Power in the Blood
A friend was explaining to me how her son’s diabetes affected his body and why insulin is so necessary for survival. Our bodies need sugar for energy. As a matter of fact, all food is turned into sugar in our blood stream to give us energy or power to live. Diabetics (from my limited understanding) have sugar in their blood, but it can’t get into the blood cells. So, they have sugar for energy, but it can’t be used to power their bodies. Insulin acts like a key to open up the cell so the sugar to get in and power it.
With this very small glimpse into how insulin works, I began to wonder if that’s a picture of how Jesus’ power works in us. He gave us access to his life-changing power, but I look around and see so many of us (myself included) who don’t seem to be living by that power. Ephesians 1: 19-20 “…his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as a the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the heavenly realms.”
Wow-we have THAT power inside of us? That incomparably great power – resurrection power- lives in us so that we might live for Him. Why don’t feel it some days? Why do I still struggle to do what is right? Why does temptation’s pull seem stronger sometimes? That kind of power is amazing and would do amazing things in our lives if only we had the key to unlock it.
I believe many Christians are walking around with Jesus’ power pulsing through their veins, but they cannot access it. It’s not much different than sugar in a blood stream with no insulin. We have power in the blood of Jesus, but we aren’t living by it. Why? What keeps us from using this power?
God calls us to live in obedience to Him and it is through obedience that we unlock the power He has given us. When we step out in obedience to His calling, we find His strength to follow through. I’m not just talking about obedience to the 10 commandments, but obedience to His quiet voice, His gentle urgings and the small acts of godliness He prompts us to each day.
When God asks us to call a friend, do we put it off, with the thought that we are too busy right now? When God prompts to send a note do we use the excuse that we haven’t got any stamps? When God’s spirit moves us to pray with a friend (not FOR a friend, after the fact, with WITh a friend, right now), do we shy away? When God tells us to give someone a hug, do we awkwardly shake hands instead? Maybe I’m the only one who puts off these promptings from the spirit, but I’m certain that is why I lack God’s power when I need it.
Philippians 2:12-13 “Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more so in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to fulfill His good purpose.”
The more I commit to taking immediate action when I heard God speaking, the more I sense His presence and His power in my life. When I hear Him asking me to turn off the TV (it’s not helping my spirit), or get off facebook (I’m neglecting my family), or to put back that item in my cart I don’t really need (isn’t He enough?), that’s when I feel His power pulsing through my veins.
Every time we step out in obedience, we unlock the power that rose Christ from the dead in our one lives. and we draw nearer to the One who loved us enough to die for us.
I don’t know about you, but I want that kind of power in my life. I’m committing to this journey of working out what God is working in me, taking small steps of obedience and watching God come through for me. It’s an adventure and the first step is to obey.
Is there anything God is calling you to do today?
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