He Gave Them Power and Authority

At early morning prayer this morning, someone prayed and asked God to release His anointing so that every person at COTRM would become a “life-giving stone.”

In light of the Word that God spoke to us this Sunday, I believe God wants us to understand the supernatural element of the Church and our walk with God. When the two disciples were talking among themselves on the way to Emmaus, the referred to Jesus as “a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people” (Luke 24:19). Jesus not only preached the Word of God, He demonstrated the power of God through the works of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus commissioned His disciples the Bible says that He, “gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing” (Luke 9:1-2). God is just as much at work in His Church today as He was 2000 years ago. Some of the last words that Jesus spoke to His disciples are recorded in the first chapter of Acts. Just before Jesus ascended to be with the Father, Jesus told His disciples that they, “will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Act 1:8).
As a church, let me encourage us to pray and ask God to give us a fresh revelation of His power so we can take the Gospel to our world, as the early church did. Ask God to take us past the point of seeking blessings for ourselves and to take us to that place where He can use us to reach the world with the message of the Kingdom of God. As Jesus was, may we be known as the people of God who are, “mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people.”

This past Sunday I challenged the church to memorize Mark 16:17-18. As we spend time reading, meditating, and memorizing these verses, I believe it will build our faith:

Mark 16:17-18

7 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;

18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." NASU

The above verses are from the New American Standard Bible. Please feel free to memorize these verses in whatever translation of the Bible you use regularly.

As I said Sunday, to do what Jesus did, we must get what Jesus had. May we learn to trust less in ourselves and more in the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.