I used to wonder why we believers didn't see more of the power of God operating among us than we do. With what we know about faith and the Word, it seemed to me signs and wonders and miracles should be happening all the time.

So, one day I asked, "Lord, why isn't the power of God turned up to a higher volume in the Church?"

Do you know what He said? He told me we weren't walking in enough love yet.

God wants us to have power. But first, He has to be sure we'll use that power in love. He wants to know that we won't take it and mix it with judgment and criticism and blast people out of the water.

Kenneth, He said, I can't afford to back your words with supernatural power in a church service on Sunday morning and then have you get on the freeway that night and lash out at someone because he pulled over into your lane. You'd blow him off the highway. I can't leave the power of Almighty God at a high volume in the mouth of an unmerciful fool.

Then He reminded me of a time I took my son, John, hunting. He was just a little guy at the time, barely big enough to keep his gun from knocking him on his back every time he'd pull the trigger. I was teaching him how to shoot, and he was coming along pretty well.

That day we were walking along out at Gloria's grandparents' farm and John spotted one of the biggest tarantula spiders I'd ever seen. It was clinging to the wall of the barn. When John saw that spider, he took aim. He was going to blow that bug away.

If I hadn't stopped him, he would have too. And it wouldn't have dawned on him until it was all over that he was going to blow a hole in the barn at the same time. From my grown-up perspective, I could see that would be foolishness. He couldn't. He was looking through the eyes of a child.

Do you want God to put a shotgun of spiritual power in your hand, so you can blow the works of the devil to kingdom come? Then focus on love. Pursue it. Practice it. Study it. Grow up in it. Then you'll see the power of God operating through you.

Scripture Reading:
Romans 13:8-14

I wonder when God is going to do something about this problem! Have you ever asked that question? If so, you may be surprised to find out that the answer depends 100 percent on you.

There's an incident in Mark 5 that will show you what I mean. Jesus had just gotten out of a boat and people were pressing all around Him, "thronging Him," it says. They had Him shoved up against the shoreline when suddenly there came a man moving through that crowd to get to Jesus.

Throwing himself at Jesus' feet, Mark records, he prays and beseeches Him greatly, saying, "My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her... and she shall live."

Think about this situation for a moment. Here's a man who's politically on the level of the mayor of the city. But he's so doggedly determined to get to Jesus that he fights his way through the crowd and clears out enough room to fall at Jesus' feet. He's made a decision—and when he gets to Jesus, he says exactly what it is: Lay your hands on her and she shall live.

Let me ask you something: Who do you think is directing the ministry of Jesus here? This one man! A man who's made a decision. When he speaks that decision out, Jesus doesn't say anything. He just stops what He's doing, turns around and follows him.

In a crowd of literally thousands, the faith decision of one man is directing the actions of Jesus.

What does that mean to you? It means that if you're sitting around waiting for Jesus to decide to heal you... for Jesus to decide to help you...for Jesus to decide to prosper you and give you victory...you're in for a long wait. Because that's not Jesus' decision.

It's yours.

Scripture Reading:
Mark 5:21-24,35-43

The Amplified Bible translates Matthew 11:12, "...a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion."

I want you to get violent today. Yes, violent, determined, zealous. I want you to get so committed to the things of God that you'll withstand any attempt to take them away from you.

Too many believers these days are like the Israelites. They're wandering around in a wilderness of defeat because there's an enemy in the promised land. They're being robbed of their rightful inheritance because they're afraid to fight him. They keep hoping that somehow they'll find a way in without using force. But they won't! You have to make demands where Satan and his associates are concerned.

When God sent the Israelites into Canaan, He said, "Send the armed men to go before you." They were to go up armed—ready for the fight. He knew they'd have to fight to take the land. He never promised them that they wouldn't. What He promised them was they'd win every time.

The same is true for you. You can't just lie down and play dead when you're dealing with the devil. He's not going to let go of any area of your life—of your health or your finances or anything else—without a fight. He's not going to give it up unless you force him.

Quit sitting there in the wilderness. Quit sitting there while the devil steals the blessings of God out from under you. You have God's permission and His power and His ability to take the land. Get violent enough to do something about it...today!

Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Hopelessness. As this age draws to a close, that's a feeling that's going to be more and more common among the people of this world. But, you know, it's something we as believers never have to feel! Because no matter how much pressure comes on the earth, no matter how dark the natural circumstances around us are, we know that we have hope in the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we forget that. We get our attention focused so intently on the natural things of this life that we lose that hope and get caught up in the hopelessness around us. But we don't have to let that happen.

A friend of mine once met a born-again Arab woman in the Middle East who was living proof of that. The woman was caught in a life most of us would consider almost unbearable. She was living in a war zone that had been torn up by violence. She faced the danger of bombs and bullets every day.

Now that Arab woman had no hope in the natural. Her country was being destroyed around her. She had to go to Israel to work and get money for her family because there were no jobs where she was, no way to make money. Things around her seemed to be going from bad to worse, but she told my friend she had hope because she knew that Jesus was coming back for her. And that hope kept her going.

So, if you're feeling hopeless, get your eyes off this world and get them on the soon return of Jesus. Not only will that raise your spirits, the Bible says it will purify you. It will cause you to live uprightly, to separate you from the sin and failure of the world around you. It will lift you into the joy and victory of God.

Think about this. When this old world comes to an end, you and I will just be getting started. We'll be stepping into the most glorious life we've ever known. The people of the world may look back wistfully and wish for better days gone by. But for you and me, the best is yet to come. So we can shout hallelujah in the midst of trouble and say with the Apostle John, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Come quickly!

Scripture Reading:
Revelation 21, 22:1-7