Whenever I travel by train, I often stumble upon something that catches my attention: People competing amongst each other to seize hold of an electrical socket to fuel their smart phones. While on their journey, they ensure that their batteries are fully charged to the optimal level. This particular situation quickened my thinking leading to a pressing question that I often ask myself: “Why we, as believing and professing Christians are so lukewarm that we function so ineffectively, living powerless lives ignorant of the divine resources that God makes available to us through his Son, to empower us.”Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Undoubtedly, this passage exposes our spiritual condition and leaves us with a question: “Do we live the life that Christ came to provide; a life with abundance extending into all spheres of its influence?” Sadly, we don’t.
Looking into the book of Revelation chapter 3, God leaves a shocking and awakening message to the Laodicean church:“So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth”(Revelation 3:14–21).The Lord is describing the “lukewarm” heart attitude of those in the Laodicean church, an attitude manifested by the early Christians who claimed to know God but lived as though He didn’t exist. They may go to church and practice a form of religion, but their inner state is crammed with emptiness, void and vacuum. We too sometimes claim to be Christians, but our hearts are unchanged, our minds are not renewed and our hypocrisy is sickening to God. It is lukewarm, good for nothing. God sees our lukewarm attitude as “spiritual dryness” that needs to be recharged by utilizing the power that is flowing from God Himself. He urges us to be earnest, or zealous, committing ourselves totally to Him to be fully recharged. Indeed, God’s intention for our life is to be fully recharged and to be useful for the extension of His kingdom. In this article, let’s reflect striking examples of three individuals whose life not only was filled with power, but created mighty exploits for the kingdom of God.
Jesus Christ: Recharged himself with the Power of God
Prior to Christ’s subsequent ministry, the scripture introduces him as such:“Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power” (Luke 4: 14).Jesus was both fully God and fully man. In fact, He came as a human baby who had to physically and intellectually grow and increase in wisdom. But in order to experience life as a human, Jesus limited the use of His divine powers. He also chose to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit for His ministry. Scripture reveals that Jesus depended on the power of the Holy Spirit in His ministry. The gospel writers make it clear that Jesus did miracle after miracle by the power of the Holy Spirit. He even died and returned to life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is an example for us that we too should live by the power of the Holy Spirit. That power comes by being filled with His Spirit and by walking in His Spirit. That is the key to power in the Christian life.
David: Recharged himself with the Strength of God
Luke, one of the writers of the New Testament, included interesting notes about how David was remembered. He wrote, "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep..." (Acts 13:36). We need to note that David was not an ordinary man; he was a king, more so an extremely powerful, able, and successful man. Moreover, he was loaded with various responsibilities in the palace. Then “how in the world could he fulfill God’s purpose in his generation? Where did he derive power to do the things that God wanted him to do?” The answer is very simple and it is plain that David was strong. Where did that strength come from? He says, from God (Psalm 27:1) The Lord is his strength, who teaches his hands to war, and his fingers to fight; his hope and his fortress, his deliverer and in whom he trusts. He ascribes his strength to God and only with God's help he slew the lion and the bear. With God's help he had the nerve to kill the Philistine giant. With God's help he was so strong that his arms could break even a bow of steel. It is God who makes his feet swift like a deer's feet, and enables him to leap over the walls of the mountain fortresses. When we follow David’s example of communing with God and trusting in Him, we will also find strength in the Lord. Let us be encouraged to find strength and direction to face life’s challenges and fulfill God’s purpose in our generation.
Paul: Recharged himself with the Grace of God
Paul, one of the most influential leaders of the first generation of Christians, often considered being the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity. This man had an incredible conversion experience and began preaching that Jesus is the Messiah with a boldness that changed history. Paul lived utterly for the glory of God in Christ and could successfully carry out all of his divine assignments for Him. How? Paul makes one of the most classic statements ever made on the power of God’s grace operating through his life when he says that it is “by the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul grasped a very powerful, spiritual secret and truth that all of the successes in his life were a direct result of the grace of God that was upon him and his life. It was by the divine power of God flowing and operating through him that caused him to become the greatest of all of the New Testament apostles. And just as Paul needed to completely rely on God and His divine power and grace to fully accomplish all of his divine assignments for the Lord, so too must we learn to do the exact same thing. Spiritual growth doesn’t happen overnight; we grow step by step in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, God’s grace enables and empowers everything in our Christian life.
Conclusion
To summarize, the lesson to be learnt from these powerful and influential leaders is that no matter how dry and void our life may get from time to time, Realize that God’s power, strength and grace rests upon us and flows through us. This will automatically recharge our life. If God is no respecter of persons, then what He did for Christ, David and Paul He will do for us if we will just fully trust Him to do it for us. So, let us recharge our life now!
