“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you …”

— Acts 1:8

Have you ever looked at a challenge and thought you just didn’t have the power to overcome it? Maybe you face such a challenge today. If so, do you realize that you have incredible power available to you through the Holy Spirit?

Perhaps you know this hymn: “I link my earthly feebleness to Thy almighty power.” These words explain the great claim Christianity makes—that God links us feeble human beings to His divine power when we entrust our lives to Him. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would come on us, giving us this power.

Power. In the Greek it is dunamis, from which our word “dynamite” comes. We have that kind of explosive power in God. Consider some of the events in the Old Testament in which men and women overcame kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of fire, and turned aside the edge of the sword. By God’s grace these people grew strong in battle and put to flight their enemies. By faith they ran through troops and leaped over walls.

The apostle Paul claimed, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), and we can make that claim, too. In fact, we need to live by it, for this world desperately needs such men and women of faith to accomplish great feats for God. God calls us to wield spiritual swords for His kingdom. And He promises to give us the power to accomplish anything He calls us to do. God wants to make the world marvel, to melt frigid indifference and startle people, to make them wide-eyed at what faith can accomplish. When the multitudes saw the boldness of Peter and John, they marveled, and many gave their lives to Christ. God wants to accomplish the same through you and me.

When you and I exhibit boldness that will run through a troop and leap over a wall, the world will indeed marvel at God’s power in us. Today, be bold in God. Claim the Holy Spirit’s power in you, and watch what He does through your life.

“The battle is the Lord’s! The harvest fields are
white … victory is sure. We face a vanquished foe;
then forward with the risen Christ to battle go!”
E. Margaret Clarkson