The Lord's Prayer

Yours is the Power

Our Father, which is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others their trespasses against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power.

The only way that God's Kingdom is going to be built is through His power. There is a false teaching circulating through the churches, particularly those of the Word Faith persuasion, that we are gods, because Yeshua told the Pharisees that they were gods. A lot of the Word Faith teaching is very good, but not this one.

The Bible says in John 10:33 – 36, "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God. Yeshua answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say you of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I said, I am the Son of God?"

Yeshua was referring to Psalm 82:6 & 7, "I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes."

New Agers also have referred to these verses as an argument that everybody is in themselves, a god. In no way was Yeshua acknowledging that human beings are gods in that sense, and that we have the ability to bring our desires, of our own selves, to pass.

In fact, He stated very clearly that we cannot, by taking thought, add to our stature or turn one of our hairs a different colour through the power of our minds. He said that these are really simple things to do, as far as He is concerned, but we are utterly helpless to exercise mind over matter on our own. (Luke 12:25 & 26, Matthew 5:36).

Human beings are merely channels or conduits for spiritual energy; not powerhouses. We have been given free will, which is like a switch that can let in a flow of demonic power or of God's power, but we do not have any spiritual power that is independent of either of those sources.

When Yeshua told the Pharisees that they were gods, He wasn't telling them that He recognized that they were made in the image of God, and as such, had god–like abilities. He was rebuking them. He was telling them that they were self–willed rebels. But the devil has turned it around to make out that it was a compliment.

Take a look at the original verse in Psalms. God was speaking to rebels and He said that they were children of the Most High, meaning that they were merely created beings. They were not on par with God, though they were elevating themselves in their own minds to that level. God was saying in these verses that, regardless of how loftily the rebels thought of themselves, they were merely human and would die like any other human. Also, that they would be cast down to Hell like Lucifer, who formerly was of high rank in Heaven.

Lucifer rebelled against God. He wanted to be God. When he turned away from God, he became a god, a creature that operated according to its own will, rather than according to the will of the Creator. A god, written with a small g, is a self–centred, self–willed creature. What Yeshua was actually telling the Pharisees is that, rather than the godly people they thought they were, they were a disgrace; self–centred, self–willed creatures whom He would judge for having refused to acknowledge that He is God and for having blasphemed Him.

When satan tempted Eve in Eden, telling her that if she ate the forbidden fruit, she would be like a god, knowing good and evil, he was not telling her that she would be God. He was telling her that she would be able to make decisions independantly from God. Preachers have made much about how she was already like God, etc. and didn't need to eat the fruit to be like Him. Adam and Eve were made in God's image; she knew that, but they had to be linked into the Source, to abide in the Vine, to produce anything that was good. Satan was telling her that she would have God's powers and could do with them as she pleased, instead of being obliged to please God.

Eve did not know what evil was and, when satan mentioned it, she wondered what it was. She supposed that evil could not be bad, since the forbidden fruit looked so beautiful and smelled so delicious. She wanted to find out for herself what the mystery was, and when she did, she found herself locked into an ever–increasing propensity for evil, from which only God could set her free.

The Pharisees, however, did not want to be free from evil. They liked being self–willed, outwardly righteous for the sake of influence and prestige, but full of envy, jealousy, hatred, deceit, lust, etc. and in control of other people's lives, using whoever they could for their own selfish ends, and deluded that they were in control of their own lives. Yeshua was stating in His rebuke that He is in control of their lives, and when He was finished with giving them chances to repent, they would die and face Him at the Judgment Seat.

When we read this Scripture in John 10, rather than supposing that Yeshua was reaffirming the god–like potential of humankind, a more accurate interpretation is that He was saying to a specific group of arrogant people, "You are a bunch of goons and you are going to share the fate of your master, the devil. You are going to die and go to Hell, if you keep on resisting me." They did not misunderstand Him and think that He said anything complimentary. They were learned in the Scriptures and knew what those verses in Psalms meant; they all rushed Him after that and tried to kill Him.

Why do people interpret these verses any other way? Because of pride. They like to think that they are more than what they really are. Being merely human seems too mundane. In seeming generosity, they declare that all humans are "gods," but some of those same people are ruthless towards their fellow gods, stepping all over them on their way up the ladder of success, even crushing under their heels those whom they feel are detrimental to their vision of how the world should be. They shrug off their murders with the delusion that their victims will go through another life cycle where they can possibly achieve greater enlightenment.

We can understand that worldly people are deluded, being enslaved to the god of this world who has blinded their minds, but what motivates Christians to misinterpret those verses? Again, it is pride, as well as a lack of understanding that being a new creation in the Anointed Lord Yeshua is far better than any visions of glory that satan can sell them on.

Even the lowliest human being, if they repent of their sins and receive Yeshua as their Saviour, and are faithful to Him, will someday rule over all the other orders of creatures that God has made, including the archangels. We don't have to feel let down by discovering what those verses really mean. God has something far better in store for His redeemed than being a god.

So whose power is it that is going to build God's Kingdom? God's power. It is His power that turns the hearts of kings like rivers of water. It is by His power that God–given prophecies are fulfilled and demonic prophecies brought to nothing. It is by His power that His disciples can work miracles and operate in other spiritual gifts. It is by His power that He makes the visions He gives us to come true. It is by His power that our prayers are answered. It is by His power that we can stay the course. It is by His power that people are drawn to Him and repent of their sins.

We have to make sure that we are plugged in to God's power because if we aren't, then, baby, ain't nuthin' gonna happen. Acts 2 shows us how to increase our voltage.

We can preach the Gospel and see good things happen in the Kingdom of God without having the baptism of the Holy Spirit; when we receive Yeshua as our Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts to indwell and He leads us. But we can become more effective for Him by becoming completely immersed in His Spirit.

Think of a bottle that has a drop of water in it. Let's say that the drop of water represents the Holy Spirit. He is so mighty that even a little drop of Him can do great things. But let's immerse the bottle in a tub of water. The whole bottle gets filled with water and bubbles rise to the top of the tub. Do you want a little bit of God, or do you want all that God wants to give you?

Let's put it another way. There was a native chief who attended a Pentecostal meeting many years ago and decided he wanted to get in on the kind of power he saw in action. He went up for prayer and said to the minister that he didn't want little Holy Ghost. In a deep voice, he said, "Me want BIG Holy Ghost."

I related this story to some kids I babysat, whose parents had this baptism. I asked them if they wanted little Holy Ghost (said in a tiny voice) or big Holy Ghost (said in a loud, deep voice). The two boys said they wanted big Holy Ghost. Their little sister said she wanted little Holy Ghost. I said, "But, Hannah, if you have big Holy Ghost, you get to do all sorts of fun stuff like get people healed or delivered from demons and do other miracles." She changed her mind and said she wanted big Holy Ghost.

Now isn't that a whole lot better than exposing children to movies that have werewolves, vampires, monsters, dragons, and witches in them, setting them up to have nightmares? Let them know that, through Jesus, they can have power over the forces of darkness and don't have to be afraid.

God wants to heal people and deliver them from demonic oppression and help them in a multitude of other ways, so that they can taste and see that the Lord is good and be saved. He paid the price for this; He deserves His reward. We need His power to do His will. Of our own selves, we can do nothing.

Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
[Psalm 119:11]

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Yours is the Glory
Forever Amen