HEBREWS 12:1-2
Empowerment is described as enablement or re-positioning properly for performance etc. or authority or power given to someone to do something. Hebrews 11 instructs us from God Himself and many earlier Christians that the right way to live is to obey God! Our goal as Christians should be to be more and more like Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and also, to do our best and finish the race marked out for us!
Hebrews 12 verse 1 warns us to avoid sin – that is missing the mark that God has set. Sin is not doing what God says! God is Holy and perfect. In order to avoid sin, we must read the Bible and do what it says. When we sin, we not only stop but we actually go the other way, not towards God. Sin also destroys the image and glory of God in our lives. We must also throw off everything that hinders our walk with God. When we focus on other things or add other things to our Christian lives, our spiritual growth to be more like Christ will be stunted. Things in our lives which take our complete focus away from Jesus Christ include sports, gambling, entertainment, jobs, hobbies, children, husband and wife! They waylay, sidetrack or distract our focus and make people die with unfulfilled dreams and an unrealized ministry, and they fall short of their full leadership potential. I pray that you will finish the race, and that you will finish well. We are to live the Christian life with perseverance every day and not only on Sundays as most Christians do. God has given us everything for life and godliness. What God desires for us is to never give up on our Christian lives; no matter how hard it might be, with dependence on God, always pick ourselves back to our Christian faith! We need to all hear this personally but we also need to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same!
Brethren, the primary reason why God gave us the Holy Spirit is to empower us to serve Him. He made the promise of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8 and the fulfillment was on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-4) It was on this day, in the Book of Acts, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 followers of Christ who were gathered in an Upper Room in Jerusalem. It was on this day that the Church was born in a blaze of Glory. The holy spirit was poured down to empower the disciples on Pentecost and they immediately began a miraculous ministry. They spoke “in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. Acts 2:4), Peter preached boldly and about 3000 souls were saved. Acts 2:41 says “those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day”. Another set of 4000 were reportedly saved on Acts 4: 4. Acts 4:31 reads “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly”.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we receive Jesus into our lives, we immediately receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but when we pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us, we can then walk with the power of the Holy Spirit like the early disciples did. If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to minister on this earth, how much more we as a mortal being need His power. PRAISE THE LORD.
PRAYER POINT: My Father and my Lord, please empower me spiritually in Jesus Mighty Name.