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Powerless Christians

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.”
Luke 9:38–40
While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, a distraught father brought his demon possessed son to the other disciples, but they couldn’t help. This is especially sad because it had been just a few days, or perhaps at most a few weeks earlier—in this same chapter of Luke’s Gospel—that Jesus had specifically empowered them to deal with this kind of problem. “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1) Yet despite what Jesus had said, they did not believe they could deal with the demonic power that confronted them, and as a result, the demon remained until Jesus returned.
The old preacher Vance Havner said, “Too many of us today are shaky about what we believe but not shaken by what we believe. Too many people assemble at God’s house who don’t really believe in the power of God. Having begun in the Spirit, we live in the flesh. Never has the church had more wire stretched with less power in it. As the hymn puts it, ‘All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.’”
The challenges of the world that we face are too great for our own strength, but we are not meant to operate in our strength. The problem is not a lack of power on God’s part, but our failure to tap into the power source He has given us.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

If we are not operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be not be able to meet the challenges of life.

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“Nevertheless in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.” --Nehemiah 9:31 The book of Nehemiah contains the longest recorded prayer in the Bible. In that prayer, we see what kind of God we serve and how his people responded. Nehemiah 9:16 says, “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments.” Isn’t that amazing? They had a God who had given them so much… a faithful, loving, merciful, forgiving, and patient God. You would expect that the people responded in obedience to Him. But rather, the children of Israel ran off to serve other gods! But, you know, this really is a picture of all of us. Because in spite of God’s love and manifold mercies, we all have rebelled and broken His commandments. Every one of us has a personal history. And when you look at your past before Christ, and maybe even after you came to Christ, you may wonder, “How can God love and care about me when my life is checkered with failure, sin, and rebellion?” God has every right to toss you and me aside and say, “That’s it! No more rebellion! I’m finished with you!” But in his mercy, God keeps on offering his love and forgiveness. He hasn’t forsaken you. Even when you have not been faithful, he remains faithful! God offers you complete forgiveness today, if only you will come to Him in brokenness and humility, and simply ask Him. IF YOU’VE BEEN SAYING NO TO GOD, IT’S TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE. ACCEPT HIS FORGIVENESS TODAY AND START SAYING YES TO HIM!