The story of Simeon in Luke 2 is one of my favorite stories for the Christmas season. It tells the story of someone who never lost hope. No wonder that the Spirit of God one day showed him that he wouldn’t die before he saw the Messiah. What a dream to live for!

I know many people who no longer dream big dreams. Or who never even started. They live like robots from one dull day to the next. Nothing excites them. For them, expressions like: “I have also tried that, but it doesn’t work,” are victorious. Not Simeon. For him, every day was a day filled with expectation and new possibilities. Possibly on this day he would see the Messiah!

And then that big day happened. I can only imagine with what joy the heavenly Comforter invited him to the temple in Jerusalem. After he arrived there, the Spirit directed his attention to the Child Jesus. Immediately Simeon approached and picked Him up. All of a sudden his dream came true. Salvation became a reality once and for all in this Child.

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Yesterday we learned three things about God’s power form 2 Corinthians 12:

Lesson 1: God is the only Source of Power.
Lesson 2: We don’t need to feel God’s power before He starts working.
Lesson 3: We’ll always experience a power-shortage in our spiritual lives on this side of the grave.

Now for four further lessons on the use of spiritual power:

Lesson 4: As believers, we are power cables, not power sources. We transport breathtaking heavenly power. Paul prays in Ephesians 1 the eyes of your heart may be enlightened for this. God works in us with the same power that raised Christ from the dead. However, power cables don’t feel the power flowing through them. And we don’t need to feel it. Our calling as God’s earthly power cables is only to conduct his power.

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We are constantly reminded that we need to use electricity sparingly. Paul also teaches us how to use God’s power in 2 Corinthians 12. Verse 9 in particular shares the biggest lesson. It says that God’s power works through human weakness. Do you remember these words: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

I hear a few vital things about God’s power from Paul:

Lesson 1: God is the only Source of Power. It’s all about Him and never about us or our spiritual power trips! God is the origin of all life, grace, goodness, and power. All honor goes to Him.

Lesson 2: We don’t need to feel God’s power before He starts working. Most of the time, He’s working despite what we feel, see or experience.

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I have always wondered how I can put words to my faith and being a follower of Jesus. Then I expressed it in manifesto form. This comes from a new book that was just published, entitled: Hijacked by Jesus.

THE ABC OF A JESUS-HIJACKING: A MANIFESTO

• Once I had to impress others. No longer. As a follower of Jesus, I don’t want to impress, I only want to share impressive God-stories.
• Once I wanted to change people’s ideas and lifestyles. No longer. As a follower of Jesus, I know I can’t change others, or myself — only Christ can.
• Once I thought I had all the answers. No longer. As a follower of Jesus, I have more questions than answers. But I know Jesus. He answers gracefully when people call out to him.

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“How far away is God?” a teenager asks me after church. “Why do you want to know?” I ask. “My parents tell me that I’m wasting my time with prayer. God is too far away to hear me. I have messed up so bad that they don’t even want to listen to me any more. Why would God still listen to me?” she adds with hurt in her voice.

“No, He’s not far away. I spoke to Him just now,” I answer.

“Why does it feel like I’m talking to the wind then?” she replies.

“Maybe it feels like that because other people are trying to convince you that God doesn’t want to listen to you,” I say.

“Why would He want to listen to me if my life is such a big mess?” the teenager continued.

“God likes listening to everyone who’s life is messed up and in rags, but still risks asking Him for grace,” I say.

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Young church leader David Kinnaman recently released a book entitled You lost me. As the Head of the Barna Group, he’s well informed about the latest statistics on Christianity. In this new book, he looks at what happens to the church involvement of adults between the ages of 18 and 29. The results of a large-scale investigation show that there’s a 43% decrease in church involvement, as teenagers become young adults. While teenagers are the most involved in church matters of all Americans, young adults are the most inactive. 59% of young adults with a strong Christian background admit they have stopped attending church. 50% admit they are frustrated with church. 57% say they are less involved with church than when they were 15 years old. 32% admit they have gone through a period where they wanted to renounce their faith. David Kinnaman identifies three groups that the church is busy losing, or has lost already:

1. Nomads — these are people who are no longer involved with church, but still consider themselves Christians.
2. Prodigals — these young adults no longer consider themselves as Christians.
3. Exiles — these people still have strong feelings for their faith, but they feel caught up between culture and church. They have no place to call home.

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A woman once told me that she’s living at such pace that she only has enough time to wave at Jesus each morning. “How does He react to this?” I immediately wanted to know. “He waves back,” she answered without blinking an eye. “No wait, you are reading Jesus’ hand signals totally wrong,” I replied. “He is waving his hands up and down to indicate that you need to slow your life down, but you’re confusing that with a wave.” What a mistake to misunderstand the hand signals of Jesus. There’s a huge difference between a friendly wave and a gesture that motions you to drive slower. To recognize this can mean the difference between life and death.

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Teresa of Avila is a popular spiritual author who lived in the 16th century. One night in a storm, Teresa of Avila’s carriage got overturned. She landed up in a big puddle of mud. Then she called out: “Lord, if this is how You treat your friends, it is no wonder You have so few!” Sometimes we end up in a puddle, even despite our strong faith. Faith is no guarantee that life’s hardships will always sidestep us. But there’s one common trait that all committed followers of Jesus share: We never stay in the mud… Never mind wallow around in it like some people who don’t know the Lord (2 Peter 2:22)! When we stumble unexpectedly before sin or some other setback, we can’t stand being mud-soiled. The Spirit of God doesn’t allow us to stay like this. He drives and convinces and moves us to get clean before God.

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In the year 167 a bloody prosecution broke out against Christians in the city Smyrna. A well-known church leader named Polycarp lived there. He was offered the option to renounce Christ and to live. His answer to the authorities was clear as day: “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” Polycarp then died a gruesome martyr’s death, but his steadfastness encouraged believers in that city to persist. Today we again need faith heroes like Polycarp around every corner — people who live with integrity on the Lord’s path right to the finish line.

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“Frustration is a busy life headed in the wrong direction.” When I read this tweet recently, it made me think deeply. I know many people who are very busy, but who aren’t dead tired, frustrated or done with. And then in between I see less-busy people who are burned out (even though I don’t know when they caught fire!). I realize now that the speed of life is not the actual problem.

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