A Reflection On Strength

When I want to live in Jesus’ power

In Luke 9, we find Jesus commissioning His disciples for their first mission—to blanket the area with the Good News of His Kingdom. He gives them power and authority over demons and diseases, a considerable wealth to carry with them (verse 1). But He prohibits their carrying any materials. They are loaded with power but light as a feather. They can go in His strength and not in their own.

How are you living out your mission? Are you drawing your strength from Jesus’ power and authority? Or are you depending on the props? Those who go through life carrying sacks of provisions find themselves powerless; they have unwittingly confessed a mistrust in God’s providence. Those who go through life unencumbered find that His strength accompanies them in abundance.

What encumbers you? You will need to get rid of it, or at least change your attitude toward it. Know the difference between living in His power and on your self-reliance. Carry out your mission full of His strength and unburdened by your own.

“Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes.”

Luke 9:3