Lesson 225 – When the Spirit Fills Full With Power

Micah 3:8

"But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin."

Micah contrasts his right to preach the word of the Lord to those who were false prophets, those who preached only for pay and the praise of their congregations. Micah understood that the one rightly called by God to preach will be filled full by the Spirit's touch with the power of God to preach the word.

One of the stories of my life is to look back to my call as a minister. While the call to preach was real enough, my sermons seemed to fall flat the first few times I stood in the pulpit. Though I studied, understood the word, and worked out a suitable outline, when I preached, there was no movement of the Spirit upon the congregation. This was certainly disconcerting to me, since I had gone public with my call to preach. People must have thought I had misunderstood the call!

Later, I learned that the Spirit's power to preach doesn't always fall on a man at the same time as the call is given. In my life, the Lord didn't send this power until he was ready for me to minister to my first congregation. Almost overnight, I went from being unable to preach to experiencing god's power upon my sermons. Nothing had changed in me, except that now the Spirit's power filled me full and brought fruit to God's word.

I've learned not to listen to my own emotions when my words seem to fall flat. Instead, I trust that the Spirit's power will make his word burn in the ears of those who hear and will do the work which God intends.

For every believer, we too can trust that the Spirit's power comes upon us whenever we're called to be used as an instrument of our Lord. We only need to listen for the call and wait the Lord's work in us.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your power to preach the word, a power given to me by your Holy Spirit. May I never lift myself up over you, always coming humbly before you and your church with the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.