I Need the Power of God (1 Peter 1:1-5)
by Pastor Cesar Crisostomo | April 8, 2018
I Need the Power of God1 Peter 1:1-5
In the start of the early church, there was great persecution against the Christian believers in Jerusalem. Many of them were scattered throughout the world. And it is to both Jewish and Gentile believers who have been spread out as the result of persecutions that Peter is addressing in his letter. He was not writing to a specific church, but to the early Christian believers in general. Remember that Peter was an important and influential man in the early church and therefore, these Christians would have received his letter with a sense of importance. Peter teaches and encourages the early Christians about the power of God that is available through a relationship and faith in Christ that not only brings strength in times of persecutions but also shields and keeps them from straying from their relationship with God. How vital it is for the Christians today to come to a reliance in the power of God to keep us in the path of faith in Him until He comes again.
What does it really mean to be shielded or kept by the power of God? The word "shielded" is a military term which means to guard, protect by a military guard. It simply means that all your life from today until the day you get to heaven, God is saying, “I am going to keep you, I am going to guard you, guide and shield you all of your life.” You and I need to realize that we are kept, shielded, guarded by the power of God. I am not shielded by what I do or who I am or the skills and abilities that I have, but only by the power of God.
We need to remember that when we are in relationship and in fellowship with God, He is committed to you and me. Familia, I simply want to propose to you that we really need the power of God in our lives that He might guard, guide, keep, sustain and shield and watch over us. But the question is: when do we really need the power of God? Do we really rely on the power of God?
When are the times that we really need Him?
- I need God’s power when I am weary.
- Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” - Isaiah 46:4 “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
- God is going to make sure that you know that His commitment is to carry you, guard, keep you when you are weary and tired and when you think you cannot go on anymore. It is a picture of a God who never gets weary, who never gets tired, who never runs out of resources. A God who strengthens us when we are weak.
- Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,
- I need the power of God when I am facing temptations.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
- It is the power of God that help us out of those times when we are weak, and our flesh is too strong. We need the power of God when we are tempted, and when we know the way to go but our flesh wants to go another way. But if we would just call upon God and ask Him, then He will give us the power we need to overcome. There is really nothing you can face that you cannot say no to. Remember that the temptations we face is not bigger than God's abilities to make a way for you and get you out. We need God's power to help us avoid the things that we should not do.
- In relationship with Jesus, we are given the ability and the power to say no to those things that are not pleasing to God and say yes to God and say yes to what is righteous. (Romans 7 and 8)
- I need God's power when I have no more resources.
- When I feel drained or when I feel inadequate, then I am not able to bring about production of God’s goodness and grace. It is during this time of weakness is when God’s power shows up.
- John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest in me.”
- It is acknowledging that I have limits. My life is limited. Except for the power of God in my life, I know my limitations.
- We don't like acknowledging our weakness. It is either because of pride or shame. But when we acknowledge our limitations, our weakness, we say, “this is all I have God,” it is then that God invades you and fills your life with His power and strength. It begins with the admission to God that you really need His help.
- I need God's power to do what I need to do.
- I know God has given us an assignment. Whatever that may be for you, whether it's being a husband, or a wife, or raising kids or employment or business, etc. I need God’s power to do it.
- Acts 1:8 “But you shall 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.”
- You will need God's power to do the things you need to do to be a witness to the world. You will need His power to live a life where people are forced to ask the question, “what is so different about you?”
How do you experience God's power in your life?
- I must admit that I am weak.
- You and I will never be filled with the power of God until we are empty of self. The emptying of the things of my life, of my self-sufficiency, self-reliance and self-dependence and deciding I want my life to know one thing and that is a life filled with God's power to do the work.
- Seek God's power.
- 1 Chronicles 16:11 “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek His face always.”
- There needs to be a constant hunger in my life for God's power today and for tomorrows. I need His sustaining grace. Seek His power and presence day by day continually.
- Agree that you need God's power.
- God is looking for people who really need Him. Independence in your life and mine without God's help will always lead to nothing. But when you are abiding, you will be a fruitful person. Remember that God will do things for you that you cannot do on your own. It is God's power that produces fruit in you. (John 15)
- Ask God for the power you need.
- James 4:2 “…You do not have, because you do not ask God.”
- I believe that one of the greatest prayer we can pray is asking God for His power in our life.
- God is looking for people who would take the first step of faith.
