
Empowered Through the Gifts of the Spirit
Scripture Reference 1 Corinthians 2
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
A “demonstration of the Spirit’s power” will happen when the believer stops relying on any of their own natural abilities and wholly relies on the supernatural abilities that God supplies. It is never about what you can do! It is always about what God will do through you!
An example from Scripture of the Power of Spiritual gifts: On the Day of Pentecost the Disciples “spoke in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance”, Acts 2:4. This was not something they did, it was something God did!! Yes, God did that!
The Holy Spirit equips the believer to do that which they could never do in their own strength!
Moses called on the Lord and God parted the Red Sea, Samson tore a young lion apart with his bare hands, Hannah prayed and God gave her a son – Samuel, David a shepherd boy slew a giant, Solomon was given extraordinary wisdom to lead a nation, Elijah called fire down from heaven that consumed the water soaked sacrifice as well as the altar, Esther dared to approach the king without being summoned, Peter walked on water, James and John the “sons of thunder” were given power to love their enemies, cast out demons, and raise the dead!
I prayed and God healed our son, Seth’s fractured arm! We prayed and gave peace to this ministry! Again we prayed and God has healed a man of cancer, given children to the childless, delivered members from addictions, and restored broken marriages! We asked God, not others for financial help for this ministry and God has provided in miraculous ways time and again! Yes, God did that! And God will do that again!
Through prayerful reliance on the Lord, lives have been, are being, and will be transformed … With God all things are possible!
Stop relying on merely natural means for getting by – what we can do, instead endeavor to rely on the supernatural power of God that is available to you right now! Amen.