(ThyBlackMan.com) I want to start off this writing by making a statement and saying that it is my desire to live not only with a form of Godliness but with the power that goes with it!
In order to clarify, I guess I must start with what is a form of Godliness? Form to me refers to the outside / external part of us and Godliness to me means a reference to be pleasing to God. In other words, living and doing things that are pleasing to God.
However, if we only try to live with an outward expression of a love for God, it may cause us to change for the better in only small ways. On the other hand, if we internalize our love for God and allow those internal changes to reflect externally, our changes appear even greater on the outside. Lastly, since we are human beings and flawed creatures at best, our ability to change externally or even internally is limited by our human nature and therefore can never produce a perfect change. Therefore, I believe in order for a meaningful and lasting change to take place in our lives we must have the Holy Spirit working within us to make up the difference. The working of the Holy Spirit is what I will refer to as the power of God.
Hence, when some say that the Holy Spirit does not work in our lives today, I believe they have denied the power of God out rightly and there is not much more that can be done. If this individual tries on their own to live a Godly life the result will be in form only, as certain things and abilities can only come from the Holy Spirit (such as the gifts of the Spirit but that’s for another writing).
Unfortunately many of us choose (or should I say have settled) to live with a form of Godliness but have denied the power, not because of an outright denial of God’s power to work in our lives, but I think because of the inadvertent and even subconscious decisions we make on a day-in, day-out or even hour-by-hour basis.
There are two major reasons for this. First is simply a not knowing or understanding that God can work powerfully in every situation in our lives from the seemingly small such as “God where did I place my car keys” to the relatively large such as “God would you please heal me from the physical pain I am suffering” (I’ve personally seen and had God’s power work in both situations). When we are ignorant to God’s ability then perhaps, we simply have not asked God to display His power in our lives where we need it the most. The best cure for this ignorance is twofold. One we simply need to start asking God for His power in our lives and two in order to understand how God would like to display His power in our lives it would be best to see examples of how He has displayed His power in the past. The best record for how God has shown His power is of course in His word (the Bible). By studying the word of God, we can see numerous examples of how God’s power brought about change in believers, situations, weather and a myriad of circumstances. Since scripture also states that God does not change, the power He displayed then, He is capable of displaying today. Therefore, take Him at His word and begin asking Him for the power for changes in your life today.
The second reason I believe we inadvertently deny the power of God is that we get too caught up in our busyness and simply forget that God can take care of many of our situations and we simply plod on trying to take care of things ourselves. Or, we mistakenly think that God doesn’t want to be bothered by these seemingly trivial things in our lives when He’s got the whole world to look after. However, I want to remind you that scripture says that you are the apple of His eye and that He promised He would never forsake you. Also, scripture says we are to bring every concern and care we have to Him since He cares for us. So the next time you find yourself in the bind of time and really could use God’s power to move in your situation, don’t dismiss the thought of asking God to intervene. He’s waiting on you to call on Him so He can work in your life to strengthen your faith and pour His love out on you.
Therefore, I encourage everyone to pursue both a form of Godliness but also the power that will enable us to truly possess it by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.
Staff Writer; Rick S.
One may contact this man of God at: RS@ThyBlackMan.com.
