The Promised Power

Jesus promised the release of His power and the Spirit on the lives of His followers, to move among them with signs, wonders, and miracles that would leave no doubt about His power in the eyes of a lost and hopeless world. He promised to send His Spirit to live among and inside them, to guide them as they took the gospel to every corner of the globe. He assured them that His Spirit would never leave them or let them down, and He expected them to put total faith and trust in this “still, small voice” guiding them in their hearts.

The prophet Joel foretold this power that would manifest itself upon followers of Christ. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy; your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth” (Joel 2:28-30).

We have before us an opportunity to see the Lord’s might loosed on the world as never before. God is ready and willing to pour out His power, to perform miracles in the name of Christ the likes of which have not been witnessed since the resurrection of Jesus. But when and whether He decides to do that through our lives depends on whether we are willing to step out of our comfort zones, to reevaluate the way we think and believe, to forsake the things of this world, and to trust instead in God’s promise of provision.

Are we willing to put aside our own opinions and agenda and focus instead on the leading of the Holy Spirit?

Will we choose to believe in a big and powerful God?

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run.