Pastor Ralph Diehl » power

THE GLOVE

pastordiehl — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:00:59 +0000

The late Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch prisoner of the Nazis during World War II and wrote several Christian books about her experiences. She had a great illustration of God at work in the life of a believer. She brought to the platform a limp, worn out glove and talked about how useless it was in that condition. Then she put her hand into that same limp glove, and, abra-cadabra, strength came to the glove.

The glove looked the same and still appeared worn and faded, but the hand within gave it new life. With that hand inside, that limp glove had the power to pick up things, throw things, and accomplish great tasks.

So it is with us. Although we may be limp and powerless, worn out with life’s pressures, yet when the Spirit of God comes within us there is nothing that we cannot do. Of course, it wasn’t the glove, but the hand, that had life. And so it is with us, not me, but the Spirit within that accomplishes great things.

WITH OR WITHOUT

pastordiehl — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:00:59 +0000

Dr. A. J. Gordon was a Baptist minister of by-gone days who founded the Boston Missionary Training School in 1889. Dr. Gordon told of passing along Washington St. in Boston and seeing stores with the card in the window, “To rent, with or without power.” Any one could rent the store, and by paying something extra could have power furnished from the engine in the rear.

Dr. Gordon thought it would be a good idea to ask men and women when they joined the church if they wanted to be a member on the “with power” or the “without power” basis, and if the latter, to tell them there were no vacancies for that kind in the church, it already had too many members without power.

Perhaps his thoughts are relevant for today. Do you want to be a Christian with or without power?

POWER

pastordiehl — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:00:14 +0000

In response to Anita’s complaints about my “selective deafness”, I went to a hearing doctor to have my hearing checked. The test confirmed that I have significant hearing loss in my left ear. So I ordered a hearing aid. They are allowing me to wear it for three months as a test before I decide if I want to keep it.

Never having worn a hearing aid before, I didn’t know how it would help, or even if it would. So, I wore the thing for six days and really couldn’t tell a difference, at least not enough to make it worth all that money. I even turned it on and off near a sound source and couldn’t tell a difference. I had nearly decided to send it back when I decided to read the instruction book (duh!). The book said there would be an acoustical tone when it was turned on; I had never heard that.

So I put in a new battery, and presto: sound. That battery was dead from the day I got it and I never knew it. Now I can even hear the hair of my head brushing against the microphone. What a difference power makes!

What an object lesson regarding the Holy Spirit. A person who has never heard God’s voice doesn’t know what he/she should be hearing. So, silence seems normal. But when the Holy Spirit’s power comes into a life, suddenly everything becomes clear. What a difference His power makes!

Now I’ll be able to hear everything Anita says to me. Is that good or bad?