Many today perceive power as a bad thing. The misuse of power by tyrants and others has corrupted our perception of it. We see in scripture though, that God has given us a spirit of power. It is a good thing! Now we must fan into flame that gift of God.

The Holy Spirit was an armor bearer to Jesus and He is our armor bearer today. The Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness, kept Him while He was there, and brought Him out in power. He does the same for us. A dry or tough time does not mean you are backslidden or that God has forsaken you. The Holy Spirit is with you in the midst of your battle.

Christ not only sets captives free—breaking the power of sin and death—but He also gives us gifts. God wants to give His power to His children, to His church. There are some natural gifts like leadership and serving, but in 1 Corinthians we see nine supernatural manifestations of God's Spirit and power. We also see that these gifts sometimes require pastoring or boundaries. Left unshepherded, manifestations can actually be more from the flesh than from the Spirit. A true manifestation of God's presence will honor God and His holiness.

Self seeking religion does not bring change. God is calling His church to come outside of the selfishness of this generation. If there were ever a time to stand for the testimony of Christ its now! Begin to pray Lord help me to care, today through my life help me to reach out to someone who has no hope and make it a remarkable day for them.

There is an inner voice that God will give to the heart of the honest person with deep inner promptings of the Holy Spirit. No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what threatens to overwhelm us, God’s voice is higher than the circumstance that you are facing today or facing tomorrow. God’s voice brings courage; God’s voice takes those things that are nothing and makes them into something else. Whatever it is that you are facing, let Jesus do what only He can do.

This weekend we heard a lot of great principles at our Marriage + Singles Seminar. Principles are invaluable. We need godly instruction and wisdom, but we must be careful that we don't turn principles into a checklist for performance. Principles are not Jesus. They don't tame sin, and they don't make us righteous. It is only through the New Covenant gospel of grace—Christ's finished work on the cross—that our hearts are changed, an end is brought to sin, and we are made righteous in Him.

There are some who would say that Christianity is on the decline and has lost its significance. We don't see the daily power and presence of the Holy Spirit that the early church experienced. We've become focused on our own needs and self-pursuits. It's time to get our gaze back on Jesus. He is our mission. As we worship Him, pray, read His word and fellowship with Him, our hearts will be called to action—to the lost, broken and hurting.

The harvest of young people is coming, it has already started. There has to come a point of maturity where we put away childish things as the Scriptures say and realize that we are called into the work of God, which is the saving of the lost. We will never bring the name of Jesus into reputation until we are willing to touch the dead in our society and embrace those that God brings back to life. There is going to have to be something deeper coming from the church of Jesus Christ in our time.

Genuine revival, genuine awakening, means coming back to the centrality of the Word of God. If darkness has crossed a line in your life, you don’t have to put up with it. You don’t have to bend your knee to darkness. It is God alone who can produce His own power. When God comes, people change, lives change.

Pastor Gary Wilkerson continues our "Faith for the Greatest Days of Your Life" series looking at the life of Esther. In her story we see a journey from sorrow to success. True godly success can only come through God Himself. He brings about a turn around in identity, family and purity.