Where Is God's Power Today?

“O Israel,” says the LORD, “if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your  detestable idols and stray away no more. Then when you swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name.” [Jeremiah 4.1-2] 

All of today's One Year Chronological Bible reading is about the idolatry of God's people then, in Jeremiah's time, and has application for God's people today.

One question that should haunt God's people is: "Where is God's power today?" Any comparison of the power of God seen today to the ancient Biblical accounts of His power should cause great alarm among the those who claim to be God's people today.

Christian libraries today would be effectively empty if it weren't for desperate attempts of ignorant (deceived? stubborn?) people trying to defend their baseless beliefs in answer to the question, "Where is God's power today?" There are countless writings that argue that God's power is very much present today, but that those blessings "...do not look the same as they did in the Bible." And, in contrast, there are countless writings that, while they believe that God's power looks the same today as in ancient times, argue that all God's people need is "...more faith" for those blessings, but, year after year, God's powerful manifestation (as recorded in the Bible) remains an unreachable "carrot on a stick."

All the while, the "miracles-have-passed" and "miracles-are-for-today" proponents both completely ignore the Bible in its clear implications that the result of powerlessness is due to the cause of idolatry. Both sides see idols only in their ancient "form" refusing to translate their existence forward into their modern deadly reality. 

The grave mistake the Church consistently makes today is to ignore the fact that idols are man-made. "God's people" absolutely check their brains at the door regarding the modern man-made industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology. God's people consequently, blindly, but eagerly, pay precious homage to all these industries in compound interest, premiums, prescriptions, and planned obsolescence, and then wonder why God's power does not manifest.

Jeremiah says, "you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name" if God's people would "throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more."

God's truth, justice and righteousness, the trifecta of His power, will have nothing to do with idols. For all the clever human knowledge and wisdom behind the man-made industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology, by Biblical definition, they are wrong - they are idols. It is right on the other hand for God's people to directly trust ONLY God for the miracles of wealth, protection, health and conveniences.

“My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the LORD. “They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!” [Jeremiah 4.22]

Further on in Jeremiah, God says:

“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. [Jeremiah 5.19] 

Bad things don't happen to good people. Bad things happen to people who do not trust the LORD. Bad things happen to people who refuse to discard the idols they trust and continue to stray away from God's truth, justice and righteousness (without which, there is no power).

Just to be perfectly clear... "life" as we know it is not the embodiment of God's power. This temporal "life" as we know it is where God's people are deceived every day. No child of God who has followed Jesus Christ has any "business" (think, industries of man) preserving his or her own "life." Jesus said two things to support this:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]

and,

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Physical death is not a "bad thing" (as previously mentioned) for a child of God. In fact, embracing physical death in complete obedience to God and His Kingdom, as Jesus did on His Cross, may be the highest and purest form of faith. Idols, on the other hand, will NEVER promote embracing physical death and, inadvertently, self-identify as idols because they don't. 

Everything said here disrupts all the religious nonsense we have come to believe about the Bible and our lives. God wants to be powerful in our life AND in our death (whenever that might come). But our self-preservation interests make us firmly attached to the idols that promote such. To say "it isn't true..." is just wishful thinking. If we take the Bible for what it actually says as opposed to what we want it to say (religion, theology), we KNOW what is said here is correct.

As long as we selfishly persist (assisted by idols) to preserve our own lives, we will only see the power of man and never the power of God. We will, in no way, be a blessing to the nations of the world until we operate in the power of God. The power of man ends at physical death, The power of God is just beginning at physical death... 

Indeed, where is God's power today?

Father, oh, help me to be a blessing to the nations! I can only resolve to give up my own way, take up my cross, and follow Jesus to do so. Anything else is idolatry. May Your Word prevail in truth, righteousness and justice - in Your power - wherever it is spoken or read. So be it.