February 25
God’s Power Grid
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ––Ephesians 3:16-19
On September 20, 2017 Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico like a 150-mile-per-hour, 28-mile-wide freight train, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing massive power and water outages. The Caribbean island was still reeling from pervious damage caused just two weeks earlier by Hurricane Irma, so was very vulnerable when Maria hit. About 80% of the island was without power, with the worst outages lasting half a year. Without experiencing it firsthand, it’s impossible to imagine what Puerto Rico had to endure during that time.
Black outs are one of those things most of us don’t think much about until one happens. Typically, we break out the flashlights and candles, and make the best of it. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a black out that lasted more than ten hours—enough to cause minor inconvenience but not enough to spoil the food in my refrigerator.
I admire folks who can live “off the grid,” existing on solar power and well water, typically. While most of us don’t have the ability to go completely off grid, there are things we can do, of course, to prepare for a disaster (such as a major black out caused by a natural disaster). But the thing we have no control over, of course, is the disaster itself.
In a similar way, as God’s men we have no way of knowing when a life storm is going to hit. All we can do is prepare ourselves ahead of time before it does. Did you know it’s possible to go “off grid” in those situations? That’s because when we decide to follow Christ, we unplug our power cord from the world’s energy grid, and plug into one that is totally off the grid from the world. Not dependent upon it. Not based in it.
Here’s what I mean: When we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit takes residence within us—He is now our “power source,” and we no longer need to plug in to the world’s fallen, flawed sources of power. Every God’s man, then, has an eternal power source against which nothing can prevail. That power—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—is not subject to worldly disasters. Does it mean we won’t suffer during life storms? No. We will. But it also means that we never have to endure the storm alone
Are you plugged into the Source of power that never fails? When Jesus died on the Cross, He made it possible for your to disengage from faulty power sources that will eventually fail, and to connect yourself to His Source—wonderful and eternal. Whose power source are you plugged into? I want to invite you today to plug into Jesus if you have never done so. Pray with me:
God, I know that the world’s sources of power don’t last, and that apart from You, everything in this world will fail me. Today I come before You and acknowledge that You are the only true, everlasting source of life and power, and it is only through Your Son, Jesus, that I can “plug into” eternal life. So today I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and commit myself to Him. In Your name I pray, amen.
Did you make a commitment to Jesus today? Luke 15:10 says “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God” over YOU right now! Let us know HERE so that we can celebrate with you, pray for you, and point you to any resources that will help you as you begin following Jesus.