Barriers to Experiencing Son Power

Part 3:

The verse from Ephesians 2 that appears at the beginning of this chapter tells us that we

have been created to accomplish "good works." Why then does it seem that so often we are

powerless to accomplish great things for God? I believe it is because there are several barri-

ers that keep us from experiencing God's power through the Holy Spirit.

I've heard that Seattle, Washington is a beautiful place to live. But I've also heard

that Seattle's weather can be downright depressing. When the skies are clear, the weather is

beautiful. However, fog is common and often dense and it rains 50 percent of the time. It's

actually been recorded that 239 days of the year Seattle is covered by heavy clouds. There are

physical barriers that are blocking out the effects of the sun. The sun is there, shining bright-

ly, but the fog and clouds are obscuring it.

I believe that Son Power is also obscured in our lives at times by things that present

barriers to our seeing and experiencing that power. Think about it for a moment, what in

your life keeps you from being empowered by the Holy Spirit? I've lived quite a bit of life and

I believe most barriers fall under one of four categories: sin, reliance on self, head knowledge

of God's Word that does not result in heart knowledge, and failure to surrender to God's will.

Sin

It is important to understand sin and to deal with it. The Bible tells us that God created

humans perfect and in his image: "So God created human beings in his own image. In the

image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). God gave Adam and Eve meaningful work to do and told them the only thing they couldn't do was eat

the fruit of one tree, but they decided to take matters into their own hands and, as a result,

sin came into the world. You can read all this in Genesis 2 and 3; Adam and Eve's choice to

do things their own way brought sin into our lives as well as their own.

Because of Adam and Eve, all of us have a sinful nature, and it affects every part of us.

King Solomon wrote: "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does

what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20, NIV). And in the New Testament John said,

"If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth" (1

John 1:8).

Charles Spurgeon once said, "As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin

affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot

detect it, you are deceived."

There is only one person in the history of the world who did not have a sin nature: Je-

sus Christ. He was the "holy, righteous one" (Acts 3:14) who "never sinned" (2 Corinthians

5:21). This allowed Jesus to be sacrificed on the cross as our perfect substitute, "the sinless,

spotless Lamb of God" (1 Peter 1:19). It is through Christ that we are born again and begin

a new life in him: "Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is

gone; a new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The whole idea of sin is very unpopular these days, even in some churches. The

reason Jesus came into the world was to save us from our sins! Sin is alive and well and we

must honestly own it and confess it. We cannot expect to experience God's power in our

lives when we choose to sin because sin always short-cir-

cuits the work of the Holy Spirit. The prophet Isaiah said,

"Listen! The Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is

his ear too deaf to hear you call. It's your sins that have cut

you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away

and will not listen anymore" (Isaiah 59:1–2).

Sin manifests itself in all kinds of ways in our lives; pride, envy, self-righteousness,

the list goes on and on. The difficulty is in recognizing our sin and confessing it as such. It

is important that we learn to detect the voice of the sinful nature. Those who are born again

have this command: "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Ro-

mans 6:11, NIV). The Holy Spirit takes up residence in each believer and supplies the power

we need to overcome the pull of the sin nature within us. "Those who have been born into

God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them" (1 John 3:9).

Romans 6 tells us, "Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the require-

ments of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace" (v. 14).

We need to confess our sin to God so our relationship with him can be restored immediately. "If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to

cleanse us from all wickedness" (1 John 1:9).

It is through the confession of our sin that we are telling God that we want to have

our relationship with him restored, and it is then that the Holy Spirit will empower us to do

God's work. Be honest with yourself. Are you stuck in a painful past? God's healing is avail-

able to you! Are you stuck in a painful present? God's power is available to you! Get sin out

of the way! Take time today to confess your sin to God and begin to experience the Holy

Spirit's power in a new way.

Reliance on Self

Years ago, I was in a group experience where we were challenged to have a three-minute

conversation without anyone using the words "me, my, or I" … we couldn't do it! Unfortu-

nately, each one of us has an innate desire to think about ourselves. This self-centered think-

ing, the "big I," needs to be broken.

It takes Son Power to remove the control of self. This power becomes operative in our

lives when we ask the Holy Spirit, by faith, to take control of how we think, feel, and act.

We must learn to trust in the power of God alone to empower us and deliver us. Dying

to self is painful, but God has promised that he will manifest himself in us. In Proverbs we

read these words, "For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord" (8:35).

If we are to find favor with God and experience the

Son-powered life, we must die to self along the pathway of

life: self-reliance, self-trust, self-sufficiency, independence.

All qualities the world values and encourages. Jesus said:

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is plant-

ed in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new

kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world

will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for

eternity."

—John 12:24–25

In order for a grain of wheat to multiply it must die. Our time, talent, treasure, and

desire must be given up totally to God to be used for his world and his glory. If we just

spend it on pleasuring ourselves, then we are missing the best that God has for us. Only

when we die to self will God be able to multiply all that we are and all that we have.

An important KingdomNomics principle is that as we progressively die to desiring the

perishable values of this world, we will find the desire to invest in the imperishable values ofthe kingdom. God's priorities will become our priorities. We will also experience God's fa-

vor and his abundant life. I have found these two verses in the book of Psalms to be critical

as I keep my eyes on God's will and not my own:

Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with

a shield.

—Psalm 5:12, NIV

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no

good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

—Psalm 84:11, NIV

When we remove the barrier of self, God's favor is upon us and he protects and

guides us.

Head Knowledge of God's Word that Does Not Result in Heart Knowledge

Many people make the mistake of thinking that knowledge is enough to experience the

presence and power of God. However, such a belief will short-circuit the Son Power in our

lives. We need to remember the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness who had knowledge,

but no purpose. "For this good news … has been announced to us just as it was to them.

But it did them no good because they didn't share the faith of those who listened to God"

(Hebrews 4:2).

Is the Word of God important to you? Are you spending time regularly reading it,

memorizing it, and putting it into practice? In order to have Son Power operative in our

lives, we must commit ourselves to the study of God's Word. Our knowledge must move

from our head to our heart in the form of conviction that impacts our faith and behavior.

Failure to do so will certainly make our lives barren and un-

productive. However, when we immerse ourselves in God's

Word we position ourselves to hear God's voice.

We must hear the Word of God, we must accept the

Word of God, and we must live the Word of God. It is only

through this process that we will experience Son Power and

become seeds that produce a hundredfold.

I have had many experiences in my life when God has revealed his will for my life

through his Word. When I immerse myself in that Word, I find that God works in me and

through me. Scripture is either true or it's not … it will either make a difference or it will

not. What Scriptures are important to you? What you learn from God's Word about who

he is, about his will, about his character, and about how he works will greatly affect how you

experience the Holy Spirit in your life. You must take all that you have learned from God's

Word and apply it to your life circumstances.

Failure to Surrender to God's Will

Another barrier to the Son-powered life is a refusal to surrender to God's will. This is what is

often referred to as being a "carnal" Christian, one who is still influenced a great deal by the

world and its enticements. This principle comes from the King James version of 1 Corinthi-

ans 3:1: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even

as unto babes in Christ." The NIV puts it this way, "Brothers and sisters, I could not address

you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in

Christ," and the New Living Translation says, "Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with

you I couldn't talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged

to this world or as though you were infants in Christ." The bottom line, a carnal Christian

is someone who has accepted the good news of Jesus Christ, but does not want to be trans-

formed by it.

To become a Son-powered person, it takes an affirma-

tive act of the will to choose to have the Holy Spirit control

how we think, feel, and act. We shut off his power when we

refuse to let him do so. It takes surrender of self.

Let's review Galatians 2:20: "My old self has been cru-

cified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives

in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave

himself for me" (emphasis added).

In order to have Christ living in us we must allow Jesus Christ to take control of us.

We must submit to him. Our life revolves around the Son. He lives in us. He is the source of

the renewable Son-powered life. He must increase and we must decrease. The power of the

Son is unlimited, and he can overcome the mountain of self in our lives when we allow him

to do so.

Son Power at Work

1. At this point in your life, which barrier discussed in this chapter is the greatest

obstacle to your experiencing Son Power: sin, reliance on self, lack of commitment

to obey God's Word, or failure to surrender to God's will?

2. What immediate steps can you take to remove that particular barrier from your life?

3. Take some time to reflect upon the sin in your life and then confess it to God, asking

him to forgive you and fill you anew with his Spirit.Scripture Meditation

"So now we can rejoice in our wonderful

new relationship with God

because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."

(Romans 5:11)

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for the relationship I have with you because of

the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I thank you that I have put my trust and faith in

Jesus Christ alone for my salvation. Thank you for saving me from the folly of

trusting in Me, Myself, and I. Thank you for my salvation and for empowering

me to live life through the Holy Spirit.

I confess that there are times when I attempt to live my life through my own

power, in my own strength, by my own ingenuity. Forgive me.

Today I choose by faith to die to self, as painful as it is at times, so that

your life can be lived through me. More than anything else, I want to find

the life you have planned for me to experience your favor. Thank you for the

promises in your Word. What a blessing for me to know you and to learn of

your way! Amen.

Memorize and Meditate