USING THE POWER OF GOD
Memorise:
Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction. .. 2 Corinthians 13:10
Read:
Luke 9:52-56
Message
Some people who have received a measure of God's power use it wrongly. For example, simply because people fall under the anointing during their ministrations, some ministers of God want to touch people because they want to show that they are anointed. Some even perform different acrobatics during deliverance sessions. Some of them give demon-possessed people microphones so that people can hear what the demons are saying. All of these are unnecessary and wrong. Ministers of God should simply cast demons out of people to set them free; they shouldn't embarrass the people they are trying to deliver just to show that they are anointed.
The power of God isn't a tool for punishment but for bringing joy to the hearts of people. When God gives you a measure of His power, it is for you to give life to dead things and bring glory to Him, not for you to show off or seek personal gain or vengeance. It is possible to destroy and kill with the power God has given to you; however, that is not what it is meant for. This is why most mature believers are usually slow to speak and try not to get angry no matter what people do to them. They don't want to ever use the power of God for evil. When God gives you a measure of His power, you are not to go around destroying people you consider to be enemies. Ephesians 6:12 says:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
A vessel in satan's hands today can become a great vessel in God's hands tomorrow. If God could use Mary Magdalene, who had seven demons in her, He can use anyone who is considered evil. If Stephen had called death upon Saul as he was being executed under Saul's supervision, there would never have been an Apostle Paul. Paul said in today's memory verse that the power of God is for edification, not destruction.
In today's Bible reading, James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans because they didn't receive Jesus. However, Jesus told them that He came to save, not to destroy lives. Beloved, God's will is for everyone to be Saved (1 Timothy 2:4); He doesn't want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). If He has given you a measure of His power, only use it to fulfil His will, not to destroy.
Bible In One Year:
Acts 27-28
Hymn:
Yield Not To Temptation
Key Point:
God's power is for saving people and blessing them, not for showing off or destroying lives.
Yield not to temptation
Ask the Saviour to help you
Comfort, strengthen, and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.