Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
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People in general are obsessed with power—so often wishing they had it if they don’t, desiring more if they do. And all too often misusing it when they have it and feeling powerless when they don't. Regardless of what power one has or does not have, it very often, subtly or overtly, plays a major part in people's lives. That is a truth visible in the lives and actions of both the saved and the unsaved.
 
What the Lord calls us to He equips us for. He empowers us to obey His commands in our lives. As always, it starts with what He has done in our lives. “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.” {Ps.40:2}

Now, we believers also have the power of God in our lives—The Word of God, the gospel written on the tablets of our hearts and the word of the cross, foolishness to the world but to us the very power of God. We are not supposed to serve the Lord based on our strength but on the power of the Holy Spirit {Acts 1:8} because as Paul wrote, the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power. {1Cor.1:18}

We have been given the power to love as Jesus does, to both saints and sinners alike. So He could, and did call us to love our enemies. {Mat.5:44-45} We have been given the power to submit to the Father regardless of the desires of our human nature just as Jesus did facing the horror of the cross. {Lk.22:42}

We have been given the power to turn our backs on the riches of the world as we choose to store up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves cannot break in and steal. {Mat.6:19-20} We have been given the power to let our light shine in such a way that people will see the good we do and will glorify our Father in heaven! {Mat.5:16}

And most importantly as today’s verse says, it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. In other words, to everybody who will receive it!

We have been filled with the truth of God, the Holy Spirit so we will not judge by outward appearance. One of the strongest men that ever lived, Samson, could not have appeared exceptionally strong, a Hollywood muscle-man as he is generally portrayed by the world and all too much of the church. Otherwise, his wife Delilah and the Philistines would not have been asking where his great strength came from. We too should have phenomenal strength that others cannot understand; It is, God at work in us for His purpose and His pleasure. {Php.2:13}

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10)
 
APPRAISE ALL THINGS SPIRITUALLY