Day 11 – March 05, 2010
A Changed Person Changes Society
“At Aldersgate, John Wesley received the assurance of salvation. He knew Christ as his personal
savior, and he knew that he knew it. For thirteen years he had searched for this assurance. He was
a good churchman. He had daily disciplined devotional habits. He was a scholar. He had a concern
for persons because we read of his humanitarian ministry. He was a missionary to the Indians in
Georgia. He knew Christ was the Savior of the world. However, at Aldersgate he finally found
salvation in Christ by a simple faith which he felt. This came from the heart and not from the
mind.”
Wesley said, “I submitted to be more vile,” he preached Christ to people wherever he found them.
As he wrote many times, “I gave them Christ, I gave them Christ.”
Spiritual Power
“I pray for those who labor for God. The Methodist Church needs preachers, missionaries, other
full-time workers. God will call them if I ask. But most of all – more than financial, numerical, and
organizational influence – my church needs spiritual power. I pray for this.” (Prophetic Evangelist:
The Living Legacy of Harry Denman, 1993)
Acts 1:7 He (Jesus) said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his
own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus calls His disciples then and now to the first priority – being witnesses to Him from our homes and
to the very ends of the earth. These were the last words Jesus spoke to the disciples. This final meeting
between Christ and the disciples on the Mount of Olives provided a bridge between Jesus’ earthly
ministry and what He would do through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He had told the disciples to
wait in Jerusalem until they received power. The forty days of resurrection appearances were over, and
here Jesus is reinforcing the Great Commission and the power to carry it out. This is a personal power that
comes to us as a gift from God to carry out His purposes for our lives. It is a power to convict, convert,
regenerate, comfort and keep. The nature of this power is seen in the word “dunamin” which supplies the
root of English words like dynamic, dynamism, dynamo, and dynamite.
Have you felt that you lacked the knowledge of Scripture to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the
people with whom you come in contact? Do you feel that you may be ridiculed or discounted if you were
to speak of the saving faith that can only be found in Christ? Jesus calls each of us to carry out the Great
Commission. Trust Him and never doubt the power of the Holy Spirit. It is this same power that raised
Jesus to life in the tomb. It is the same power that turned a fearful group of disciples into men who would
radically turn the world upside down. This is the spiritual power of Christ in each of us. It transformed the
first disciples and has been empowering men and women to take the gospel of Christ to the lost and
hurting for over 2000 years. Let us go forth and speak boldly, empowered by the Holy Spirit, of the
greatest news ever given to humanity!
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. May we be obedient to fulfill the Great
Commission and allow the power of the Holy Spirit, His wonder-working power, to penetrate through our
fear so we can be mighty witnesses for You. Amen.
Submitted by: Rev. Betsy King
