Power and Love

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Scripture:

Psa. 62:11      ¶ Once God has spoken;
        twice have I heard this:
    that power belongs to God,
Psa. 62:12         and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
    For you repay to all
        according to their work.

Observation:

God has been and continues to speak to his people, revealing his nature to them. This is the grace of God reaching out to all mankind, calling them into a transformational relationship with him. God has spoken and his power and love have been revealed.

The futility of human power can be seen juxtaposed against the combined power and love of God. Human power can be coercive or manipulative while God’s power comes from his nature of holy love.  This speaks to the motivation of our heart and therefore the motivations of our works. This is why God says that he will repay us according to our work, for our work must come from a heart filled with love for God. In this way the power and love of God are revealed in the life of his followers.

Application:

Most people have a form of power which may be used in a variety of ways. For a parent it may be the power over their small children. In a marriage it may be one spouse exercising power over another. In society there are those who have more power than others.

Some people have more power than others, not because they have earned it, but because they are simply born into situations in which they are given power by those around them. This may be determined by the family into which you are born, your ethnicity, economic status, or gender. The reality is that all of these come with certain levels of power or empowerment. The first step in a life submitted to the Lord is recognizing that the human power which we have innately received must be submitted to the authority of the Lord. All real power comes from God. As long as we live within and exercise our human power without submitting it to the source of all power we will be working under our own strength and authority. This is a dangerous place in which to find ourselves and the temptation is for those who have more “natural” power to not recognize their need for God.

Once we recognize our need for God we will discover the incredible depths of his love. It is in this place that we discover his love and power in a way which we would never would have thought possible. When our heart beats with his heart we are united with him and the power of the Holy Spirit infuses us in ways which we would never have thought possible. As our hearts contract the Holy Spirit pours out of us, reaching and loving a hurting world. This is God’s intent for his people and in this our works are revealed. The works of our life simply reveal the depths of our relationship with the Lord. 

This is why James can say to us, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” (James 2:14) Yes, we are saved by faith but faith without works is an empty faith because there can be no love for God and submission to his power that does not result in love for our sisters and brothers. God has spoken to us. We have heard the message more than once, just so that we get the point. Real power comes from God. Let’s take a step back and recognize what power we have in our lives and submit it to the power and authority of God.  Only in this way will there be space for his Holy Spirit to so infill us that we will overflow with his nature of holy love.  His power and love are to be revealed in our works, for his glory.

Prayer:

Lord, search my heart today and fill me with your Spirit.  Amen.

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