“To the one who is able to protect you from falling, and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence, to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, belong glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24-25 CEB
The other day we lost power at the church. This is not a metaphor for some spiritual or theological issue the church was facing. We actually lost power from TECO. The lights weren’t working, the phones weren’t working, the computers were not working. I arrived in the building at 7 a.m. looking to get a good amount of work done before others arrived. My best plans were thwarted by this power outage. Thankfully, I had brought my laptop, which had a full charge remaining, which meant I could continue to work. The interesting thing to me was watching everyone’s reaction to the power being out as they arrived. Some took it in stride and went to working on things that did not require power. Some jumped to working on fixing the problem. I even heard one person say that we might as well go home since there was no power. Eventually, within maybe an hour or so, the power was restored and we were back to normal. It’s amazing what power—or the lack of power—means to us.
Because I am a pastor, the power outage came at a time where I saw it beyond the simple lack of electricity. I had been thinking about this particular week and message when it happened. Spiritually speaking it is amazing what power means to us. Too many times we don’t think about the power source in our life. We simply try and do our life without thinking about the power supply to which we are connected. Maybe put more simply we try and do life in our own power. We look to simple things like coffee, caffeine, energy drinks, or some other supplement for our energy and power. There is another source to which we must be connected to receive power that coffee, caffeine, energy drinks, or supplements will never be able to supply. When we rely on self we will experience a power outage spiritually. We will only be able to generate so much power, spiritually speaking. When we connect to the power source we have in Jesus we will experience infinite, eternal power. We will experience Jesus power.
Have you been experiencing a power outage spiritually? If you have, it probably means you are trying to generate your own power. I want to encourage you to connect your life to the infinite, eternal power supply available to you in Jesus. I would imagine you would ask, “How do I do that?” The first step is to surrender your life to follow Jesus with your life. The second step is to know Jesus better through Scripture, prayer, a life group, and worship. The third step is to choose the power supply to which you connect every day, every moment, every situation. The main thing is to be aware of the power of Jesus available to us and be intentional about living in that power. We receive the power of Jesus when we live in the power of Jesus. Will you live in that power today?
Imagine if we were to fully live in the power of Jesus available to us every day. Imagine what the power of Jesus would be able to release in our community of faith, the communities we serve, and around the world if we chose to receive it fully. This power is available to us by God’s grace through a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. One of the greatest benefits of receiving the power of Jesus in our life and allowing it to be released through us is the power glorifies God for everyone to see. When we receive and release the power of Jesus people see power that is different from any other power source available. So, will you connect to the infinite, eternal power of Jesus available to you today? I believe you will experience a phenomenal difference in your life if you will. Jude ends his letter to his fellow believers by writing, “To the one who is able to protect you from falling, and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence, to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, belong glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen.” May this be so in the power of Jesus.
This weekend we will talk about the power of Jesus available to every follower of Jesus. When we choose to follow Jesus Christ, there is power given to us and all we need to do is surrender and tap into that power. I hope you will join us this weekend in worship. The best is yet to come. I love you all and can’t wait to see you in church!