He Showed His Power by Restraining His Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thank you for joining me for our Coffee Hour and for some thoughts on what is only part, albeit a significant part, of the Salvation Story: His death and resurrection, His ultimate display of power revealed through a restraint of power. Grab your coffee, and your Strand of Faith, and let’s pick up where we left off and hopefully conclude this series … just in time for Good Friday tomorrow!
Have I told you I am back in school for my Bachelor’s degree in Biblical studies? Oh, how I love learning! Well, this past week, we talked about power, the types of power, and multiple definitions for power, how it is used in the church, and out. One of the definitions for “power” is “The potential to influence others.” We were then asked to think of people in positional power, and that included pastors! Then we learned about the types of power, which is positional versus personal and the difference is that positional power is based on a title or a position and personal power is based on relationship.
Then there are the styles of power: Coercive power. Oooh, did I feel a bit of remorse after hearing about this one. The example the professor gave was about parenting, but I saw myself in the beginning of this ministry and even up to a year ago as a coercive type of leader, talking people into things that they really didn’t want to do. There’s the style of utility power, which is a type of compliance for a benefit. And then finally, there is legitimate power where others follow due to a belief in the leader and this type of power generates commitment. Oh, how I long to be this type of leader with this type of power.
Let’s broaden the lens of the scope now to The One who is most powerful, He who has all the power; the time and place: right before His ultimate surrender of power.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7)

Do you see the beauty of His legitimate power shining through the prophecies?
I don’t know about you, but I read those words and I am filled with this sense of wonder, awe, and covetousness. What an incredible restraint of power, to not defend yourself when being attacked!
You may be saying, “Well, why would I not want to defend myself?” or “Does Jesus expect us to be doormats?”
Let me answer the first one first and I’m sorry to put it this way, but I must answer the question with a question: Why do you need to defend yourself? The more I learn about His character, the more I yearn to be like Him and the closer I am to Him, the less I need to defend myself. If there is any twinge at all, any division of the heart, could that be fueling the need to defend ourselves in time of conflict? Here’s another way to put it: Does/will defending myself bring eternal value? When it all comes down to it, He knows our hearts and the more we restrain our power over others, the more power we will have.
And to answer the second question: Does Jesus expect us to be doormats? No. Not only no, but heck no! No one can wipe their feet on us unless we let them, and when we “turn our back” we leave them nowhere to stomp!
But Jesus hung there, surrendering His power that we might walk in/with His power, dying that we might live, giving that we might take … any and every opportunity we can to not let His pain go in vain!
See, the Easter story is only part of the story for His power lives in each one of us who have confessed that He is Lord for one day, because of His surrender of power, His ultimate legitimate power will be revealed as every knee bows and every tongue confesses …
Oh, Coffee Hour Friend, may we each allow His surrender of power to empower us, His pain to be our gain …

Evinda


P.S. Join us tomorrow for a beautiful Good Friday word of encouragement from Debbie Croley @ Croley’s corner of Chicklit Power!

He Showed His Power by Restraining His Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Happy spring time! I still can’t believe that it is already here! With spring comes one of the most important holidays, at least for the Christian, the celebration of Easter! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s go talk about this part of the salvation story.
When you hear the word Easter, what do you think of? Is it chocolate bunnies, baskets and bundles of brightly-colored eggs? Is it family gatherings around a great meal? Is it all about the kids, their Easter baskets and joyful Easter-egg hunts, the giggles and exclamations of discovery when they find an egg, and even when they look inside?
For some, it’s that one time when they are moved into a church service; in fact, Easter is known to be one of the highest-attended services of any church. I know for me, whenever I think of Easter, I experience a myriad of emotions and they mix together in a beautiful blend. The best way to describe them is bittersweet. Why bitter, you ask?
Well, it’s hard to think of my Jesus enduring all that He did up to and through the crucifixion. One can’t help but look at these things as Easter approaches, and yet many prophets foretold of some of the sufferings He would endure for you and me.
Did you know He sat through six trials? I didn’t either. I can handle being falsely accused here and there; I can’t even imagine trial after trial! And during those trials, He gave His back to those who struck Him, willingly. He did as He commanded us to do and turned His cheeks to those who plucked out His beard. Not once did He cover His face from the humiliation and the spitting and scream stop! (Isaiah 50:6) This was and continues to be the most amazing restraint of power in the history of all mankind!
He, the all-powerful, all-knowing Son of God could have acquitted Himself, struck each of the accusers down, struck those who hit Him back, twisted the arms of those who dared to pluck at His beard. He could have defended Himself to each of the presiding judges who spat humiliating accusations at Him. Instead, He chose to restrain His power and as a result of restraining His power, here we are over 2000 years later celebrating the reality of this Man, the necessity of His grace, the sovereignty of His power.
Many of us have a hard time staring pain in the face, let alone allowing our thoughts to go down that path. But how can we not remember these things as the day of their actual occurrences approaches? Why is it that just about any resource we look to about information surrounding this holiday all have the same facts: He was accused, endured beatings that rendered Him unrecognizable, suffered other forms of abuse, was mocked, carried His own cross, was pierced … several times, nailed to the cross, and lifted for all to see … why?
The simple answer: because His Father said so. He was aware of His Father’s will and because He was aware, He intentionally died that we may have life.
Awareness is the key to intentionality!
Every year, this time of year becomes even more significant. Why? Because the more I learn about this Man who suffered so much, the more I discover facets of His character that humble me. What I am learning now has me begging Him to entwine my heart with His that I might really be just an “inth” like Him. It’s not any coincidence that I just happen to be back in school for my Bachelor’s degree in Biblical studies, and the first class I am taking is on servant leadership and in order to understand servant leadership, we must have a grasp on the truths about power.
I can’t wait to share with you the truths I’m discovering and how they tie into this part of the Salvation Story and are turning the bitter into sweet!
Join me tomorrow for more,

Evinda