You Have Superpower Devo
Daily Reading: (Acts 1:8):
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”
God has given us super power (Acts 1:8). In Greek, it explains what that power is dynamis. It is where we get our English words dynamite, dynamo, and dynamic from. The first definition of dynamis is strength power and ability, but then you ask the question, “strength, power, and ability for what?” The second part of the definition says, “power for performing miracles.”
Where I think many believers are at is that they have either forgotten or do not know the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit that is placed in them. If they did, the expectation would be, that I get to see God do miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit living in me.
James 5:14: Is anyone among you sick? James says, “Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” Is it just the elders who have power? No, all believers have super power (Acts 1:8). If all believers have super powers, why do we need church leaders to pray for a miracle? Great question and the answer is that we don’t. What is so special about the elders, then? The elders are the most likely people to know the power they have been given from the Holy Spirit, they are fully persuaded that God wants to heal you! This is not always the case. Find someone who believes the promises of God and have them pray for you.
Those that are not fully persuaded when they pray, are not going to tap into the dynamis, dynamite power of God for healing. James writes this: “Let him ask in faith, with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).
“Call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” Why is oil used? According to Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible, oil in the East, and especially among the Jews was a sign of the divine grace (James 5:14).[1]
Why is bringing God’s divine grace into the equation when I pray so important? Oil reminds me as I pray who the Healer is, who we are taking this situation too, that’s the job of the Holy Spirit in me when I pray. I can use oil to remind myself, and the one I am praying for that it is not about me, it is all about the grace of Jesus Christ who bore our infirmities and by His stripes we are healed. The oil reminds us of this powerful truth. So, when the elders or church leaders who believe the promises of God pray and use oil, the oil says the healing is theirs not because the leader is so amazing with their prayers, but because Jesus has purchased for me to have this healing and it comes by the very grace of God.
Part of the reason the church spread so much was there was a group of believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit and they believed they were vessels to be used in the authority of Jesus’ name to perform miracles.
“And you will be my witnesses…” “Witnesses” is the Greek word martys. Martys is part of the same word as martyrs, but it can simply mean witness or it can also mean those who after Jesus’ example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death. Christianity was real and genuine because people were willing to die for it. The point is that when you tap into the power that God has given you to do the works Jesus did you will have the opportunity to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). The trials and the tribulations that we all go through is an opportunity for the power of God to be on display.
Why would the world hate me for doing such good, for showing the love of Christ? Jesus has an answer for us in John 15:17-19. Jesus says “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.” Jesus who is love- who is grace and truth- what happened to Him? He was crucified. “If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
[1] https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jfu/james-5.html
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