Rich but Powerless?
The early Church turned the world upside down. Today, the Church often struggles to turn on the light. Why?
We’ve inherited spiritual riches beyond measure, yet many live as if we’re bankrupt of power. We’ve reduced Jesus to a moral teacher and forgotten He is our model of Spirit-filled living.
We don’t just have forgiveness. We have authority.
We don’t just follow Jesus’ teachings—we follow His Sacred Spirit.
But somewhere along the way, we forgot WHO we carry.
Jesus Wasn’t Just Redemption—He Was Our Example
“Now Jesus returned from the Jordan full of that Sacred Spirit, then He was being led by that Spirit into that wilderness“
— Luke 4:1 (2020 New Testament)
Before His first miracle, Jesus waited on the Spirit. Though fully God, He operated as a man fully submitted to the Spirit to show us what is possible when Heaven lives in us.
He didn’t heal because He was God.
He healed because He was filled with God.
“Verily, verily, I say with you, that one entrusting with me, these undertakings which I bring forth, likewise that one will bring forth, then an abundant of these that one will bring forth, because I having departed to the Father.” — John 14:12 (2020 New Testament)
That’s not poetry. That’s a Kingdom invitation.
The Promise of Power—The Spirit We’ve Been Given
“Yet you will have received miraculous power from that Sacred Spirit having come upon you, then you will have been witnesses of me both at Jerusalem and wherewith all Judea, that at Samaria, then unto the ends of the earth” — Acts 1:8 (2020 New Testament)
“Now if that Spirit from that one having raised up Jesus out of the dead dwells within you, that one having raised up the Messiah out of the dead likewise will give your mortal bodies life by the means of His Spirit dwelling within you” — Romans 8:11 (2020 New Testament)
Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem—not to be holy, but to be empowered.
Many in the Church today have the Spirit sealed in but not stirred up.
We walk like beggars when we’re sons and daughters with keys in our hands (Matthew 16:19).4. The Spirit We’ve Been Given: Heaven’s Return on Earth
Jesus never performed a miracle until the Spirit descended on Him at His baptism.
Everything He did—healing, commanding nature, casting out demons—was done as a man empowered by the Spirit, not as God flexing divinity.
And then He says to us: Wait for the same Spirit. When He comes, you’ll do even greater things.
We don’t just need to reverence Jesus, we need to follow Him—in truth, in obedience, in Spirit-led, Spirit-powered authority.
Heaven’s Order Is Upside Down—To the World
The Kingdom doesn’t come through worldly control, but through yielded vessels filled within God’s Spirit.
Heaven’s rule is upside down to earth’s standards—power through surrender, victory through sacrifice, authority through submission.
“Let Your realm come, Your will cause to be, in that manner in Heaven likewise upon of this earth” — Matthew 6:10 (2020 New Testament)
“then He said, Of a truth I say with you, except you might have been converted then might have had caused to be in that manner these little children, you might not have ever entered into that realm of those heavens.” — Matthew 18:3 (2020 New Testament)
“It will not have been in this way among you, yet whosoever will be willing among you to have had caused to be great, will have been your servant.” — Matthew 20:26 (2020 New Testament)
Heaven’s dominion doesn’t look like earthly dominance.
It comes through servants, not emperors. Through crosses, not crowns.
True Kingdom authority isn’t about control—it’s about release.
Jesus didn’t seize power. He gave His life—and then was exalted (Philippians 2:8–9).
This is how heaven invades earth.
Why the Church Feels Powerless
“Having a resemblance of the gospel, yet that miraculous power thereof having disregarded, yet these avoid” — 2 Timothy 3:5 (2020 New Testament)
Satan doesn’t fear a well-behaved Church. He fears a Spirit-filled, awakened one. The enemy has convinced many that the power of God was for “then,” not now.
But Scripture never teaches power was seasonal.
It teaches that power is a Person—the Sacred Spirit.
When we reduce Christianity to morality, we end up with rules but no reign.
Time to Wake Up
The Spirit within you isn’t a passive presence.
He’s the resurrection power of God.
You weren’t just saved to survive.
You were filled to reign in life within Jesus the Messiah (Romans 5:17).
The Church doesn’t need to wait for revival. The Church is the revival—if we remember who we are and Whose Spirit we carry.
Reflection Questions:
Are we living as a spectator of power, or a vessel of it?
Are we viewing the Scriptures as rules or keys with Heavenly access?
Are we clothed within that nature of Jesus or do we merely wear His name?
Are we restoring God’s original intent by revealing Jesus, and releasing Heaven into the earth?
Discover more from Perpetuing: Living Beyond The Fray
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
