Power Belongs to God
Psalms 62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
Psalms 62:11(GNS) More than once I have heard God say that power belongs to him
Psalms 62:11(NLT) God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you;
Introduction: We give all the glory to Jesus for another week of at His feet. I pray that we shall not be a forgetful hearer from the lessons learnt as we study from the living words in Jesus name.
In the course of family devotion, we concluded that ours is to decree and it is for God to establish our decrees. I have observed from my own experience as a pastor called to start a parish about 25 years ago, that pastors are afraid to pray for the sick because people look up to them as powerful men of God who can heal the sick and raise the dead. Therefore, pastors think that if the sick is not healed, people will say they have no power and there will be no members in the church.
The first time I read the inscription at the hospital that says “we care but God heals”, I got revelational knowledge that “Power Belongs to God”. Mine is to decree from the word of God, it is for God to establish my decree.
Several men of God have been deceived to believe that power to heal and deliver belongs to them.
Hear Peter when God used him and John to heal the lame man at the Beautiful gate
Acts 3:10-12 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
Peter directed people’s attention to Jesus Christ whose power healed the lame.
What do you think men of God nowadays will do? They will direct people’s attention to their ministry business centres. There is no doubt, some so called men of God use tricks or magical power from the Devil to perform signs and wonder so as to have members and establish their ministries. That has been in existence even from the beginning of the propagation of the gospel.
Acts 13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
There are also men of God that turn gift of the Holy Spirit into merchandise for financial gains.
Acts 8:18-21(NLT) When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands upon people’s heads, he offered money to buy this power. “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!” But Peter replied, “May your money perish with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right before God.
There are also genuine men of God who started well but have been pushed by this evil generation that seek for signs and wonders to prophesy what God has not said so as to be popular and for more clientele in ministry.
Matthew 12:38-39(NLT) One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove that you are from God.” But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, faithless generation would ask for a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Unfortunately, this generation wants signs and wonder with prophecies about their lives, country, etc. They have pushed genuine men of God into ridicule on social media because men of God want to be relevant, popular and win more souls for Christ and ultimately get more money, they prophecy what God has not said using all formulas and guessing most of which do not come to pass.
In 2004, I was posted to start a new parish. I started teaching words of God as I see that teaching is my calling. The follow up department gave me report about members that stopped coming and had started going to another church. The report was that the pastor was not prophesying and they had to look elsewhere. I determined not to say what I did not hear for people to stay, I can only decree the word of God through faith. Despise pressures to do something and various advice to water down messages so as to entice more people, especially where new parish has just started, and promotion to higher position is dependent on congregational numbers and income generated. I refused to yield because I have realised only God by the Holy Spirit can save any soul not by gimmicks. All power belong to God.
Hear my favourite Scripture
1John 2:19(NLT) These people left our churches because they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left us, it proved that they do not belong with us.
Movements from one church to another also occurred in the early church. I unequivocally say Power Belongs to God.
Hear what John the Baptist said;
John 3:27 (AMP) John answered, A man can receive nothing [he can claim nothing, he can take unto himself nothing] except as it has been granted to him from heaven. [A man must be content to receive the gift which is given him from heaven; there is no other source.]
Do you know that life insurance, advice from experts on health, business, economy and whatsoever areas of life needs God’s approval? Thinking that our efforts, knowledge and power can deliver is foolhardy.
Isaiah 28:15,18 (MSG) You say, “We’ve taken out good life insurance. We’ve hedged all our bets, covered all our bases. No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything. We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.” “Then you’ll see that your precious life insurance policy wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. Your careful precautions against death were a pack of illusions and lies. When the disaster happens, you’ll be crushed by it.
Whenever robbers, hired killers, kidnappers and evil doers triumph, God is aware and He permitted it, we most times do not know why God allows it. Those who came to arrest Jesus Christ would not have succeeded if God had not allowed it.
John 18:4-6 (AMP) Then Jesus, knowing all that was about to befall Him, went out to them and said, Whom are you seeking? [Whom do you want?] They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus said to them, I am He. Judas, who was betraying Him, was also standing with them. When Jesus said to them, I am He, they went backwards (drew back, lurched backward) and fell to the ground.
After Jesus Christ surrendered Himself to be crucified, He told Peter who wanted to fight and His Disciples;
Matthew 26:53(NLT) Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?
When Pilate boasted he had power to release Jesus Christ; Hear what Jesus Christ said; John 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
The Enemy of our souls knows once he succeeds in making of us feel important and powerfully recognised worldwide, he can easily make us to take over from God and present ourselves as powerful thereby becoming easy prey for him.
Hear John the Baptist during his popular and crowd pulling ministry.
John 3:28, 30(NLT) You yourselves know how plainly I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him—that is all. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
All power belong to God. It is registered in the prayer Jesus taught us
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Jesus Christ reconfirmed who possesses all power at the great commission before He was taken up to Heaven.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
John the beloved heard that power belongs to God during his revelation at the Isle of Patmos.
Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
✍ Finally brethren, whenever we find ourselves in power, secular or spiritual, Irrespective of people’s eulogies, let it be sounded that we are not better or superior than others, whatever we have is given by the One Who possesses All power.
1 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT) What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?
✋ Maranatha
