When I was a child living in New Zealand we would go out to the country and visit friends who had farms. As kids we would love to go exploring everywhere, and there were times when all of sudden we would stop because there would be a wire stretched across the middle of a field. Now on farms when you see a wire, you never know whether or not that wire is charged with electricity and you didn’t want to touch it because you might get a terrible shock. After a while we learned the trick that you take a blade of grass and you place it on the wire and if the grass pops up off the wire it’s live, believe me it’s a great way to avoid shock treatment!
You have to be careful with electric fences because if you grab hold of a live wire, the reflexes in your hand can lock on and you can be in for some extended shock treatment. Not a pleasant experience. But anyway, as I was saying there is no way of telling just from looking at a wire, whether it is live or not. And that is the question I have for you today. “Are you a ‘live wire’?” People can’t always tell just from looking at you whether you are plugged into the Source of all power. Sometimes they won’t know until you touch them or have the opportunity to pray for them they feel something.
A few years ago I remember being in India for an Evangelistic Campaign. While we were there, we spent some time with some gentlemen who were adherents to the Hindu religion. Wherever we go we make a point of respecting the religious faith of others, while presenting the truths of the Gospel. These gentlemen owned a hotel and we were in their business office talking with them. They expressed an interest in the Christian faith and were interested in what we were doing in ministry. We discussed the things of God together and we shared with them our experience of God. We discussed the claims of Christ and the need to have a real and vital relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
After a while it seemed like we had come to the end of our discussions, and nothing had happened which would open the door in their lives to a real relationship with God. They were both well educated, well informed and saw no need for any change. Because I sensed their continued interest and obvious spiritual hunger, I said to the two men, will you let me pray for you?
I began to pray for them and it seemed like a tremendous electric presence filled the room. After prayer I waited for a very long time; as these two men continued to sit with their eyes closed, they seemed to be experiencing something. After some time they opened their eyes and the older man said to me “all my life I feel like I have been a light bulb and I have been trying to flip the switch to turn the power on and nothing has happened. Now I feel like for the first time I have experienced the power I have been searching for.”
Another time we were in a Church in Kentucky and the Pastor’s mother was seated in the back of the Church. She was a very dignified lady, but she just began to scream uncontrollably during the ministry time. I asked her afterwards what had happened to her, she said she felt 1,000 volts of electricity going through her and she didn’t know what to do! I’m telling you, if you get plugged into that much power, you would probably scream too! We have had people in our meetings testify of their blind eyes opening after a feeling of electricity went through their body.
And we know that Jesus is the Source of all power. When the woman with the issue of blood, touched him he said “who touched me? I felt power going out from me.” (Luke 8:45,46) That woman experienced an instant miracle. This is the kind of power we need today. In natural terms, electricity is conducted only through certain types of material. The power of God can be conducted through cloth and handkerchiefs, but God prefers to use people like you and me.
God wants us to be conductors of His power! The Apostle Paul talked about this in 1 Cor. 2:1-5: “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Paul came to people in his ministry with no reliance on himself, his ability to speak or his own strength. He came in weakness and the fear of the Lord and trembling. If we want to be conductors of God’s power we must be willing to allow God to remove all of us, and that my friends is too high a price for some.
And Paul understood the limits of human reason to convince people. I love apologetics and the strong arguments we can present to to others in defense of our faith, but there are limits to our ability to convince people. Paul says, depend on the power of God to convince people. That’s where your faith should be directed. The truth is the Church needs more power and we need to get plugged in!
And we can look to nature for examples of the power of God. Tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, lightning and thunder, all of these things are natural reminders that point us to the incredible power of God. Let me share with you some facts about lightning. Lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amps, travels at speeds of 22,000 mph, and can reach temperatures of 54,000 degrees F. Scientists are still debating how lightning is initially formed. But my point is God created lightning to give us an example in the natural world of His incredible power!
The woman touched the hem of Jesus garment, the Tallit which stood for His person and authority and it was a point of contact which released the power of God for her miracle. Your faith is the detonator which unlocks the explosive power of God! Now God has many points of contact for you, the laying on of hands, prayer cloths, anointing oil, communion, the gifts of the Spirit, direct encounters, however you get plugged in I encourage you to do it! God wants you to be a live wire!
I remember as a young Christian attending some revival services, and the preacher used to say, “when you jump into a swimming pool, on a hot day you will have an experience. When you have a cup of coffee when you’re feeling tired in the morning, you will have an experience. Don’t tell me if you have an encounter with the Living God you aren’t going to experience something!”
Today allow some room in your life for God’s power to touch you, transform you and change you so that when others touch you they feel something, when you pray for them they get the miracle they need. More power is needed in this hour and God is looking to you to get plugged into the Source of all power! He wants you to get a touch of his power and get in His Holy grip, he wants your life to be locked on to the Source of all power so you will be forever changed!
And you will if you are a live wire. Your circumstances will be shaken, your friends and family will be shaken. This power will transform you and everything and everyone around you. You just need to be willing to plug in. Stick your finger into the electric socket of heaven today, who knows God could release enough power into your life to shake, your town, your city and your nation. Don’t limit what God can do through your life!
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