God spoke these extremely exciting and electrifying words to me: "My people are becoming power hungry for all the right reasons!" Many in the church are tired of business as usual, and they are not going to settle for mere talk. Paul states this very clearly:
For the kingdom of God is not based on talk but on power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 (AMP)
A desperate cry asking for revealed revelation of God’s holy presence is coming forth from many in the Church.
Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants, and Your [glorious] majesty to their children. And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands—yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it.
Psalms 90:16-17(AMP)
We are desperate to see the works of God not the polished performance of human effort. It is time for followers of Christ to display and demonstrate the mighty power of God!
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
This passage is paramount Paul makes sure we don’t miss the centricity of Christ. Notice how the Message Bible states this passage. You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.
I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it— and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.
The Holy Spirit is truly anointing the body of Christ in an unprecedented manner in these days. The church is discovering that the gifts of the Spirit are tools, not toys. Believers are realizing that they cannot fulfill their role in the purposes of God unless they have His power. Christ Jesus declares without Him we can accomplish absolutely nothing (see John 15:5). However, with Christ and through Christ we can achieve all things (see Phil. 4:13). This flow of God's power was promised and prophesied in the Scriptures (see Joel 2:28). If we are to do the works of Jesus, we must walk in the anointing of Jesus.
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Acts 10:38 (NKJV)
The promise of power and purpose is almost unbelievable yet these promises come from the lips of our Lord.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
John 14:12 (NKJV)
Christ Jesus has set the bar extremely high, we are called and commissioned to do the works that He did as well as even greater works. We are living in the greatest time of history, for we have been given a dynamic release of power to accomplish the purposes of God. This is a historic time, for "His-story" is being proclaimed in a powerful way across the earth. This fulfills the stirring words of Joel the prophet:
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call."
Joel 2:28-32 (KJV)
Joel the prophet, speaking forth the Word of God, promises that this outpouring of the Spirit would bring about a dramatic release of revelatory gifts: dreams, visions, and prophetic declarations. This anointing is for every believer, female as well as male, and young as well as old. Joel also foretold that during these days the heavens would be filled with cosmic signs and the earth would be rocked with volcanic activity.
Quoting Joel's prophecy, Peter says in his sermon at Pentecost that this wonderful outpouring of the Spirit of God will come in the end times, or last days:
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh ... " (Acts 2:16-19 KJV).
Don't be timid! Share your faith in Christ Jesus and let your light shine bright in these dark days.
Bobby Conner