Walking in Power and Authority
Luke 24:49 APNT:
and Iwill send to you the promise of my Father. But remain in the city, Jerusalem, until you be clothed with power from on high.”
You could think of power from on high as from the highest power.
Acts 1:8 APNT:
But when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will receive power and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and also among the Samaritans, even to the ends of the earth.”
Because we have Holy Spirit power, God has made all of us witnesses in our own ways. Our lives are the witness because of this gift that God has given us inside, which He calls power. We have Holy Spirit so we can be witnesses.
Acts 4:33 APNT:
And with great power the apostles witnessed about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and great grace was with all of them.
Acts 6:8 APNT:
Now Stephen was full of grace and power and did signs and wonders among the people.
YouTube Video: How a Dam Works
The water in the lake is sometimes released through gates controlled by the people running the dam. Only someone in charge of the dam can release the water. The turbine powers the generator. The generator converts potential energy, mechanical energy, to electrical energy.
Our bodies house the Spirit, and we control its release. The turbine-powered generator is like the Holy Spirit inside of us. The Holy Spirit (our “generator”) in us converts potential energy into power in the physical world. God energizes our generator, the Holy Spirit, to make things happen. My part is to be willing. For instance, we start to speak in tongues, and God energizes the spiritual power within us to perform.
Ephesians 3:20 APNT:
Now to him who is able, by surpassing power, to do even more for us than what we ask and think, according to his power that is performed in us,
Ephesians 3:20 KJV:
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh [is energized] in us,
Our job is to be willing, to open the gate to let the water through, but it’s God’s job to make the spiritual energy.
1 Corinthians 12:6 APNT:
And there are distributions of powers [effects], but God is the one who works all in everyone.
Our part is to be willing to speak or to do whatever God tells us to do. But it’s not our job to make the miracle happen or energize the power.
Acts 3:6 APNT:
Simon said to him, “I have no gold and silver, but what I have I will give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up [and] walk.”
Acts 3:12 APNT:
And when Simon saw [it], he answered and said to them, “Men, sons of Israel, why do you wonder at this [man]? Or why do you look at us as if by our own power or by our authority we did this, so that this [man] would walk?
Peter used his authority; he said, “In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.” Peter was willing, but God energized the power and made it happen.
In the Old Testament, Pharoah gave power and authority to Joseph. Pharoah gave Joseph the authority to use Pharoah’s name to make things happen.
We are like the owners of the dam. We have permission to open the gates. We have the authority to let the water out whenever we want to.
Acts 8:19 APNT:
[Simon] saying, “Give me also this authority that on whom I place a hand, he will receive the Holy Spirit.”
Simon recognized that Peter and John had the authority to do what they did.
Acts 8:9 APNT:
9 And there was there a certain man whose name was Simon. And he had lived in that city a long time. And he was seducing the nation of the Samaritans with his sorceries, magnifying himself and saying, “I am a great [man].”
10 And all of them were praying to him, great and small, and were saying, “This is the mighty power of God.”
11 And all of them were persuaded by him, because he had astonished them a long time with his sorceries.
12 But when they believed Philip, who was preaching the kingdom of God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, they were baptized, men and women.
13 And even Simon believed and was baptized and was following Philip. And when he had seen the signs and the great miracles [dunamis] that happened by his hand, he was amazed and marveled.
14 And when the apostles who were in Jerusalem heard that the nation of the Samaritans had received the word of God, they sent Simon Peter and John to them.
15 And they went down and prayed for them, so that they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Dunamis is more than just inherent power; it is power in operation, and its effects can be seen.
Power and authority go together.
Luke 9: APNT:
And Jesus called his twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal sicknesses.
You must have both power and the authority to use that power. God wants us to use our authority and power. He didn’t give it to us just so we could tuck it away in the back of the closet and never use it.
You can think of speaking in tongues as priming the generator. It convinces you. You realize that if you can open your mouth and speak a language you don’t understand, you have nothing to do with the particular words you speak, then you can operate the other manifestations of the Spirit as well.
We don’t make the miracle happen; God energizes it. But we must be willing.
See Also:
Walking in Power and Authority from the Acts Now Fellowship website.
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