December 12

“Christianity is not moral platitudes, lofty intentions, and noble thoughts.  The fundamental characteristic of God’s kingdom is power....If you only have the appearance of godliness without any corresponding spiritual power (2 Timothy 3:5), ask God to cleanse you of your sin and to fill you with His spirit so that your life is characterized by power.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 11/24

If I were to sum up in one word the power that 2 Timothy 3:5 is speaking of I’d have to say it is Love.  To be cleansed of our rebellion against God fills us with His Spirit, but if we continue to sin we block the power of Love from being released through us.  I think it would be helpful if we substituted the word “sin” with the word “fear”,  for fear is the opposite of Love.  Whenever we do not love someone we are in essence saying that we fear them.  Our behavior toward them will be to protect ourselves.  If every time I have a negative thought I were to attribute it to fear, I would realize that the only solution is Love since Love casts out fear (1 John 4:18) and covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).  This is why we must give the Holy Spirit complete reign in our life.  It is only by His Power in us that we are enabled not to be afraid (trust) and thereby to love (obey).

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”  Acts 1:8