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May 24 2010

The Sustaining Power

How many of us have recieved gifts at Christmas time or birthdays and have ripped the paper to pieces to get what’s inside the box? When I was a kid, I rarely looked at the cards or notes attached to my gifts. Now that I’m older, I understand most things given are given with wishes or for a specific purpose and thoughtfulness.
In Luke 9:1-3 we have this very picture. The Lord calls His disciples to Him and He begins handing out this gift of Power and Authority over all demons and diseases. What does a gift wrapped box of power and authority look like? What note is attached to this gift?

I’ve heard this verse preached and taught many times, but I never hear them talk about verse 3. I think verse 3 is our “gift note.”
Luke 9:1-3 AMP
1  THEN JESUS called together the Twelve [apostles] and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases,2  And He sent them out to announce and preach the kingdom of God and to bring healing.3  And He said to them, Do not take anything for your journey—neither walking stick, nor wallet [for a collection bag], nor food of any kind, nor money, and do not have two undergarments (tunics).

I believe Jesus is expressing in the giving of this gift that HE is the authority and power, the I AM THAT I AM to His disciples. That our complete reliance and faith may be centered and focused on Him that our only thought is His word, His “note” to us. We’re to be like Him.
What I see in verse three is:

- We cannot have the power and authority and ‘go’ the way we normally would.
- We must ‘go’ selfless, without ability to hold ourselves up,
- without the desire of the “safety net” of knowing the ‘right’ of a minister,
- without physical nourishment,
- without finances,
- without a wardrobe to change our appearance.
Does that sound like Jesus?

There is no Plan B. There’s only Plan G.
The power and authority is the sustaining power of God for us to ‘go’, our total reliance must be centered on Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

I believe the letter to the Ephesians touched upon this very thing when Paul wrote:

Ephesians 1: 17-23
17 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, 
18  By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), 
19  And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, 
20  Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],
 21  Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come. 
22  And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],
 23  Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].

Some want the power and authority without the trust and complete reliance on Him to do it. Jesus is trying to get through to us, that its not about our gifts, or talents, or our ‘power’ or our ‘authority’ but its about our complete reliance and knowing both the gift giver His wishes for that gift.
Matthew 7:21-23
21  Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. 
22  Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? 
23  And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].

So let us turn our hearts back to the one who gave it all, let’s re-focus on the reason we have the Holy Spirit, why we have ‘gifts’ and ‘fruit’. Because that’s how he intended on it to be from the beginning. He gave us a garden, in it was fruit, but more so, He came walking in the garden of Eden to be with Man. We are His delight, and He has restored to us relationship with Him.

Posted via web from Brandon Neil Richards | Comment »