Andy Byrd, pioneer of the Circuit Riders movement, once shared: “I am completely convinced that we have propped up a weak version of Jesus today and it must be destroyed. We have to deal with the issue of powerless Christianity. Because when Jesus walked into the room, power would be released, and the same spirit that raised Him from the dead and lived inside of Him lives in us.

“The same Bible is the same truth that has always been for 2,000 years, the same God is on the throne, the same intercessor is at His right hand, the same spirit lives inside of us and the same Word is releasing life. So why are we not seeing the power that the book of Acts saw? Do we believe the power of the Gospel?

“Jesus did not die for powerless Christianity, He died to release a power that could change the world.”

I’ve listened to this song on repeat: There Is A Name in Sean Feucht’s newest album WILD. 

There is a name 
Who reigns without contention 
Whose power can’t be questioned or contained

With humble fame 
He rules the earth and heavens 
His glory knows no measure or refrain
And it’s bursting past the border lines of space…

…There is a name
Reaching past the margins
Calling sons and daughters back to Him 

And as He saves 
We can hear the roar of Heaven  
As prodigals are coming home again

Oh the triumph of His name will never end

JESUS WALKED IN POWER

I have come to realise that I have not been living out the power that I was meant to as Jesus said in John 14:12-14.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

What did Jesus do? He walked in power. Wherever he went, peoples’ lives were transformed. Bill Johnson puts it as such: When the Bible states that “the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord”, how will it happen?

We remember the story of Jesus turning water to wine. John 2:11 (ESV) tells us, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” 

When we, like Jesus, choose to walk in power, God’s glory is manifested on earth. The disciples believed when they saw the manifestation of His glory.

WHY ARE WE NOT SEEING THAT SAME POWER TODAY?

I believe the answer has to do with our fear of men and feeling of inadequacy.

In my conversations with friends, I tend to self-censor given past experiences of being rejected whenever I try to bring Jesus into the conversation. I fear what others may think of me when I try to talk to them about Jesus. I worry when I pray for them for fear they do not get their breakthrough.

We do not need a generation of safe and tame Christians.

But the Bible reminds us in Luke 6:45, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

When we say that Jesus has won our hearts, then shouldn’t it be natural that we talk about him and praise his name at every possible time and place? Many of us say “I’m a Christian”, but we are not actually consumed.

We do not need a generation of safe and tame Christians. We need a generation of Christians that are consumed by the love of God because that is what it is going to take to win the world for Jesus.

HAVING A FAITH THAT ACTS

So how do we walk in power as did Jesus and the apostles? I believe the answer has to do with having a faith that acts.

The Bible often pairs faith with a response or an action. For example, James 5:15 tells us that “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up”. When we choose to separate faith from works, we render God’s promises powerless. Genuine faith requires us to walk the talk.

The Bible again reminds us in 1 Corinthians 4:20: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power”.

The Bible is powerful. But if we only “do Bible” in church, if regular time with God’s Word is not causing us to be sold out to His will and purposes, then we have fallen into the trap of a safe, tame Christianity – what the Bible also calls spiritual lukewarmness.

I believe God is calling out people that will take Him for His Word. People that have faith that acts.  People that live simply and love richly. People that burn for Jesus. A fearless generation that will do anything to see Him manifest Heaven on earth.

We believe in a God of miracles. It is going to take more than passive Christianity to see that truth come alive. It is going to take radical obedience and a wholehearted devotion. It is going to require us to lay down all our pride and our very lives. If we claim that Jesus is worth dying for, then he must be worth living for now.

 “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39)