Spiritual Voltage But No Current

I was considering and bemoaning the fact that I am so blessed to be living in such a time of electric power and modern conveniences (the ability to light, heat, cook, travel, communicate, work, think, and play) that have so eased the lives of everyone today. Why did I get to live when life is so easy? God said that the ability to have electricity was there through and for every generation, but in ignorance they did not discover it or use it. Man had to learn how to generate, capture, and transport the current before the things we see today were possible. Even with the ability to use it we often expect that the voltage is what is required. In electro-magnetism, the voltage comes from the electric field, but the current comes from the magnetic field. If your car won’t start many check the battery to see if it has 12 volts, but if it has no cranking amperage it will not start your car. The power is in the current! The church today is like that in the spiritual: because they do not see the power and fullness of the Spirit in their midst, they are seeking more and greater spiritual voltage only in the Word, not realizing that the power is in the current, the flowing and moving of the Holy Ghost!

I Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance: as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Paul had to remind the church at Thessalonica that the gospel was more than just in the word, that the power, and Holy Ghost, and assurance had made them followers. In the physical we have taken the blessings of power and its modern conveniences for granted, and we have become lazy because of how blessed we are. How like that we are spiritually today, we have such power available, but we do not fully know it or use it. Having a history of the moving of the Spirit, we have become lazy, and we now have knowledge of and profess spiritual voltage but we have no current! The power is in the current! By our sin and iniquity we are living far below our God given blessings and capabilities. It is similar to moving or flowing water, stagnant water has potential, but no power; the power is in the flow or current. By our unrighteousness and lack of holiness the Church has dammed off the river of life, and it is not flowing! Unless and until we repent and seek the righteousness of God the river will not flow! There is no shame in repentance, as the enemy leads many to believe to stop their growth: repentance is the initial step in seeking more from God;

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

If we are seeking the righteousness of God we have not yet fully found it, and I John 5:17 tells us that All unrighteousness is sin: repent of that sin and get more from God! This scripture also says seek ye first; establishing that it is the initial step. Even after repenting and seeking the righteousness of God we can limit the power (by our ignorance, laziness, or complacency) of the blessing and multiplying God has for us. To generate or capture spiritual current for use we must first begin seeking to get beyond sin and into the righteousness of God. We desire to be “in” God, and have Him “in” us, but limit the power by what we perceive that to be. If we only seek to be “in” the man Jesus we do not acknowledge His deity and His ascension. We must seek more than being “in” the Saviour, and seek to be “in” the image of His Son, “in” the King of kings and Lord of lords, “in” the power of His resurrection, “in” the fellowship of His suffering, and yet having Him “in” us! He is the creator of all, the heir of all, the owner of all: some quote and stand on the lone scripture about God owning the cattle on a thousand hills, but scripture says repeatedly … the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof. Recognize His omnipresence, His omniscience, His omnipotence, and His love for you. If He is not showing in you in current and fullness of power through the Spirit know that the failing is not His! Repent! Turn from the vileness that the world surrounds you with! Repent! Escape the corruption that is in the world through lust! (II Peter 1:4) Repent! There is a wide path to failure; if you are complacent and do not escape the corruption, realize that it is not only you that is affected. Your children, your grandchildren, your parents, even hundreds, thousands, or ten thousands can be affected because you have stopped the current or flow of the Holy Ghost! What would be the effect if your congregation saw and followed the lead of a broken, contrite, repentant heart in your leadership? Repent and take the divine nature home with you, and change your world!

Gain a greater perspective of the need and calling in the following scriptures;

Romans 13:11 – 14 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

We read the things to put off and convince ourselves that we have not done them, but rioting and drunkenness includes more than alcohol; are you partying on other food or drink? What about entertainment? Even sports or shopping can be a form of excess. The excesses today in chambering and wantonness are easily recognized when you consider the drugs for sexual enhancement promoted constantly; is your mind often captured with sexual thoughts? It is the lust of the enemy defeating your diligence in the things of God. Perhaps you have put aside those more fleshly things, but if you are in strife and envying there can be only limited unity of the Spirit working in your life. Repent, make no provision for the flesh, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and allow the flow of the Spirit to increase!

After learning how to capture and transport electricity men had to then learn how to deal with resistance and impedance (made up of both inductance and capacitance) to properly use the power. There was a resistance in the wire, for instance, that had to be addressed or overcome. The use of the current could also be impeded by both adding to, or taking away from, the flow (inductance – such as a power surge, or that flicker of your lights when the flow reduces when an additional appliance is turned on) and storage of current (capacitance – which is why you wait 20 seconds before rebooting a computer, or why an electrician de-energizes a system before working on it). Realize that there are spiritual parallels; your flesh is resistance to the Spirit, and must be overcome. The flesh and Spirit cannot work together, and we must deal with the Spiritual resistance. If you are walking in sin and iniquity: if you are cleansed from those things but still mindful and walking your own path: if you partially yield but resist the leading of the Spirit, you also resist the flow of the Spirit.

Anything that we would add to the things of the Spirit, or is out of order, or is of self-exaltation is Spiritual inductance and impedes the flow. There is nothing to be added to the perfection of what the Spirit calls for in any instance. Yes, in our resistance we may not have given all that the Spirit intended, but there should be nothing you add to it by pride or for any self-purpose. We also cannot take away any of the glory, for it is all His (Isaiah 42:8, 48:11).

Everything of the Spirit that we would store up, or hold back, or prevent by lack of doing after we hear, is Spiritual capacitance and impedes the flow. Have you been taking in the Word and the things of the Spirit and not letting it out? God wants the Spirit to flow through us. God showed me that I have been a Spiritual hoarder, desiring more and more of the Word and blessing of the Spirit, and not letting the Spirit flow out. Scripturally it is compared to water;

Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

God said in this scripture that these things are two evils. If we are not letting Him flow we are committing an evil! If we are storing up and not letting the living waters flow it is an evil, and we cannot possibly fill our leaking storage! Consider the unrecognized dearth that is on us and those around us because we are walking in evils. Also consider the miracles and healings that have not occurred, the knowledge and wisdom not attained, the love of God that is not shed abroad, the joy and peace missing due to our failures. Then consider that all these things, as well as greater power, are possible if we release the Spirit in our lives! This can fully occur only in purity and holiness, and in humbly yielding to the Spirit.

Just as man has learned to deal with the things that affect the flow of electric current, know that there is a simple solution to the things that hinder Spiritual flow: God’s grace! That grace is available for abounding;

II Corinthians 8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

Only the grace of God enables us to fully and completely overcome the flesh and hindrances. Our best attempts will only provide partial overcoming. But grace is not a stop all from sin or failure. That is, it does not prevent you from failing if you willfully choose to do something. But if the contrite desire of your heart is to overcome, God knows your heart better than you do. The grace of God will help you if you will ask for it, and it is available for every area of our lives;

II Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Consider the Apostle Paul in his thorn in the flesh. Paul’s desire was for it to be taken away, but God told Paul that He would be Paul’s sufficiency through it;

II Corinthians 12:8 – 10 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

In the absence of Paul’s sufficiency, in the weakness of Paul’s frailties, in the attack of the enemy, the grace of God was sufficient, and Paul was made strong! God’s grace allowed him to overcome the spiritual resistance and impedance, and to let the current, the power of Christ, the moving of the Holy Ghost, flow in his life! May you glean understanding of how much your ways, thoughts, and flesh hinder the power and the flow of the Spirit, and allow God to use you in a greater way!