"For as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. 16. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every man that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
We do not normally think of ourselves as powerful people. I do not think of myself, sitting in my easy chair in my little "bungalow" behind Jeff and Hope's pool, to be an especially powerful person. According to the Bible, however, I am powerful because I am a believer in Jesus Christ. You have the same power as a believer in Jesus Christ. Because of this power, Paul was "not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Christ has given you the same power of the Holy Spirit. What does this power mean for our lives as believers in Jesus Christ? We have been given the power to overcome the difficulties of life. There is no person who does not face difficulties of some in kind in his, or her, life. You might be facing a difficulty at this present moment that you do not feel that you can overcome. You have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome that difficulty. Remember that the difficulty is not greater than the One who died on the cross to save you, rose from the dead, ascended to the Father, and sent the power of His Sprit into your life. Claim Christ's power over the difficulty. (Well, do it!) We have been given the power to love people who are difficult to love. (At this point I said "Oh Me!") If you claim that you never encounter people who are difficult to love, you are either not telling the truth, or you live in a cave by yourself. I spent over fifty years serving Baptist churches, and I constantly met people who were difficult to love. (In fact, when I think about it, I was sometimes that person who was difficult to love. And some of you who know me well, said "amen.") Christ has given you spiritual power to overcome that difficulty. We have been given the power to witness to people about their need for the salvation that Jesus offers. You might think that some people are too much smarter than you to listen to your witness. We need to remember that no one is smarter than the Holy Spirit, and if He prods us to witness to that smart person, He knows that we can do it, and that they need it! You can believe that I know about that feeling of intimidation, and how difficult it is to overcome. We just need to remember that we are witnessing with the power of the risen Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. If we will think of it this way, we, like Paul, can witness to people to whom the Spirit urges us to witness. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power to do whatever it is that He wants you to do. Do not be ashamed of that power; rather, humbly accept the power that He offers you. Selah Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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