Your Greatest Power

YOUR GREATEST POWER

Proverbs 1:28-33; 22:6 l Corinthians 10:13 2 Cor. 6:2 Jn. 10:10, 27-29

Ezek. 18:1-4, 20 Josh. 24:15 Jas. 3:2

24 year old Danny Simpson was sentenced to 6 years in jail for robbing a bank. Danny was convicted for stealing $6,000 at gun point. The irony is that the gun he used in the robbery ended up in a museum.

The .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic turned out to be an antique made in 1918 by the Ross Rifle Company. His pistol was worth up to $100,000 on the collectors market. If Danny Simpson had known what he had in his hands, he would not have ended up in jail.

Many Christians live like this. They spend their lives searching for God’s power and presence, not realizing it’s already in their hands.

Today I want you to ask yourself, "What do 1 see as my greatest power?" If your response is, "I have no power", then you couldn't be more wrong, and I say to you, "Think again. What is your greatest power?" Think about it.

Is it the power to think logically and rationally? Is it the power to alter your environment? Or do you think that your imagination's your greatest power? While these certainly are powerful, none of them is your greatest power.

1. God’s gift and your greatest power is the power to choose.

Each of us possesses this powerful force which we either use, or misuse daily. Our actions have their origin as thoughts. It’s been said, “We become what we think about all day.”

2. You are in charge of your thoughts. You also have full reign over their power, and by using it wisely, you cannot help but become a better person. You are the possessor of a great and wonderful power. You generally express your thoughts by your words. James put it this way, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” (Jas. 3:2) Our words reveal our thoughts which will either betray our self centeredness or empower our love.

3. This power can give you a new lease on life. It’s a power that can turn success into failure or failure to success. It's a power that can turn tears into laughter; that can turn a life of disappointment into a life of growth and joy. This power was given to us by God, and God will never take it away.

John 10:10 says, “The thief comes but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”

When we fail to achieve our goals, we sometimes look around for something or someone to blame. We attribute our success in living to good luck or bad luck, as though luck was a god or goddess intervening in the affairs of men. We look outside ourselves blaming others rather than tapping the great power we possess in our own hearts.

How many times have we connected with this power and did not recognize it? In fact, God gave this power to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it determined their destiny. It was a power that we inherited from them. How very often God gives us opportunities, and we throw them away because of a rash impulse, or because we didn't recognize it? This power to choose is one of the greatest powers that humankind possesses. Yet, how often do we timidly leave our choices in someone else’s hands?

4. It’s the power to control your own thoughts and make your own choices.

The amazing part about this power is that anyone and everyone has it and can use it. It doesn't require any special education, but to be successful at it, we do need discernment. Making the right choices does require purposeful self-discipline. The sooner we recognize this power, and take control of it, the quicker we get out of the briar patch and onto the main road.

There is nothing outside yourself that has control of this power you possess. Neither God nor Satan will overrule this power of yours; not Satan because he cannot; and not God because He will not. God wants us to use it with faith and trust in His leading. Satan wants only to deceive us into self-destruction.

A little boy came home from the playground one day with a bloody nose, black eye, and torn clothes. It was obvious he'd been in a fight and received the worst of it. While his father was patching him up, he asked his son what happened. "Well Dad," said the boy, "Larry was making fun of me so I challenged him to a fight, and I gave him his choice of weapons."