to God,
"Oh, for more of Your power upon me; oh, for more of Your
power manifest through me!"
Paul had already known so much of the power of the Spirit that to him this is the mark of his being in the will of God. It is not visions and revelations which are important to him. With reluctance he had just testified to such precious and secret dealings of God with him (2 Cor. 12).
No, what Paul wants is more of the abiding power of Christ communicated through the Spirit. What he desires is not an occasional mountaintop experience. He longs for the continuing experience of God's power every day of his life and ministry.
Jesus had told him that such power "is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Weakness does not create power. But weakness drives us all the more to God, the source of all divine power. When we recognize how weak and insufficient we are, we call on God, cling to God, and make this the constant cry of our hearts.
How important is it to you to have the power of Christ, yes, more and more of the power tabernacling, resting, remaining upon you? What have you experienced of this holy power? Not visions, not miracles, not gifts or manifestations—but the silent, all-pervading, all-crowning power of Christ upon you?
Filled with that power, energized by that power, clothed with that power, endued for your ministry by that power! That power is the Spirit; that power is Christ himself (1 Cor. 1:24) manifest through the Spirit (1 Peter 1:11).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#11 It Takes Power to Extend the Kingdom
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 50 - 54) ZondervanPublishingHouse
Our prayer today-
Father, Your Word tells us that Your Kingdom will be built by Your power, working through the cooperating joint ministry of the Holy Spirit and those of us who are Spirit filled.
We understand that the power of the keys of Your Kingdom remains in Your power and is usable only by the enabling and guiding power of Your Spirit within us.
May our prayer be like Paul's, to have more of Your power upon us, more of Your power manifesting through us!
As we recognize how weak and insufficient we really are, may we call on You, cling to You, and make this the constant cry of our hearts.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28 NIV).
"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
(v. 9) And put no difference between us and them,
~ Jane Ault- "Obedience is not a popular word in the culture where we live. We like to think that we are independent, and we do not want anyone to tell us what to do—especially if we are adults. Children might need instruction, but we can think for ourselves. Some of us think obedience means that we throw away our minds and never say "no" to anyone or anything.
Obeying God does not mean that we give up thinking.
It means that we recognize how limited our knowledge is and how much we need God's wisdom. Obeying God is a natural response when we believe the following things: God is all powerful, beautiful, wise, and good; he loves us and his plans for us will bring us eternal joy; he is trustworthy and will keep his promises."
(Taken from p. 56 of her book, Emotional Freedom).
Today's popular post-
#82 The Power of Prayer of Agreement
Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: "If everyone who asks receives and everyone who seeks finds, and if to everyone who knocks, the door is opened (Matt. 7:7), then how much more can be expected when two, five, or ten unitedly ask, seek, and knock?"
Have you ever been blamed for something?
How we react says a lot about us. When someone blames us for something said or done, we need to be open to allow the Lord to defend us. If we're to blame, then we need to apologize quickly, and make every effort to rectify the problem.
We need to ask the Lord to help strengthen our heart and to keep our thoughts on His love; to submit to His plan for us. His objective is for us to set our eyes on eternity.
Upcoming posts-
Father, Your Word tells us that Your Kingdom will be built by Your power, working through the cooperating joint ministry of the Holy Spirit and those of us who are Spirit filled.
We understand that the power of the keys of Your Kingdom remains in Your power and is usable only by the enabling and guiding power of Your Spirit within us.
May our prayer be like Paul's, to have more of Your power upon us, more of Your power manifesting through us!
As we recognize how weak and insufficient we really are, may we call on You, cling to You, and make this the constant cry of our hearts.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28 NIV).
"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
(v. 9) And put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:8, 9 KJV).
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment"
(1 Cor. 1:10 KJV).
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment"
(1 Cor. 1:10 KJV).
Today's quote-
~ Jane Ault- "Obedience is not a popular word in the culture where we live. We like to think that we are independent, and we do not want anyone to tell us what to do—especially if we are adults. Children might need instruction, but we can think for ourselves. Some of us think obedience means that we throw away our minds and never say "no" to anyone or anything.
Obeying God does not mean that we give up thinking.
It means that we recognize how limited our knowledge is and how much we need God's wisdom. Obeying God is a natural response when we believe the following things: God is all powerful, beautiful, wise, and good; he loves us and his plans for us will bring us eternal joy; he is trustworthy and will keep his promises."(Taken from p. 56 of her book, Emotional Freedom).
Today's popular post-
 |
| (from seekfind.net, Google image) |
Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: "If everyone who asks receives and everyone who seeks finds, and if to everyone who knocks, the door is opened (Matt. 7:7), then how much more can be expected when two, five, or ten unitedly ask, seek, and knock?"
Today's question-
Have you ever been blamed for something?
How we react says a lot about us. When someone blames us for something said or done, we need to be open to allow the Lord to defend us. If we're to blame, then we need to apologize quickly, and make every effort to rectify the problem.
We need to ask the Lord to help strengthen our heart and to keep our thoughts on His love; to submit to His plan for us. His objective is for us to set our eyes on eternity.
Upcoming posts-
#12 God's Power in the Ministry of John Wesley
23rd- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
I am a Stranger in the Earth
25th- Saturday's post by James H. Cagle
#13 God's Power in the Ministry of Charles G. Finney
23rd- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
I am a Stranger in the Earth
25th- Saturday's post by James H. Cagle
#13 God's Power in the Ministry of Charles G. Finney
28th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#14 Widespread Effect of Finney's Ministry
#30th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
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(Jean's published book)
Amen. Powerful
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post, Jean. I so long for that "continuing experience of God's power" in my every day life.
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