Power for Service

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The gift the disciples received by waiting is the same gift we receive when we wait on the Lord — that is, the power to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. We alone have that power, for we alone have His Spirit, and if we do not have His Spirit, we are not His witnesses. The indwelling Spirit is the only difference between us and all other religious people, for He is the only proof that we have an authentic relationship with the True and Living God. Any other claim to spiritual legitimacy is counterfeit, for only the Holy Spirit is God Himself alive in us. And if He is alive in us, we will be His witnesses, and He will show Himself great through us.

 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)

 

God is not interested in excellent, efficient, philanthropic, or successful Christian service. All these things can be accomplished with the sheer force of our will and efforts. The test of every ministry is whether it is Spirit-given, Spirit-led, and whether the minister serves in the spirit of humility and sacrifice. That is why we must wait before we go. We must receive God's power from on high before we go down into the valley of darkness and death — lest we be unprepared and overwhelmed by the needs and depravity of men, as well as our own. 

We who minister must die daily to every independent inclination if we are to be God's witnesses in the world. Only those who are fully dependent on Him can serve Him acceptably, and that is what Paul means by "your reasonable service." Is your service "reasonable" by God's standard?

 

Let's Pray - Dear Lord, may Your people be content to wait on You and receive Your power, so that we might be holy witnesses to Your greatness and holy messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.