A True Desire for Experiencing Son Power

Part 4:

Wow! Take a look at the powerful verbs in the verses at the beginning of this chapter:

forgetting, straining, press on, win. To me, these words all seem to imply some kind of

intentionality. Intentionality to do something, intentionality to pursue, intentionality to fo-

cus our time, talent, and treasure. As you consider your desire for experiencing Son Power,

is it fueled by this type of intentionality? Is your desire a wish or is it actually a goal that you

are willing to pursue? Are you simply thinking about the power of God in your life, or are

you truly positioning yourself to experience it?

The very fact that you are reading this book seems to indicate that you have more

than a simple wish to experience the power of the Holy Spirit

working in you and through you. And since you've made

it past the prerequisite and barrier chapters, you've already

learned about some of the obstacles that possibly needed to be

addressed in your life. But the question now remains: Do you truly have a desire to experi-

ence the Holy Spirit working in your life?

I've met many people who have wishes for their lives. They are waiting for something

to happen. To me, a true desire is something we are willing to work for. I am not talking here

about earning God's favor. I am addressing the need for each one of us to develop a yearning

in our hearts for God's presence and power to actively empower us; a longing that results in

us seeking after God. It is an intentionality that sets us on the course for pursuing God. YogiBerra, the renowned baseball player and coach once said, "If you don't know where you are

going, you'll end up someplace else." When we have a true desire to experience Son Power,

we know where we are going. We set our hearts and minds and lives on a path that will take

us to our goal.

Desire Is Fueled by God's Word

I believe the first step in showing God that we truly desire Son Power is to be in his Word.

The apostle Peter wrote,

"Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow

into a full experience of salvation."

—1 Peter 2:2, emphasis added

We can't grow in our relationship with God, through the Son, or experience the

Holy Spirit, without the Word of God. In order for our lives to echo into eternity we need

to embrace what the Bible tells us about who God is and how he works. Our entire being

is wrapped up in Christ Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. Our desire for the Holy

Spirit comes from Jesus and is fueled by Jesus, and we learn about all of this from God's

Word.

Just as it is impossible to grow physically without physical food, it is impossible to

grow spiritually without the food of the Word of God. When you plant God's Word in your

heart it will accomplish everything that God wants to develop and grow in you. It will actu-

ally prosper in your heart. How do I know this? Because God's Word promises it!

"It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will

accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it."

—Isaiah 55:11

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-

edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It ex-

poses our innermost thoughts and desires.

—Hebrews 4:12

We never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you

didn't think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as

the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to workin you who believe.

—1 Thessalonians 2:13

We need to consume the Word of God just as we eat food to live. We must read it, eat

it, and live it, and then God will visit to perform his Word in us.

God's Word gives life, enlightens, cleanses, produces fruit, counsels, and directs our

steps. It accomplishes and prospers wherever it is sent. It teaches us that the Holy Spirit is

our source and our power for a fulfilled life in this world and the next.

I truly believe that the degree to which we enjoy the benefits of the Son-powered life

is in direct proportion to our desire and craving for God's Word.

The prophet Jeremiah said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Stand at the crossroads and

look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find

rest for your souls'" (Jeremiah 6:16, NIV). He is talking about intentionality here.

A Desire for the World or a Desire for God's Word?

I love to play with words. During my devotional time one day, I placed two words side by

side:

WORLD WORD

It occurred to me that each of these words is promoting a message. The world wants

us to embrace its message of "Me, Myself, and I." This message is in direct opposition to

what God's Word has to say to us. God's Word is a story of sacrifice and giving. We must

make a choice as to which message we are going to listen to and obey.

As I sat looking at those two words, I realized that if you drop the l out of world you

have word. I thought to myself, The l stands for what I am living for in this life. I need to

take that l of the world and move it under the Word, bring-

ing what I am living for in this world into submission to the

Word of God.

In the Old Testament we read, "Those who worship

false gods turn their backs on all God's mercies" (Jonah 2:8).

The world has a lot of "false gods" to offer. If you Google the

term "false gods," Wikipedia actually says they are "other competing entities or objects to

which particular importance is attributed." There are many things in this world that have the

power to turn our hearts away from God. False gods include money, possessions, success,

school, careers, friends, and even family. Tim Keller, in Counterfeit Gods, defines a false god

this way: "Anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart andimagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give."1

And so, each one of us has a choice to make each day. Are we going to follow the

pathway of the world or walk in the way God's Word directs us? Are we going to allow false

gods to steal our allegiance or are we going to stay true to the God of the Bible? Are we

going to take our directions from the world manual or the Word manual? What is our true

desire?

Desire Is Transformed through Soak, Sow, and Flow

God's Word will give us direction as we soak our heart in it and then sow it to the Spirit

when we recite it as we talk with God about it. We then activate Son Power by an act of our

will when we choose to flow with the Spirit in our daily walk with God. At that point, he

begins to impart his divine life in us as we depend on him.

As we soak and sow, God responds and swings into action by allowing the Son to rise

in our hearts to transform us.

And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are

changed into his glorious image.

—2 Corinthians 3:18

Note that the Spirit does the changing, not us. We are changed by his transforming

power being released in us, freeing us more and more from the self-life and empowering

us to do his will. When we do our part by positioning ourselves properly in relationship to

God and his Word, he will do the rest.

Technology today presents to us many different options for "virtual reality" experi-

ences. But what people really want is a real experience with God. Virtual reality is a "near

to real" experience, but God offers us his very real presence. We experience him in our lives

when we cooperate with him. The Old Testament tells us that he "rides across the heavens

to help you" (Deuteronomy 33:26) and he "makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the

wings of the wind" (Psalm 104:3, NIV). Those are very real words with very real power.

The apostle Paul tells us,

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the reali-

ties of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think

about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and

your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

—Colossians 3:1–3This is reality! We experience the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.

The Heart-Felt Desire of King Solomon

We see in the life of King Solomon a true desire to follow God and his ways. In 1 Kings 3:3,

Solomon is described in this way: "Solomon loved the Lord, and followed all the decrees of

his father, David." One night, the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, "What do you want?

Ask, and I will give it to you!" (v. 5). In response, Solomon answered, "Give me an under-

standing heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right

and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?" (v. 9). The pas-

sage goes on to tell us, "the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom … 'I will

give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one

else has had or ever will have!'" (vv. 10, 12).

First Kings 4 records the details of Solomon's wisdom: "God gave Solomon very great

wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. In fact,

his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt" (vv.

29–30).

However, Solomon's obedience was mixed. He had many wives, including foreign

women who influenced him to sacrifice to their gods. His great wealth also contributed to

unwise excesses. Solomon began well, as his humble request for wisdom shows, but he later

disobeyed God. Because his desire did not remain focused, he ended up living much of his

life in dissipation and he discovered by experience that outside the will of God life was total-

ly meaningless and without purpose. He was chasing after the wind. He realized that all of

that earthly pleasure was worth nothing without a purpose for life from God.

Young people, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do every-

thing you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account

to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy.

But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

—Ecclesiastes 11:9–10

Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in

your youth before you grow old and say, "Life is not pleasant anymore."

—Ecclesiastes 12:1

The loss of opportunity is real. What might King Solomon have accomplished with

his life if he had kept his desire for God at the forefront of his endeavors?Samson's Rekindled Desire

There have been times in my life when I have thought, Is it too late for me to have an

impact for the kingdom of God? I have wasted so much of my time, talent, and treasure on

temporary, pleasurable, perishing experiences, and I have pursued the goals of this world.

Some of you may be having the same or similar thoughts. Let me just remind you

that it is never too late to have a desire for God and his pur-

poses. However, it is better to move sooner rather than later.

We must take advantage of the time God has given us while

we still have it. It is dangerous to pass up an opportunity. It

may not come by again.

We find encouragement in Judges 13–16 regarding this very principle in the life of

Samson. Samson had a special calling on his life. His problem was that he dabbled in sin

along the way and disobeyed his life calling. He became entangled in the pleasures of this

world and refused to follow what would be considered by most people to be wise judgment.

Dabbling in sin always leads to a downward spiral in our relationship with God.

People who do this always lose their spiritual perspective. In Samson's case his choices led to

captivity and imprisonment. He became an object of the people's derision, and they eventu-

ally made him a slave. What a tragedy for a man who had such a special calling of God on

his life.

However, even though Samson had forsaken his calling, in the last moments of his

life, he remembered his life purpose. God had destined him to take revenge on the Philis-

tines, and as Samson turned his desire back to God, God allowed him to accomplish that

purpose.

Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand,

"Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest

against them." Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the

Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on

the roof who were watching as Samson amused them. Then Samson prayed to

the Lord, "Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me

just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss

of my two eyes." Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held

up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, he prayed, "Let me die

with the Philistines." And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and

all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his

entire lifetime.

—Judges 16:26–30

There is an application for each one of us here. Until we finally leave this world, there

is an opportunity for us to do things for the kingdom of God. Samson's life shows us that it is

never too late. In the final moments of his life Samson remembered his God. In a moment,

he was back on mission. At his request, God gave him the strength he needed to bring the

temple down on those who had brutalized him in captivity. Mission accomplished.

Samson had many faults. He broke his vows. He went off mission. He became en-

tangled in sin that eventually destroyed his life. However, at the end of his life, he came to

himself and returned to God. He literally finished strong. He is even mentioned as one of

the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Finishing life strong should be a major objective for all

of us. We should want to finish strong. We should want to be

doing the will of God. Our objective should be to finish the

work God has given us to do.

We want to escape the mistake Samson made in his life. He went after perishing

temporary goals in this life. He sacrificed converting his time, talent, and treasure for the

temporary goals of a world that was passing away. Are we in danger of making the same

mistakes? The false gods of this world are calling out to us. The temporary pleasures of this

world are seeking to entice us. However, we are to set our minds on the eternal aspects of

life. We must avoid making poor decisions in this life, particularly when it comes to those

decisions that have eternal ramifications.

I often take time to reflect on my life and consider how the hand of God has been di-

recting me. This is one of the ways that I fuel my desire for the Lord. As l do so, he continues

to be very real to me.

There was a two-year period in my life when it seemed I spent most of my time

attending to my physical health. I was in and out of doctors' offices, in and out of hospitals,

and constantly undergoing tests, procedures, and operations. At one point, it seemed to

me God was taking me out of this world one organ at a time. I was in so much pain that I

actually thought that if God was in the process of killing me, then why didn't he just take me

out of here and be done with it? I felt like I was being tortured. And yet, God was getting my

attention.

As I look back at this very difficult time of my life, I realize that all of the pain brought

me closer to God and it gave me a renewed appreciation for his Word. I learned

lessons that I might not have learned otherwise. My life was transformed.

The apostle Peter wrote,

Trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests andpurifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when

your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and

glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

—1 Peter 1:7

Trials refine our faith and often rekindle our desire for God and his Word. Our faith

is more important to God than perishing gold.

We see throughout the Bible that God works through broken vessels. Paul wrote, "He

said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' There-

fore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on

me" (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV). The more we realize we are weak, the greater the possibility

that God can use us. We learn in trials and tribulations that our sufficiency comes from God

alone. We learn to let the power of Christ rest upon us.

I share this with those of you who may be going through difficult times and circum-

stances. The Holy Spirit may be trying to get your attention in some way. You need to ask

yourself, What is God's message for me in this difficult time? The Holy Spirit deals with us

in our everyday living, teaching us lessons as we learn to submit to him.

As we journey through this world, we are going to be faced with many different cir-

cumstances and situations. God's desire is that our desire be for him and his purposes.

Son Power at Work

1. Is the desire you have to experience Son Power a wish or a goal?

2. If your desire is simply a wish, what steps can you take to make it a goal? If your

desire is truly a goal, identify what you are doing to fuel your desire.

3. Is your life guided more by the world or by God's Word? What is one thing you can

do to make God's Word the number one influence in your life?

Talk to God

Scripture Meditation

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

(Colossians 3:2, NIV)

Prayer

Oh, heavenly Father, how I desire to experience Son Power! By faith, I

choose to set my mind on things above. Help me not focus on earthly things.

Please reveal more of yourself to me as I plunge into the depths of your Word.

I acknowledge that I am continually at a crossroads of having to choose

the world's way or the way of your Word. I see that when I follow your words,

I am transformed and you use me to make a difference in your world.

I marvel at what you have already done in my life. Truly, you are real and I

want to experience more and more of you as I submit to your will. Thank you

for activating the hidden life of Christ in me! (Colossians 3:3). Please make

me more and more like Jesus as you change me into his glorious image (2

Corinthians 3:18). May Jesus Christ, the Morning Star (Revelation 22:16),

progressively rise in my heart as I desire your Word. Amen.