January 24, 2023
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I have carpenter friends who never leave home without their tools. There are doctors who never leave home without a stethoscope. And I can understand those kinds of things, but what about a friend of one of my friends who is an electrician. Well, he always carries an outlet box with him - you know, the thing in your wall you plug your things into. But that's all this electrician carries - just the outlet box. He says he carries it just in case he's in a situation where there's a power outage and no electricity available. Now, listen, there's probably something I don't understand here but, like is this going to help?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You've Got Religion, But No Power."
So what if you plug an appliance into Mr. Electrician's outlet box? Now if it was connected to some power, you're in business. But with just a little outlet box, you're just plugging into powerlessness. Tragically, that's what all too many sincere people are doing spiritually - maybe you.
The Bible describes those of us who are plugging into something spiritual, something religious, maybe something Christian and coming up powerless. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Timothy 3:5, God describes some of us as "having a form of godliness, but denying its power." They've got the form, but without the power, like the electrician with his disconnected power box.
Now, if you're listening to this program, and to this station, or catching this on the Internet, you're probably a religious person, possibly even a person with some strong Christian beliefs. It's possible you have church, you have Christianity, you certainly have a "form of godliness," but maybe you don't have Christ. And without a genuine personal relationship with Jesus, Christianity, morality, spirituality is just an outlet without power.
So many of us are struggling with a spiritual power failure. With all our spiritual activity, we still haven't found the power to change our dark side; to conquer the baggage of our past. We can't master those weaknesses that have always brought us down. We haven't found the power to control the passions that just keep controlling us, or to get free from the guilt and shame of the past.
And with so much pressure on you, there just doesn't seem to be the power to handle it all. Your spirituality, your religion may give you some spiritual experiences, but that's not the power we really need. We need spiritual power that changes the things about us we've never been able to change, and to beat the things that have always beaten us.
Well, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 in the Bible, God points us to the real thing. He says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" There it is; that's the transforming power you've been looking for all your life! And you plug into it when you are "in Christ." And that begins when you, in your heart, go to the cross where Jesus died for all the sin that has stained your life for so long, and you stand there where your death penalty is being paid by the Son of God and you say, "Lord, I am Yours."
If you've never really begun this transforming relationship with Jesus Christ and you want to, be sure to express to Him your total trust in Him to be your spiritual rescuer from your sin. And let me encourage you, go to our website. I've laid out there in simple terms and briefly the way to begin a relationship with Jesus so you can be sure that you have. The website - ANewStory.com.
This could be your day to plug into the power that birthed the universe - the power that was able to blow the doors off His grave and walk out of that grave and conquer death on Easter morning. Isn't it time for you to move from the powerlessness of religion to the awesome power of a love relationship with the very Son of God, Jesus Christ?