Divine Enablement

We all face something that is bigger than our pay grade. A generational curse that has hindered and destroyed lives and relationships. A government that is corrupt to its core and oppressing its people. A world full of injustice, where the people have suffered from one injustice or the other. A sickness that has tortured your body and mind. A storm in your mind that has caused depression or other mental problems. A traumatic experience that has shattered your self-esteem and your dignity. If you fall into any of these categories, then you need to be divinely empowered. There are three ways to be divinely empowered.

• Grace – God’s unmerited favour and divine enablement upon man to fulfil a particular task.
• Agape Love – Unconditional love that is only found in God.
• Holy Spirit – The presence of the Holy Spirit.

We shall start with the life of Samson. A certain man called Manoah from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. An angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her that she would be with child. She was given instruction not to touch any alcoholic drink or eat anything unclean during her pregnancy. She would give birth to a son whose head was not to be touched by a razor because the boy would be a Nazarite, dedicated to the Lord from the womb. He would deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. Samson was divinely empowered from birth and in many texts, it says that Jesus was a Nazarite as well.

Samson was given divine strength from the Lord but was distracted by a woman called Delilah. Delilah asked Samson three times where his strength came from, and whatever lie Samson gave the first time it was used against him. You would think that Samson had learnt that this woman had no good intentions, but this is what it means to be ensnared by sin. You get blinded by its advances and as the story continues Samson is robbed of his power but regains it one last time to fulfil what God had sent him to do.

Genesis 6:5-8 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said,” I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”  But Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord. Here we see that Grace (unmerited favour) helped save the life of Noah from the destruction of the world and Grace (divine enablement) helped Samson to fulfil God’s word and deliver the people of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

Have you ever had an addiction? Whether its alcohol, pornography or any other substance abuse and you go through the cycles of quitting and falling off the wagon. You keep saying to yourself this time I won’t take another sip, I will not open that site. But you fall again. This is because many of us have not dealt with the root cause of this addiction. We go through life putting bandages and pruning the leaves and branches but not taking out the tree by the roots. Many of us want to be accepted, to be loved. We get low self-esteem and have thoughts that say, “you are not enough.”  But for the cross where the ultimate demonstration of love just for you, when the love and acceptance of God the father hits your soul. Freedom happens, chains are broken, and lifelong addictions are broken. Just by the realization of a love so great that even death cannot defeat. The bible says, “ for I am persuaded, that  neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus  our Lord.

John 14:15-17 says, “if you love me keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father and He will give you another – Helper, that He may abide with you forever. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be with you. Finally, the gift of the Holy Spirit that enables you to break chains and walk on water. The bible says the same Spirit that was in Christ now lives in you. In the old testament God’s grace used to come upon man but for a short while but now The Spirit of the living God has chosen these earthly vessels to dwell with you permanently. He is with us, our ever-present help in times of need. Do you desire this free gift? Wherever you are just call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved.

And now may the grace (unmerited favour and divine enablement) of our Lord Jesus Christ and the unconditional Love of God and the fellowship of The Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more.

Amen.