I Have Got The Power (Part 1)

Friends, greetings in Jesus Name! Today, I will be sharing with you on what I title, “I Have Got The Power”. In the early ’90s when I was still in secondary school, there was a popular hit song, “I Have Got The Power”, sang by a group called Snap, with lead singer popularly known as, Turbo B, a rap artist. Whenever we hear the song, especially on our way coming back from school, you will see the students throw away their school bags – then start shaking their heads and break dancing – on the street. In fact, we will be singing along – “I Have Got The Power” – even though we were empty without power. Now that I am in Christ Jesus, the song has truly made sense to me, not just singing or dancing it. As God’s child, recreated in Christ Jesus, “I Have Got The Power”. Really, when you gave your life to Christ, you were born into POWER. “For as many as received him, to them he gave POWER to become the sons and daughters of God” (John 1:12). Hallelujah! Listen, it was not just ordinary power you received at new birth. The dominion mandate Adam lost at the Garden of Eden was automatically restored back to you. Meaning, the very word God spoke to Adam in the beginning applies to you. Then God blessed them – Adam and Eve – and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis1:28). Like I always tell people, the devil had already been humiliated and sent packing from heaven by this time (Isaiah 14:12-15).

Thus, he fell to the earth, and was among the “living things that moves” upon the earth that God gave Adam the dominion mandate to subdue and rule over. In actual sense, the creation of man in the image and likeness of God, was to further humiliate Satan (Psalm 8:3-6). Really, God wasn’t ignorant of the presence of the devil on earth, when he instructed Adam to rule over the earth. Why? The Lord declared in Psalm 115:16, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men.” You and I are in charge here, not Satan. If you know who you are in God, and have given your life to Jesus, you are in Charge. When Jesus was hanging on that old rugged cross over 2000 years ago, he said “It is FINISHED, and gave up the ghost (John 19:30). Meaning, the devil is finished, because all that he stole from man was automatically restored to him at that hour. The bible declares in Colossians 2:15, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” And Jesus said in Luke 10:18-19, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Now, you’ve got power to do wonders, exploits, and chase Satan out of town. No longer should you be intimidated by the enemy over any circumstance or situation. The reality of who you’re as a child of God must dawn on you, otherwise, you perpetually operate in fear and weakness, rather than strength.

When it was about time to face the crucifixion, Jesus said to disciples, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). Remember, Jesus never spared any demon whenever he encountered them. At one point when he came in contact with a man possessed with legion of demons, the demonic spirits cried out on sighting him (Matt.8:28-32). Why? They recognized him as the son of God, full of power and grace. The question is: Do the demons recognize you? Are they aware you are a Christian? Can they sense the power of God in your life? Really, what gives the devil the impetus to harass anyone – be it believer or non-believer in Christ – is the emptiness and lack of power they see when they x-ray your life. Some Jewish exorcist, who were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, saw the dimension of power Apostle Paul was operating by casting out demons from those who were possessed, and they decided to do likewise. Then they saw a mad man who was possessed by demons, and they commanded the evil spirits to leave him in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.

The man who was possessed stood up and replied: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” You see, when Satan asks you a question which you do not have an answer to, it means you’re ignorant and not matured enough to handle him. Jesus had an answer to every question Satan threw at him by saying, “It is WRITTEN”. Why? Jesus understood the weapon and potency of God’s “Word. And because he has studied well enough, he knew what was written – his rights and privileges – and above all, the knowledge of His Father. Now, as the seven sons of Sceva could not answer the question posed by the demons, the mad man rose up, overpowered them, wounded them, and they ran away naked (Acts 19:11-17). This incident reveals the pathetic state of many casualties we have today in the church. Today, many believers are wounded and left for dead by the enemy because they do not know the power they possess or who they are in Christ. By next week, we shall be looking at the concluding part of this message. Then we shall examine some of the tools we need to arm ourselves, so we can walk and operate in the power of God as His children. Till then, have a blessed and fabulous week in God’s presence. With love, Elvis!