The Call to Arms: Receive Power

Now, let’s look at the One who works to bring it all together: the Holy Spirit.

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:4-8)

When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we receive the power of God, His ability to do miraculous works in the earth. The power enables us to be witnesses to those around us by displaying God’s heart. The Holy Spirit turns us into conquerors by driving out our fear and filling us with love and compassion of Christ for others. The Holy Spirit can empower us to go past our personality flaws so we can help those around us. The Holy Spirit in Peter and John caused those around them to see their boldness and perceive “they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

Peter and John, empowered by the Holy Spirit, displayed the perfect blend of love and power, as seen in Jesus. Peter and John acted as mirrors, showing us what happens when we spend time with Jesus. Jesus was righteously bold because He knew Himself and God His Father. He makes us fearless. As we hang around with Him, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we will become bold because God’s love makes us brave. Daniel the Prophet says as much when he wrote: “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” (Daniel 11:32) The more of God’s love you know, the more bold things you will do for God. “…the innocent lovers of God, because of righteousness, will have the boldness of a young, ferocious lion!” (Proverbs 28:1; TPT)

The foundation of our boldness is built on the fact that we have a great and powerful and good Father. The majority of earthly fathers don’t have to be told to respond to the cries of their children. Reacting to the sounds of children crying out is instinctive. God is no different. He is our Father, and He is the one running to help us in our times of need.

He is our healer, and we can boldly say that He will heal us. We can openly say that he is the Provider of all our needs. We can boldly say that he is our counselor, friend, rock, strength, might, peace, joy, and so much more! When we give voice to these scriptural truths, it cuts through sickness and disease and other forms of oppression; it releases heaven into our world.

When we declare Who our Father is in the face of what we need, He will come to our rescue. This truth awakened a fierce warrior inside of David. He pressed into his Father and saw great things happen in his day. The most famous is found in 1 Samuel chapter seventeen.

Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him.

And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. (1 Samuel 17:40-51)

David had no doubt he was going to win. He didn’t go into the battle, wondering if he was going to beat Goliath. He operated from a place of victory, even though it hadn’t happened yet. David spoke and had the last word with Goliath. David fought with power and boldness.

We stand in the same place: the devil is defeated in our lives, and Jesus has won. We live and operate from a position of strength and victory. We are not reaching for success, we are battling from victory.