Hey Friends –
Welcome! If this is your first visit — hello, friend! You can start from the beginning here. Thanks for joining us on this red-hot faith-filled journey!
Hopefully by now you have a “Fire Up Your Faith” notebook, a pen, and you are ready to prayerfully get to work!
Let’s dig in to Key # 4 —
Plug into Power!
Margo & Cindy — Oct 2014
We spent last week discussing our purpose as Christ followers — including being His witness, even in the midst of our everyday life. (Remember my Margo story?)
I wonder if anyone — like me — sometimes thinks, “I’m just not always comfortable sharing my faith about Jesus. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to be offensive. I wouldn’t be a very good witness. It makes me uncomfortable.”
Can anyone relate?
You want to hear some really good news, friend?
Look at 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.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)
Did you catch that? You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and THEN you will be my witnesses. ”
Jesus shared these words with His disciples right after they had been with Him (in His presence), but He knew they would need something else to fulfill their purpose….Holy Spirit power!
I
love that word power.
In the original Greek language, it is the word ‘dunamis‘ —
“power” – “dunamis” – explosive strength, ability, the enabling power of a miracle!
It’s where we get the word ‘dynamite.’ Dynamic power!
It is the power of transformation, and — amazingly — it was released for us when Jesus was raised from the dead! Woo Hoo!
Y’all, I want this POWER in my life!
How about you?
Sweet friends, we do have to live our faith lives in our own power — trying to muster up fresh faith and passion — but in God’s dynamic power. One commentary shares “the Holy Spirit gives a person the effectiveness for God’s will and God’s work to be done through Him.”
It is His ability that empowers us to accomplish anything of Kingdom significance and value! We just need the faith to plug into and receive this dynamic power in our lives!
Dynamic power! Now that’s how we really get some fired up faith, don’t ya think?!
We’ll be talking this week about experiencing God’s power in fresh new ways! Let’s begin with prayer —
Dear God, We acknowledge You as our All-Powerful God! Lord, today we may feel ___________, but the Truth is that in You — we are strong, and able, mighty, and powerful! Please release Your dynamic power in our lives. We invite You to go to work! Use us, O Lord, for Your Kingdom purposes! For Your Glory alone! Amen.
Today let’s spend time putting everything we’ve learned together and spend time in His Presence praying His promises and reflecting on our purpose!
Today’s Challenge: Day 20 of our 31 Days.
1. Grab your Fire Up My Faith notebook and head to “your chair.” Jot down today’s date and then use this song (one of my favorites!) to prepare your heart to spend time in His presence.
You may even want to write some of the song lyrics in your notebook to use during your prayer time.
2. Read the following verses and note what you discover about God’s dynamic power —
Luke 1:35: “The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’“
Luke 4:36: “All the people were amazed and said to each other, ‘What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!’“
Second Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Second Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Ephesians 3:20–21: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Second Timothy 1:7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
Second Peter 1:3: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
3. How are you doing this week, really? Have you taken the time to jot down in your journal any personal circumstances or obstacles that are getting in the way of your faith life. In what areas of your life could you use some fresh “power?”
Spend time writing out your challenges, and then prayerfully inviting God to work in your circumstances, your faith life, and your heart. Ask God to reveal specific promises from His Word to encourage you on your faith journey. Remember, pray God’s promises, not just your problems!
It is a joy to journey with you, dear friend! May God fire up our faith and infuse you with fresh dynamic power for His Kingdom purposes today!
Sweet blessings
P.S. In case you don’t want to miss a day, you can like my FB page, connect with me on Twitter, or subscribe to my blog via the sidebar. There’s 10 more days of ideas, resources, and encouragement to Fire Up Your Faith to come!
