Have you ever felt powerless? Had the heart to do something but just did not have enough “umph” to push through, complete the task or get the victory? Maybe you feel like this past year has taken the ‘pow’ out of your power!
If you are feeling weak and in need of power, our friend Peter once felt that same way. Peter loved Jesus, and had committed to Him ‘for the long haul’ saying ‘even if these leave you, I never will.’ (Matt. 26:33) Peter had no shortage of passion or zeal, but had a weakness that manifested in the form of fear in the middle of being questioned around a camp fire after Jesus’s arrest. His failure to push back against fear led to betraying Jesus and the inevitable heartbreak that followed his failing to ‘follow to the end’, at least in that moment.
Power for Victory over Failure
But Peter didn’t stay stuck in his failure to overcome fear, or anything coming against us, and you and I do not either. No matter how much pressure the enemy puts on us, God promises that His power in us is greater than the thing pushing against us. (1 John 4:4). Because God is good, He has provided a supernatural power, available to your today, that will reverse former weakness like fear into boldness, and failure into victory.
The Book of Acts record that just 50 days after His crucifixion, Jesus released and poured out His Spirit in power upon the disciples in the Upper Room. Jesus did not want His followers frozen in fear, but sent a supernatural power to turn fear into boldness. The Holy Spirit entered the room with the sound of a rushing wind and hovered over each person in the form of a spiritual flame of fire. The disciples staggered and stumbled into the street under the influence of the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues no5 taught by man. What happens next is one of the greatest Bible examples we have of a failure turned into an overwhelming victory by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Power gives Supernatural Victory
There is curious crowd there as there was curious people around the campfire after Jesus’s arrest. But THIS time, when Peter is questioned and even mocked – ‘have you been drinking this early in the morning’ – Peter does not shrink under fear, but rose in boldness, preaching Jesus and salvation and 3,000 are added to the church that day! Wow!!! That is quite a turnaround! Peter’s heart to follow Jesus, and God’s enduement of power had joined to result in a past failure becoming his greatest victory to date! That is good news not only for Peter for you and I as well, as God’s power poured out then, is available to us today to transform fear to boldness and failure to victory! You do not have to stay defeated or lacking in power or “umph” to push back against anything that is coming against you!
Connect to His Power
What are you facing this month that you need God’s power to push back on? You do not need to stay stuck in fear or lack the power to keep going against enemy resistance. God’s power upon us, gives us a supernatural ability to rise up and face challenges with boldness and God’s ability, not our own strength or ideas. Peter on His own, would not have known how to address the curious crowd, but WITH God’s power, He knew WHAT to say, and had the BOLDNESS to SAY IT. God partnered with Him to produce not a natural response from the onlooker but supernatural results, as 3,000 responded to Peter’s message and were added to the Church that day. God’s power will in the same way give you the power to partner with Him, and will result in supernatural results as well in whatever He calls you to do. !
While John the Baptist had a ministry of baptism for repentance, Jesus has the ministry of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can receive this empowerment from Jesus today. His empowerment is for His people, the entire body of Christ, the whosoever will receive from Him. Thank Jesus for being your savior and for His baptism of power. Then by faith open your mouth and let sound come out, but not in your native tongue.
As you yield your vocal cords, the Holy Spirit upon you will connect with the Spirit inside you and give you the ability to speak in this supernatural language that you did not learn in school. Counter any resistance the enemy might bring, by pressing in, thanking the Lord for giving you the same release of power in your life as His Church walked in the New Testament. As you begin to use this empowerment daily, you will see the power of the Holy Spirit give you pushback against fear and discouragement. This empowerment will also release spiritual gifts and revelation into your life as the Holy Spirit choses. The issues in your life that you could not handle in your natural ability, will be possible to have victory in with Holy Ghost power partnering with you. After you have received this baptism, His Spirit will give you great ‘push back’ and ability to walk in victory!
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Comment below: How is the power of the Holy Spirit transforming your life? We would love to hear your testimony on how this power has transformed your life. We have many books on this topic and would love to hear what questions you would like us to address about this empowerment.
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Thank you, Sara! What an encouragement Peter is. Even in his bumbling, human frailty, our God provided the means for his strengthening and use for the Kingdom. The encouragement is that our God through His Holy Spirit does the same for each of us in all circumstances. Many blessings on your work!
Thank you so much! And yes! We have a great God! 2 Cor. 4:7! We have this treasure in jars of clay! Thank you for your comment and for following us on LNFW! Sara
Thank you Sara for this super-encouraging message on God’s power to turn weakness and failure into victory. I love your example of Peter’s turnaround under God’s power. I love your point that it is by partnering with God’s power that we get these supernatural results, not by anything that we do in our own strength. Thank you!
Thank you Ms. Gretchen! Peter is like all of us I feel, whose heart was right, but what God called him to do, he could not do on his own strength. Being dependent on God is the place of greatest strength for the believer! John 15:5, He is the Vine, we are the branches, we can do nothing without Him. Thank you for following us on LNFW!
Great article on the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes Peter went from a man afraid of a servant girl standing by a fire to a powerhouse for Jesus after he was filled with the Spirit in the book of acts. With coved this past year and being in the dental profession we are also in the front lines /There are days when one gets tired of n-95 masks that almost take your breath away with all of the chemicals inside of them, to a face shield , a gown and a cap. There are days when my flesh gets as we put it “ coved tired’ but the power of the Holy Spirit inside of me I feel empowered and strengthened by His might. “ Be strong in the Lord and in the POWER of His might” Hallelujah … these days I thank God for the indwelling of the Holly Spirit or I don’t think I could have gone on all these long days in my profession I really don’t.
Hi Jackie! And YES! I agree and what a perfect example of how we have all had to rely on God’s supernatural power of the Holy Spirit during this past year of Covid-19. I know i was so appreciative of the dental assistants who wore all of the ‘extra garb’ to clean my teeth this past year. Keep using your prayer language every day, and allow the Lord to keep you strong in your spirit. I know He is using you greatly to be a blessing to others. Thank you so much for your comment and for following us on LNFW! Blessings, Sara
Great article. Yes Peter went from a man who was afraid of a servant girl by a fire to a powerhouse in the book of acts…. In my dental career and in the past year with coved, i have felt challenged. We are also in the front lines . Some days one gets tired of wearing an n 95 mask with all of its chemicals to a cap and a gown and all of the extra protection that we have to wear. There are days when fatigue and weariness can set it… I thank God for the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain me, to strengthen me and to keep me going. I thank God that He says in His word”Be strong in the Lord and in the power of HIs might “ Hallelujah
Amen! The empowerment of the Holy Spirit is for every believer. It strengthens each of us whether we are in ministry, education, the business world or at home raising children. God is a GOOD God and wants us to be able to grow out of our weak areas and be able to follow Him to the end, no matter what is going on in the world around us. Many blessings Ms. Jackie!! Sara
Like Peter, which one of us has fear not gripped? His fear turned to betrayal of Christ…not once, but thrice. Utterly ashamed, and confident that his failure had exempted him from his place in God’s Kingdom, fear and betrayal turned into disconsolate despair.
Jesus met and engaged Peter on the beach, cooked him breakfast, and went for a walk with him. Peter confessed his incalculable love for Jesus. Of course, He forgave Peter, and gave him instructions per leadership. Yet, his restoration was incomplete…
Jesus knew what Peter needed- Power from Heaven!!
And in the Upper Room, Peter, along with 119 more disciples of Christ were endued, and infused with Supernatural unction. Peter was completely changed, as were the others. Now, Peter was equipped with God’s Power to change the world, and he did. You can read about him and his exploits in the book of Acts!
We need God’s available Power! Like Peter, it will change us, and allow us to change the world for Christ!
Yes, amen! Everyone who receives the empowerment of the Holy Spirit IS changed forever, and is able to BRING change where ever they are for the kingdom. You do not need to be a pastor or traveling evangelist, you can live in YOUR town, YOUR neighborhood, start pressing into this supernatural language and allow the Lord to use your life to glorify Him and pull others to Him. It is a language of power, comfort and deep intercession for others. Any person whose receives this empowerment and uses it, is a tremendous blessing to those around them. People need Jesus. And this empowerment helps get what is IN us, like salvation, healing, prosperity, revelation, etc, and get it flowing OUT of us and TO others, so others can know Jesus and be blessed. Thank you so much for your comment and for following us on LNFW! Many blessings to you and LInda, Sara
I totally agree with this and tgua is my confession and goal to allow the Spirit of God to work through me
BLESSINGS
Amen! Especially in California! That is my home state! Jesus loves California and wants people to know He is REAL and He is GOOD. Every time we yield to the Holy Spirit we are yielding to Jesus and His plan for our lives. When we yield to Him, we are to a blessing to our families and those around us. You are setting a godly example for your children when you pray in the Spirit and allowing God to use your life to point others to Him. Thank you for taking the time to comment! And for following us on LNFW! Many blessings, Sara
Great news and easy to understand! De mystifies what can be passed off as elusive and un accessible . Practical discussions and conversations can take the ridiculous intimidation of seeming “super Christian” things and include all of human kind and not just a “ perfect angelic squad”. Thanks for keeping it real! – Naomi
Thanks Naomi! I smiled when I read your comment! One thing we can definitely see about the first disciples is how ‘normal’ they were! Fishermen, tax collectors, doctors and basically every day people who had a heart for God and believed Jesus was the Son of God I too love this about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We all get to be ‘us’ in the personality that God gave us, but be yielded and empowered by HIM, and have Him do the supernatural through us very ‘naturally’ if you will. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to DO what we read in the Word. And all of it is serving God and others. Being useful. Being kind. Helping the poor. Making mistakes along the way, comes with the territory of being human. One thing I have noticed about people that have had some type of failure, myself included, is that we tend to be that much more reliant on on the Lord and Holy Spirit. We understand that we have this all surpassing power in jars of clay, and tend to pray quite a bit, speak not so much, and really try to maintain the lowest position before God and people that we can. Humility is our safe place. We are all called to walk in faith, in love and to keep growing as we go, but none of us have to feel we have to be perfect. Jesus is perfect. And that is enough and He promises, just like this example of Peter’s failure to always turn even failure in to something good for us. Romans 8:28. Thank you so much for your comment! And for following us on LNFW! Sara
Absolutely fantastic !!!!!! This personal accessible conversation about LIFE that takes the intimidation out of what can seem like only available to the “ super spiritual”. This is great! So needed in this time where it is so easy to believe that a spiritual blessing from God to humankind is only for the “ amazing angelic squad”. This is just exactly what so many people need to hear and be encouraged by and empowered by !!!!! Thank you Sara!!!! – Best – Naomi
Thank you Naomi! The empowerment of the Holy Spirit is for EVERY believer! From the new covert, to the seasoned saint! Jesus loves His body and wants us ALL strong and able to overcome our own past weaknesses, like fear of others, so that we can be FREE and be the maximum blessing to Him and to others! He is GOOD! We look forward to your comments on our next article entitled “Jesus prays with Us’! Thanks for following us on LNFW! Sara