Finding the Power Within

Bethany and I saw Thor a while back. I have really been enjoying the comic book/action movies lately. Iron Man 2, Thor, The A-Team. I started thinking about why with The A-Team and have continued that thought with Thor. So I want to take a minute to get my thoughts about it down.

I have also been thinking about characters that I like in books. My favorite fantasy series is The Sword of Truth. The main character, Richard, exemplifies some of what I feel about the characters in the movies I mentioned.

So I have been asking myself what it is about these characters that resonates with me so much. And the answer is the power they all have within themselves to be larger than life super heroes. There is an inner strength that allows them to face unbelievable odds with no doubt they will overcome.

Of course, I thought, I don’t have that kind of power. I don’t have a magic hammer or an iron super-suit or years of military training. But in naming those things I started to realize something. The power inside these characters is separate from the character themselves. Let’s see if I can explain what I mean.

In The A-Team, you have a group of 4 men who specialize in completing seemingly impossible missions. They are considered the best of the best. They parachute out of exploding airplanes in tanks, jump on speeding vehicles driven by bad guys, and face off against impossible odds without blinking an eye. How are they able to do those things? Where does their confidence come from?

1. Their Training – These guys have extensive military training. They are experts in what they do so they have no doubt they can accomplish what they set out to do. They don’t even have to think about it when they are in the middle of a mission.
2. The Plan – Hannibal always has a plan. And his plans always work. The rest of the team has seen it work out time and time again. There is never any doubt that he knows what he’s doing when he puts the plan together.
3. Each Other – There is no doubt that each member of the team can accomplish their part of the plan. Well, that’s not completely true. There is some doubt about Murdock’s sanity but the rest of the team learns he is as good a pilot as he claims.
4. Their Place – It’s one thing to know you can trust the rest of the team, it is another to know you serve a purpose yourself. Each member of The A-Team knows they have a specific role and is confident in their ability to fulfill that role.

Each of these things gives them the confidence they need to face each situation. However, these things are external to their core persons. Their training was given by the military. Their faith in the plan came from seeing plan after plan work. Their faith in each came from seeing their teammates come through again and again. And their security in their place on the team came from being trusted every mission to do their part.

Thinking about this has made me start to think about myself. Could I have the confidence these guys have? Obviously they are fictional characters and I’m not going to be jumping out of airplanes anytime soon. (It’s all I can do to even get in the plane in the first place!) But could I have the confidence and courage to overcome the obstacles in my life that keep me from being who I want to be?

As I thought about it, I realized there is a Power within me that is separate from myself. In fact, I have the ultimate Power within me.

Acts 1:8a “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Romans 8:1-2 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

So I have the power of the Holy Spirit in me. What kind of power is it?

Romans 8:11 “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you.”

The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me. The Power to defeat death is within me. He is a Power that will not fail and can never be defeated. He is a Power that dwarfs all the powers of all the super heroes combined.

So why do I feel so powerless?

Unintentional Relaunch

This is the unintentional relaunch of Vagabond Disciple.  Note to self: When you are moving hosting companies, make backups of everything and KEEP THEM! 

This relaunch has actually given me the kick-in-the-pants that I needed to finally sit down and write again.  I have been kicking around an idea for what I want to write for a while but just never took the time to do it.  So I’m going to do it now.

I have really been wrestling with what every day life is supposed to look like.  A few weeks ago I preached at Restoration Church in Nashville.  The whole process was very exciting for me.  It was awesome to have God give me a specific message, then prepare that message, deliver it and then hear how God used it.  Once it was over, however, it was back to every day life.

This may be a completely obvious statement but most of life is “every day life”.  My struggle has been reconciling that with my desire to live a life of excitement and adventure.  I felt that while I was preparing to preach but don’t feel it when I get up and go to work every day.

Jesus said He came to give us abundant life.  I have always translated that into life that is exciting or adventurous.  That’s the way life is in movies and books right?  Always something exciting, always something different, always somewhere exotic.

But that’s not how most people live.  In fact, that’s not how the people in movies and books live.  The boring parts are left out because they don’t make for a compelling story.  Even the show 24, which is supposed to show every hour of a day, only showed 8 days in all the years that passed between season 1 and 8.

So what did Jesus mean?  When He said He came to give life, did He mean excitement and adventure?  Did He mean there would be no mundane in the life of a Christian?

Every time I start to ask these questions, God turns them around on me.  Jesus said He came to give life.  Matthew 10:37-39, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

My resposibility in this is to take up my cross and follow Him.  HE is the one that gives life.  When I am seeking life, I won’t find it.  It is when I seek Him that He gives it to me.

So what does it look like to lose my life for His sake?  That is going to be my focus on this blog for a while.