Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:45-49
Tonight I attended a class in elementary electronics. My husband and father in law taught as I “helped” them wire the barn for electricity. We have four sections, fans, aisle lights, outside lights, and tack and feed room lights and outlets. It is a lot for a little pole barn, but on our bug-infested island, fans are of great importance and should we ever need to be in the barn at night with a sick horse, lights will be as well. It takes a lot of time to hang the lights and fans, run the wire, place the outlets and the panel box and connect it all together. While my job was the gofer girl, as I handed tools, located equipment and flattened wire, I asked a lot of questions. How do the wires connect each box? How does the electricity know which way to go? How do you decide the best place for the switches and why do you have to have a ground? What are all the little bolts inside the panel box for? How do you decide what gauge wire to buy? How does a switch work? When I got called into the house to fix supper, I am sure they breathed a sigh of relief and were willing to climb up and down the ladder for their tools if it meant they didn’t have to listen to my chatter. I just think it is amazing how you can crimp two pieces of metal together, and they will transfer energy from one to the other. Tomorrow night, we will lay out the conduit. Later in the week, we will dig a trench, place it in the ground and connect the barn to the power pole. In just a couple of days, we should have all the power we need. Then, lights will shine from inside my little barn, and all the neighbors will know that our work is done. There is another source of power even more important than electricity to the Christian life. God promised it to us, and Jesus delivered it. The Holy Spirit gives us the knowledge we need to live our life in a Christ like way and the understanding of God’s will for us. He also can unite the body of Christ together so that we can work as one for the glory of God. When we choose to let the Holy Spirit guide us and make us one, we encourage and infuse each other with energy. We can choose to switch off His power just as easily as we turn off the lights by ignoring the pricking of our hearts to do good or refusing to listen to His warnings to turn from wrong. But, when He powers my life and yours as well, we are connected in a circuit that can be a beacon to the hurting and suffering of our world. Who powers your life? Make sure you are plugged into the Holy Spirit, the greatest power of all.
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