Life is harder when the power goes out. One morning a few weeks ago, I woke up to find that the electricity was out in my house. It was a Sunday morning and I had to be at church early to serve. Almost everything that was a part of my normal morning routine was temporarily impossible. Thanks to the flashlight app on my cell phone and an antique oil lamp I kept for just such an occasion, I was able to maneuver through the house and get ready for church.

The Good News of the Gospel is that we serve a God whose power never goes out. More than that, it is a power that lives inside of us. If it can bring the dead to life, it can defeat anything that comes against us, including our own selfish motives. God’s power is a light in the darkness because it can empower us to overcome our own greed and selfishness and to live with grace and purpose.

The Apostle Paul encouraged the early Roman believers to live according to the power of the Spirit that God had placed within them, not the life-draining desires of their flesh. We, like the Romans, in our attempts to fulfill our desires for wealth, fame, and pleasure will find only emptiness, destruction, and death. But if we allow the Spirit’s power to rule in us, we can overcome death with life in Him.

That is a life with the power turned on!

Lord, show me how to live according to your Spirit of power. Amen.

Go Deeper — To read more about this Spirit of power, read John 14-16. Jesus calls Him the “Counselor” and the “Spirit of Truth.”



Tags: Romans Romans 8
Photo Credit: Jace Grandinetti