Life Lessons
Power to Witness
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.
Acts 1: 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Life Lesson: The power to be an effective witness does not come from our natural abilities but from the Holy Spirit! We need to stop living as though it all depended on our abilities, our charisma, our look, our church programs, or even our words! It is not our words but the Word that makes all the difference!
-Before Pentecost Peter had denied even knowing Jesus! After Pentecost, he stood up and boldly witnessed to a crowd of thousands and three thousand people came to faith that day! Earlier, with his words he renounced Jesus; after the infilling of the Spirit, he proclaimed Jesus!
Before Pentecost, the disciples may have rightly been described as a fearful bunch! After receiving the Spirit they seemed to be fearless! We have believers today living in fear of what “might happen” never realizing the power and authority dwelling within them that has already happened!
Let me tell you something, the early disciples had far more at stake and much more to lose than we do; yet somehow God empowered them to live above those fears and to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ! Our witness is more than the words we speak, it is literally who we are!
Earlier, when Peter allowed fear to control him, he failed to be the rock that he had been appointed to be in Christ Jesus! Later on, after being filled with the Spirit, he embodied the call and anointing of God upon his life and he was that rock! Be filled with the Spirit and become all that you are ordained to be in Christ Jesus!
