Functioning with a high-voltage power source

Christmas time during the early 60’s was a very exciting time for me. I was around 8 years old. My belief in Santa Claus was in full bloom, and the only gift I nagged my mom for was the “Operation” game.

It was a game of skill. A life-like picture of a man’s body with a large red lightbulb nose was the board layout. Slots in the shape of organs and bones were strategically positioned over the man’s body. Within these slots were plastic bones and organs. The player had to remove each piece using tweezers without touching the edges. If you touched the edge, a loud buzzer would sound ending your turn.

However, this particular year, my mom gave me heart-breaking news. Santa Claus wouldn’t be able to grant my Christmas wish. My ears heard her. My mind understood her, but it didn’t change my wish list.

So, when people asked, “what do you want for Christmas?” I would simply say, “the Operation game,” unwavering and unchanged. And sure enough, on Christmas day, the one and only gift I received was the Operation game.

I was over the top excited. After assembling the game, it was ready. I picked up the tweezers and carefully tried to remove a bone. Realizing I had touched the edge and heard no sound, I became concerned. So, I deliberately touched the edges over and over again. Still no buzzing sound. My game was broken, what a disaster! It was the most disappointing Christmas I had ever had.

Reflecting back, I now realize my mom didn’t know it was a battery-operated device. Without batteries my skills as a player meant nothing. No buzzer would ever sound to warn me that I touched the edge. No red light would beam from the nose as an added visual alert that I short circuited the game. And without these two important elements, the game could not offer the climax of excitement. It meant nothing without the power source.

Unlike the battery-less Operation game I received, God’s believers come packing with a built-in power source called the Holy Spirit. He’s the one that energizes our lives, communicates what He hears, and warns us before we faulter. He becomes the red light and buzzer stimuli we seek after for guidance. He’s a 24hour, 7 days a week living energy source. And, above everything He uses His power to show us how much Christ loves and desires us.

Ephesians 3:17-19 supports this concept. These verses share Paul’s deep and passionate prayer for you. He wants you to be rooted in your understanding of Christ’s love, through the strength of the Spirit’s holy-voltage power. So-much-so, that if you know God’s love, then you will be filled with the fullness of God.

So, the question is this, with this kind of power, “Who can keep Christ’s love from you?” Absolutely no one or nothing can. Will death and life troubles separate any believer from God’s love? Not a chance! Not even our fears and worries can succeed. Because, the Spirit’s power within you is the resting place for His love that cannot be matched or taken away by anything. And that’s a Hallelujah, God-buzzer Christmas moment to be thankful for!

(Ephesians 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God -NASB).

Brenette Wilder of Lee’s Summit, Mo., (formerly of Altheimer, Ark.), is president of Kansas City Teen Summit and blogs at wordstoinspire105953116.wordpress.com.

Editor’s note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles to shope@adgnewsroom. com. Please include your phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry.