Today is Halloween. That reminds me of my childhood in Missouri, walking in the rain along country roads, where my brothers and sisters and I carried our pillowcases and wore sheets to be ghosts. At other times I was Zorro, or the Wolfman, or Dracula, but the goal was the always same—lots of candy to eat the next day.
There are things that I do every day. Some I don’t have to think about, like breathing or having my heart beat or digesting my food. Others take planning, like stretching in the morning with Sherry or brushing and flossing my teeth each night or calling my Mom on the phone. God’s Word shows five important things to do regularly: pray, study, fellowship, give to others, and share God’s Word.
I remember big displays of power—giant waves crashing on Guam’s coral reef at Oka Point, seeing and hearing the USS Iowa’s Mark 7 Naval Gun as it fired, enjoying a four-hour long display of heat lightning in one beautiful cloud. But nothing can compare to God’s power and might.
Our loving Father is the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth. His power toward us was demonstrated when He raised His Son from the dead! Here are a few scriptures that talk about our “mighty powerful” God. He’s a Father that we can count on.
God’s Mighty Power in Old Testament Times
Genesis through Malachi record God’s magnificent power and might in how he cared for and delivered His people time and time again. God’s love energizes His mighty power—as when He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 4:37:
And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt.
Moses taught that the Lord God gives wealth and prosperity. It is only by God’s grace, not by our own “power or might,” that we have our needs met.
Deuteronomy 8:17,18:
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.
Our loving Father cares for His people. When the Almighty God “stretches out His arm,” wonderful and blessed things get done!
Deuteronomy 9:29:
Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.
King David recognized that God gives both riches and honor. He publically thanked and praised God for strengthening His people with mighty power.
I Chronicles 29:12,13:
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
King Jehoshaphat declared the Lord’s power and might in front of whole families who loved God. We can overcome any foe when the Lord God is with us.
II Chronicles 20:6,13:
And said, O Lord God of our fathers…in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
During the reign of Esther, God’s people were under great attack. Mordecai humbly went to God for help, and the Lord exalted him and gave him favor with his people.
Esther 10:2,3:
And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai…accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.
God’s greatness and love is beyond our understanding, yet we enjoy His Almighty goodness and care. He is just and fair in all that He does.
Job 37:23:
Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice.
When God speaks, His voice does mighty things—like sending forth light and restoring the heavens and earth in Genesis 1!
Psalms 29:4:
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
When Israel had their back against the Red Sea, God saved them so He could later bring the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Lord made His mighty power known when he rescued them from their enemies.
Psalms 106:8:
Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.
God specifically named each of the trillions and trillions of stars in the universe by His great might and ability. Is there anything He could not do for us?
Isaiah 40:26:
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
When we reach the end of our strength, our Father energizes us with His might! Like soaring eagles, we can run without wearying and walk without fainting.
Isaiah 40:29,31:
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
The Prophet Micah was able to speak the truth because of God’s powerful holy spirit upon him. God gave him words that were just and mighty.
Micah 3:8:
But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might.
No one can truly succeed by their earthly might and power. It is only by God’s spirit that we gain genuine victory.
Zechariah 4:6:
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
God’s Mighty Power in New Testament Times
No person has ever shown forth the Father’s mighty power like His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus knew the Father intimately, and showed forth God’s power by the spirit his Father gave him to minister to and heal others.
Luke 9:42,43:
And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.
And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.
Jesus Christ showed forth his Father’s mighty power in word and action. We have Christ in us, and we can shine forth for our Father today.
Luke 24:19:
And he [Jesus] said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.
The Apostle Paul preached the good news of Jesus Christ, and God backed up his words with spiritual power and might.
Romans 15:19:
Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
We may seem weak in our prayer and love and devotion to bless others with God’s help. But that is where true strength lies.
I Corinthians 1:27:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
When we believe on Jesus Christ, we are born again with God’s mighty power that raised Christ from the dead.
Ephesians 1:19,20:
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
Jesus Christ is seated in the heavenlies far above any of the adversary’s evil forces. We have Christ in us, and can walk with God’s mighty power each day.
Ephesians 1:21:
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
Like Paul, we can see God’s power work effectually by His gracious gift of holy spirit within us!
Ephesians 3:7:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
When we are in Christ, we will see the Father’s mighty power in our lives. We are strong in the Lord, and not in our own limited abilities.
Ephesians 6:10:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
God strengthens us with His might, according to His glorious power. We joyfully thank Him for His goodness to us.
Colossians 1:11,12:
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.
Giving thanks unto the Father.
When we allow our Almighty heavenly Father to work in us, we will take first place over our adversary, the Devil.
Colossians 1:29:
Whereunto I also labour, striving [like an athlete] according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Paul and Silas and Timothy genuinely loved the Thessalonian believers and preached the good news of Jesus Christ to them. It was the power of the holy spirit in their lives that showed God’s goodness and assured the people there.
I Thessalonians 1:5:
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
Jesus Christ destroyed the death-dealing power of the Devil, and we are complete in Christ!
Hebrews 2:14:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Jesus Christ] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.
God’s Word is alive and energized and cuts finely to the essence of life. The Word allows us to understand our thoughts and motives as we do our utmost to please our heavenly Father and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
With the mighty authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, we speak and minister by God’s power in us.
I Peter 4:11:
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability [power] which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion [might] for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus Christ said that he could of his own self do nothing without God’s help. When we humble ourselves to the Father, He lifts us up and fully cares for us.
I Peter 5:6,7:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Only our heavenly Father deserves our worship and praise. We thank Him for what He has done for us in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Revelation 7:12:
Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus Christ, our savior and lord, will put down every enemy with the power that His Father gave him. Then when God’s beloved Son has fully used his God-given authority, he will submit himself to the Father—that God may be all in all.
I Corinthians 15:24,28:
Then cometh the end, when he [Jesus Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
There is a modern civil war in America between those who carry the banner of “diversity” and those who seek unity for the nation. What does God think about all of this? The Bible gives a clear answer.
In Part 1, we saw that God’s rest and peace comes through believing what He has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. The work of God is to believe on the one He sent. That is how we cease from our own works to receive salvation and the righteousness of God. But how do we live restfully and peacefully? That takes a different kind of effort.
One day Sherry and I hosted a barbecue for our Bible fellowship on the crystal white sands of Guam’s Uruno Beach. Later, a few of us ventured out for a swim, and I made it to the top of the reef.
But I had not accounted for the swiftness of the tide. Suddenly, I found myself trapped on razor-sharp coral with the choice of being thrown out to sea or back onto the jagged shelf. I tried for what seemed like an hour to get enough leverage to go over the reef top, but each attempt ended with cut hands, legs, and feet.
Finally, nearing exhaustion, I ceased from my labors. At that point, thanks in large part to the prayers of those on shore, the sea picked me up and deposited me safely within the reef.
Some of the sweetest moments in life for me have been just “hanging out” with those I love. I remember gathering fossils along a creek bed with our son Elijah when he was into learning about them. I can recall hours of faithfully running with my friend Rich below star-filled, early morning skies. And I still enjoy daily walks with my lovely Sherry around our neighborhood. These are times of “full sharing” where we open our hearts to one another.
I was feeling pretty good at about the 20-mile mark of the Columbus Marathon. It was invigorating to have just run through a part of the “shoe,” The Ohio State football stadium which is shaped like a horseshoe. As I continued on the course, I saw a man sitting beside the road who seemed to be “out of it.” When I stopped to help him, I noticed a scripture reference on his headband: Hebrews 12:1,2.
Jesus Christ was maligned and criticized more than any man—but he always remembered who God made him to be. At times, when the Devil tries to accuse and condemn us, it’s good to remember who God made us to be and what He thinks of us.
