Power Smart

British Columbia’s BC Hydro corporation has a logo of “power smart.” Good motto, working with power and not against it makes sense.

I heard a story on David Jeremiah’s radio broadcast a week or so ago and it really got a couple points home. It went something like this:

This older fellow went into a store where they sold chainsaws. He needed a new one, he had his old one for quite a while. Talking to the salesman they figured out his needs and off he went, new chain saw in hand.

The salesman saw the gentleman a couple weeks later and asked how he liked his new saw.

The older fellow said, “well to be honest, I am not sure it’s much different than my old one.”

The salesman was surprised and arranged to go check out the saw. When he got there he pulled the cord and the saw roared to life. It seemed to be working well.

He looked at the older man and said, “I don’t see a problem.”

The older man said, “what’s that noise?”

He had never actually used the saw as intended, he was trying to saw trees by hand back and forth like a normal hand saw. He had never engaged the power.

Now that may seem like a good chuckle of a story but in reality it has more meaning than we think. He obviously had no proper instructions on the saw. He used his own manpower.

Many Christians try to live their life the same way doing it themselves instead of relying on the power of God, that is, the Holy Spirit inside of them. They wear out quickly using so much energy they do not get much work done. So the work builds and they get discouraged and frustrated that they just cannot get enough work done or do it well. They physically wear out and they wonder what is wrong with them.

If you do not turn the power on, it is going to be tough slogging.

God designed His system by giving us His power, He knew we could not walk this earth without Him. Jesus said, He had to go away so the “helper”, the Holy Spirit could come to us. John 16:7 Pull the power cord!

Some of us have never been given the instructions even on how to turn the power on or how to recognize it, so we continue on with what we know, our old fashioned hard work, trying, trying and trying some more.

I do not have any “power” myself, but I do know I have the Holy Spirit who is my power source. How do I know? I invited Him to be part of my life years ago.

That is a key thing, you have to invite God to become a part of your life, He is waiting for you to accept His invitation to become a part of your life.

Do you know if you have the Holy Spirit? Have you asked Him to come and live life with you (inside of you) and told Him you want to do life together? If you are not sure, stop and ask Him now, Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, His is the work of salvation. Holy Spirit is the work of power. All three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit make up the person of God.

When I became a Christian I acknowledged that Jesus was my Saviour, He saved me from punishment of sins I had committed. We all have sins, all of us, because we are not perfect. I had the Holy Spirit come to me right away, I assumed everyone had the same experience. But I found out not everyone received the Holy Spirit the same way or even at the same time and as time went on, not much teaching was given about how to live "by the Spirit." This phrase means different things to different people.

God intended us to have relationship with Him, it was a part of the plan in the beginning. His purpose has not stopped, as He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, He wants to walk daily with you. You need to be able to hear Him speak, to have conversations and get instructions and guidance. God never intended you to do it by yourself.

The Holy Spirit is not simply a "spiritual force," the Bible outlines His personality as one who has intelligence and knowledge, He searches out the deep things of God, has thoughts and teaches. He comforts and guides. He makes decisions and gives tasks, He can be lied to and grieved. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us in heaven - He prays for us. (For more information on the different attritubes of God see the attached write up).

This step of asking is something you only have to do once, it is not something you have to continually “top up”. It is not like motor oil, where it can diminish.

When you ask Holy Spirit to come in, you get all of Him. A 4 year old living with the Spirit has the same power as an adult. There is no mini version.

But you say…”I do not feel it…” and we live our life by our "feels" or "I know" or "I am not sure", that is not living according to God, it is living by our feelings and that is a mistake. When I ask people to pray and ask God about a certain subject - if they answer me immediately, I dismiss their words. If I ask you to ask God about something, I expect that you will have a conversation at some point about that matter - you will need some time to hear the answer. I do not want your version, I want Gods.

When I teach people what does "hearing the voice of God" sound like I start with this:

Do not listen for an audible voice, it can happen, but it is not the usual, instead you will listen for a "voice" inside of you. For instance, you are in the shower and you "hear or sense" someone's name. You were not thinking about that person and the name came out of no where, that is hearing God's voice - it is an impression or knowing that you did not come up with.

First thing you do is of course, finish your shower, but pray for that person, their name came to you for a reason. At some point during the day, reach out and simply tell that person that they came to mind and you prayed for them.

That small little sceanario is living by the Spirit. He gave you a name in the shower, could be in the night time, could be any time, but that sense of knowing you did not come up with it. Answering and listening for those prompts, those messages causes your spirit inside of you to wake up to those promptings quicker and faster, pretty soon you will be hearing much more and having conversations inside of you, in your spirit.

We are spirits living in human bodies, but we are spirit beings, designed to be in a relationship with our Creator.

This is simply the tip of the iceberg on living in the Spirit and with the Holy Spirit, the subject is overwhelmingly deep, books are written on it, classes taught on it, speakers speak on it. The Bible speaks to us, Holy Spirit speaks to us, God communicates in so many ways with us, but this today is an invitation to start the process.

Will you invite God to be a part of your life today and get to know Him on a deeper level, the level of power, you have the ability to start the power. Go for it.