Get Yourself Ready For The Intense Power Of God!

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV) 

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Luke 5:36-39 (NKJV)

Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ “

God is in the process of changing the wineskin, that is, the way we have been doing church and living life. Today we would call it doing the same thing expecting different results.

What we are missing today is the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Demonstrations of Spirit are times when the nine gifts of the Spirit manifest themselves. Notice Paul’s encouragement to the church:

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

(1 Corinthians 12:7-11 - NKJV) 

The gifts were not distributed by the Holy Spirit for the early church only. They were given so that the church can continue the ministry that Jesus began:

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father (John 14:12-NKJV).

Demonstrations of power are similar to demonstrations of the Spirit, and may include dramatic answers to prayer (Acts 4:29-31), deliverances from demonic bondage (Acts 16:16-18), healing miracles (Acts 3:1-10), the multiplication of food as in Jesus’ ministry (Luke 9:10-17), and resistance to the gospel met with acts of power as in when Elymus the sorcerer resisted Paul and was struck with blindness (Acts 13:6-12). It may include prison doors opening of their own accord as in when Peter was freed from prison by an angel (Acts 12:5-17).

Before He ascended to heaven, Jesus charged the disciples with demonstrating the gospel message with signs and wonders:

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen (Mark 16:15-20-NKJV).

When I came to Jesus in the mid 1970’s, the Charismatic movement was in full force. Christians from all denominations were experiencing the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as in Acts 2:1-4. My baptist mother and more than a dozen friends received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit in a Tuesday prayer meeting in a baptist ladies’ living room. My mother was transformed. I received this experience in 1976 just before my 18th birthday. 

Church services back then were surcharged with the presence and power of God! During our church worship times, the presence of God would come so strongly that people under the influence of the demonic would shriek loudly and be removed from the service and ministered to outside. Hippies and drug addicts were having encounters with a living Jesus, not a dead religion of compromise!

My friend, those days of power are returning to the church of the Lord Jesus and He is seeking to prepare us! An intense display of God’s healing, saving, and restoring power is coming to those in the church of Jesus that will humble themselves and take up their personal cross and follow Him.

In this day, a dividing line is forming. There will be a remnant of the church of Jesus that has chosen to come back to their first love, and to let go of lukewarmness and compromise. They will choose to allow God’s introspective presence to sift, to search , and to draw them away from fleshly compromise and distractions.

There will also be a part of the church that will go on their merry way living the way they have for years, fulfilling what Paul referred to as those who have an outward form of godliness, but are personal strangers to the power of God that changes and transforms daily life. Their compromise will cost them greatly. 

Judgment begins in the world with the people of God!

1 Peter 4:17-19 (NKJV) 

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

Today God is drawing His people to Himself and is asking them to lay aside things that distract them from His best. He is asking us to deal with sin in all its varied forms that has slowly crept into our lives over time. Hebrews 12 mentions us laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily hinders daily life. Jesus is visiting us, little by little, one at a time. 

The reason for this sometimes intense and personal dealing from Him is because a sin spoiled, compromising life will short circuit His power, and may actually turn into judgment when Jesus turns up the force of His power within us. 

It happened in Acts 5 when Annanias and Sapphira lied about the proceeds of a property sale and said that they donated it all to the ministry when they actually kept back a part of the money for themselves. There was no problem with keeping some back. The problem was that they lied to the Holy Ghost! And when God’s raw power comes back to His church, it just may produce judgment where hypocrisy, lying, and moral compromise are found! 

Acts 5:1-11 (NKJV) 

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. 7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

A young man was committing sexual sin with his stepmother in 1 Corinthians 5. They were bold about it and nobody in the church said anything about it. Paul turned him over to the devil and he got sick. Judgment came because the power of God was strong and present. 

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 (NKJV) 

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Paul went further and admonished the church to no longer tolerate or even eat with people who were involved in wilful sin!

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NKJV) 

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

I wonder what would happen today if suddenly God began to judge known sin in His people’s lives. I will tell you what would happen. The fear of God would return to the church! And that is what is happening today. God is dealing with individuals about tolerating what they know from scripture is wrong. The fear and reverence of God is returning to the church.

Here are some sobering questions. 

Are you tolerating compromise with the flesh and with the current culture in America in any area of your life right now? 

Are you compromising moral integrity with lust, pornography, provocative dress, or with having sex outside of a biblical marriage? 

Are you committing adultery physically or with glances of lust at people other than your spouse you made vows to honor? 

Or is your mistress a private viewing of porn when you’re tired and need a break? 

Do you tell the complete truth, or do you withhold information when you know it may change an outcome? 

Would you mind if your current thoughts were displayed on a screen for all to see? 

Would others think of you as a strong believer in Jesus if they could view your thoughts?

Do you show respect to the leaders in your church with your attitudes and with how you speak to them or about them to others?

Do you honor God with your financial stewardship? Do you tithe to your local church and give to other ministries?

Do you treat others the way you want to be treated? 

Are you patient and kind when others are obstinate and with their words and actions?

I could go on and on here. Jesus is drawing us in a full way today. The parable of the wheat and the weeds is being fulfilled. There is a line of distinction being drawn between those who live for and with Jesus 24/7, and those who mostly live like the culture around them except during church times.

I urge you to spend time with the Lord and ask Him to search your life, and talk to you about changes you need to make to be ready for what is coming in 2026!

Psalms 139:23-24 (NKJV) 

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (AMP) 

For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].