Judges 16:20 (HCSB)
Then she cried, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" When he awoke from his sleep, he said, "I will escape as I did before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Samson’s strength was related to his hair. When his hair was cut he was helpless.
Our strength is related, not to hair, but to the Holy Spirit. He indwells every born-again Believer. But sin grieves Him. Our disobedience stifles Him. Our rebellion dethrones Him. We live in sin and think there is no consequence. “My sins are under the blood!” Indeed they are, and they will not be held against us on the Day of Judgment. But our sin grieves the Holy Spirit and pushes Him to the margin of our lives. We sashay forth, thinking we can live as before—teach with power, witness with power, preach with power, pray with power, live with power—but the anointing is gone until the sin is confessed and forsaken.
You cannot make up with human strength what you lack in divine power. Human charisma can only take you so far. Human charm can only take you so far. Human ingenuity can only take you so far. Human intelligence can only take you so far. Human training can only take you so far. Human experience can only take you so far. Human persuasiveness can only take you so far. Human organization can only take you so far.
What we lack in Holy Spirit power we can never make up for in human strength. We are like Samson straining at the grinding wheel, pushing with all our might, and maybe moving things a bit, but going in circles!
We need the power that comes from the Holy Spirit! We must have His anointing at all costs! Sometimes we need to shut down the business until we retrieve the power that makes the business run. We need to open our lives to the examination of the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to search us and expose every sin. We must do a thorough job of confessing and repenting—and making right where necessary. We must accept by faith the cleansing of Christ’s blood (1 John 1:9) and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us again. Then we go out by faith to operate in His power.
Amen!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Brother George
While reading this I looked over to see Mary's gerbil, Pip, running on his wheel with all his might and ending up in the same place - that's how we probably look to Father God when we try to accomplish without Him & His Holy Spirit. Hmmmm...how many miles have I spent running in place? Way too many to account for I am sad to say. Great advice in these times to step back and get myself right before Him before I can expect to be a tool for Him and....stop being a gerbil. Thank you Pastor George for continuing to minister to my heart through these blogs!
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