Power from on high

There's something profoundly beautiful about standing at the edge of a pond after heavy rains, watching the water overflow its banks. What was once contained suddenly spills out, transforming everything it touches. The dry ground drinks deeply. The parched grass springs to life. What was limited becomes limitless.

This image captures something essential about the Christian life that many of us have never fully grasped: we were never meant to live in our own strength.

The Lamp Without Power
Imagine purchasing the most beautiful lamp you've ever seen. The design is perfect, the craftsmanship impeccable. You place it beside your favorite chair, step back, and admire how it looks. But here's the problem—no matter how stunning that lamp appears, it cannot fulfill its purpose without being plugged into a power source.

By itself, that lamp is just a decorative piece. It has potential, but no ability. It cannot produce even a flicker of light until it connects to something beyond itself.

This is the reality of human effort in the Christian life. We have potential—tremendous potential—but apart from the Holy Spirit, we lack the ability to fulfill our calling. We can try harder, commit more deeply, and exert greater willpower, but natural strength will never be enough to accomplish supernatural purposes.

The Calling We Cannot Fulfill Alone
Every follower of Christ shares the same fundamental calling: to go into all the world and make disciples. This isn't reserved for pastors, missionaries, or those with naturally bold personalities. It's the mission given to every single believer.

Yet here's the uncomfortable truth: most of us struggle to fulfill this calling. Fear holds us back. Inadequacy silences us. We have opportunities to share the gospel, but we let them slip away because we lack the boldness, the wisdom, or the words.

This isn't a character flaw—it's a power problem.

The Three Ways the Spirit Works
Understanding how the Holy Spirit interacts with us changes everything. Scripture reveals three distinct ways:

With us - Before salvation, the Holy Spirit works alongside us, drawing us to Christ. No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. He reveals truth, convicts of sin, and opens blind eyes to see the reality of who Jesus is.

In us - At the moment of salvation, everything changes. The Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. We become God's temple, housing the very presence of the living God. This is the miracle of regeneration—Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Upon us - This is the overflow, the baptism of the Holy Spirit that empowers us for witness and service. This is what Jesus spoke of when He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high.

Why the Disciples Had to Wait
Consider the scene after Jesus' resurrection. He breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." This was their moment of salvation—the Spirit came to dwell within them. Yet before ascending to heaven, Jesus gave them specific instructions: "Wait in Jerusalem until you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit."

Why wait? If they already had the Spirit dwelling in them, why not immediately go out and fulfill the Great Commission?

Because they lacked what they needed to carry out their calling. They had potential but needed power. They had the Spirit within but needed the Spirit upon them in overflowing measure.

The Greek word Jesus used for power is dunamis—where we get the word dynamite. This isn't human effort amplified. This is divine energy flowing through willing vessels, enabling them to do what they could never accomplish on their own.

The Evidence of Power
How do we know when we've been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Some insist on specific manifestations, but Scripture paints a broader picture. The evidence of the Spirit's power includes:

Boldness - Remember Peter, who denied Christ three times out of fear? After being filled with the Spirit, he stood before thousands and proclaimed the gospel with such power that 3,000 people were saved in a single day. That's not personality—that's power.

Spiritual gifts - The Spirit distributes gifts as He wills for the building up of the body and the furtherance of the kingdom. These aren't natural talents enhanced but supernatural abilities imparted.

Effective witness - A spirit-empowered messenger testifies to the reality of Jesus Christ through words, character, and life. The world sees something in us that cannot be explained by human effort alone.

Living in the Overflow
The baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't a one-time event we check off our spiritual to-do list. Scripture commands us to "be filled with the Spirit"—a present, continuous action. We need to be continually overflowing.

Think again of that pond. When it overflows its banks, everything around it is affected. The overflow doesn't just impact the pond itself—it transforms the entire landscape.

This is what happens when believers overflow with the Holy Spirit. We affect everyone around us. Our families, coworkers, neighbors, and communities encounter something beyond human explanation. They see light in darkness, hope in despair, and power in weakness.

How to Receive
The beautiful promise of Luke 11 assures us: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

The answer is remarkably simple: pray and believe.

The disciples waited in Jerusalem, but Scripture never specifies how long they should wait. They simply gathered together and prayed. And as they prayed in faith and expectation, the Spirit came upon them in power.

We don't need to manufacture an experience or work ourselves into an emotional frenzy. We simply need to ask our loving Father, who delights to give good gifts to His children, and then believe that He has heard and answered.

The Daily Connection
Every morning presents the same choice: will we attempt to live in our own strength, or will we plug into the power source?

Before facing the day's challenges, before encountering opportunities to witness, before navigating difficult relationships, we can pray: "Father, fill me today with Your Holy Spirit to overflowing. I don't want to rely on my own power. I want to walk in Your power."

And then we go forth believing that the God who promised to give His Spirit to those who ask has done exactly that.

Living in Dark Times
We live in increasingly dark times. The world grows more hostile to truth, more confused about basic reality, more desperate for answers it refuses to hear. But darkness has never been a problem for light. In fact, the darker the night, the more brilliant even a small flame appears.

If the world is dark, it needs what we have—the light of Jesus Christ. But that light doesn't shine through human effort or clever arguments. It shines through Spirit-empowered witnesses who overflow with the presence of God.

The lamp is beautiful, but useless without power. We have been called, equipped, and positioned. Now we need only to stay connected to the source, allowing His power to flow through us in supernatural abundance.

The world is waiting. Will we overflow?