As Good as it Gets
Have you ever heard a sermon on Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power..."? Did the preacher tell you the word for power in greek is "dunamis" or "dynamis", and that it has the same root from which we get the word "dynamite"? The sermon usually proceeds the Holy Spirit's power is explosive dynamite power to turn the world on its end, and the best news?!!! You can have that power! Yahoo!
Okay, you may be saying, "yeah, and?" If the preacher told you that she or he was wrong. Dynamis, pronounced din-a-mis, is power, and in the greek of the day it meant "power enough to..." Imagine the dynamis my office floor has. It possesses power enough to hold up all the stuff in my office. That's a lot of power. Imagine the mom with 3 kids who are out of control, their father out of the picture, living on welfare, and scraping by to make ends meet. Five years later her kids are still screwed up except for one who shows some promise, welfare knows her by name, but refers to her as a case number, and the home she lives in is still in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint to cheer it up. There is a difference. She has to dynamis of the Holy Spirit in her life, and this morning as with many mornings she wakes up and in the midst of a despairing environment she declares, "Jesus is with me, and I trust God with my life". That's dynamis! It's power enough to stand.
We need to get off of this hype of a success driven non-gospel that says a person has to have a life that looks successful, and is all put together. For our people, sometimes that's as good as it gets, and if Jesus is present that is good enough. I remember sitting in a men's Bible study at 614 Regent Park and we were going around the table sharing. One brother shared, "He isn't smoking crack anymore. He's just smoking pot." Yahoo. I remember a woman telling us in a new believers class how she really sensed the power of God in her life, and last Sunday night she only turned 3 tricks instead of her usual 10. Praise God. Hey, this ain't Purpose Driven Life material, but for those 2 people it's a huge leap, and it's real. It's messy, but it's real, and smack dab in the middle of it is Jesus.
The Christian walk is not about a romantic battle like Braveheart. Paul promises if we "put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Eph.6:13). We don't fly or soar or triumph victoriously. When we're battled and beaten and worn, in the end...what? We stand. The Holy Spirit gives us power enough to stand, and that's a ton of power if you've met some of our friends.
rZ
Okay, you may be saying, "yeah, and?" If the preacher told you that she or he was wrong. Dynamis, pronounced din-a-mis, is power, and in the greek of the day it meant "power enough to..." Imagine the dynamis my office floor has. It possesses power enough to hold up all the stuff in my office. That's a lot of power. Imagine the mom with 3 kids who are out of control, their father out of the picture, living on welfare, and scraping by to make ends meet. Five years later her kids are still screwed up except for one who shows some promise, welfare knows her by name, but refers to her as a case number, and the home she lives in is still in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint to cheer it up. There is a difference. She has to dynamis of the Holy Spirit in her life, and this morning as with many mornings she wakes up and in the midst of a despairing environment she declares, "Jesus is with me, and I trust God with my life". That's dynamis! It's power enough to stand.
We need to get off of this hype of a success driven non-gospel that says a person has to have a life that looks successful, and is all put together. For our people, sometimes that's as good as it gets, and if Jesus is present that is good enough. I remember sitting in a men's Bible study at 614 Regent Park and we were going around the table sharing. One brother shared, "He isn't smoking crack anymore. He's just smoking pot." Yahoo. I remember a woman telling us in a new believers class how she really sensed the power of God in her life, and last Sunday night she only turned 3 tricks instead of her usual 10. Praise God. Hey, this ain't Purpose Driven Life material, but for those 2 people it's a huge leap, and it's real. It's messy, but it's real, and smack dab in the middle of it is Jesus.
The Christian walk is not about a romantic battle like Braveheart. Paul promises if we "put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Eph.6:13). We don't fly or soar or triumph victoriously. When we're battled and beaten and worn, in the end...what? We stand. The Holy Spirit gives us power enough to stand, and that's a ton of power if you've met some of our friends.
rZ
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