Bible Study: Straighten Up (Part 1 of 3) - Living the Word with "Power" by Daniel Kolenda

Living the Word with “Power”

John 21:25, Luke 13:10-13, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, John 10:10
When Jesus walked upon the earth, multitudes of people flocked to His meetings. They came for many reasons but the most common was that they wanted to be touched by Him. Jesus’ reputation had preceded Him; and it was understood by everyone that when Jesus touched people or people touched Jesus, the power of God would flow and lives, bodies, and destinies would never be the same. The Gospel records the stories of many who were the recipients of His power, but it is an incomplete record of all that He did! John ended the book that bears his name saying, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). Wherever Jesus went there was a release of His word and a corresponding release of His supernatural power.
One of many accounts of someone being touched by Jesus is found in Luke 13:10-13. Jesus had met a woman in the synagogue on the Sabbath whose body had been twisted and bent over for 18 years because of a spirit of infirmity. The power of Jesus’ word instantly pierced the demonic bondage that had plagued this woman setting her free from the power of darkness. Satan’s chains of bondage always break at the sound of the voice of Jesus! The devil cannot retain his crippling hold on the life of one whom God has sent His Word demanding that person’s release. The spirit of infirmity that had caused this woman 18 years of pain and suffering fled in terror. But the work was not yet complete. Though the spirit had fled, her physical conditional was unchanged. Then something else happened. Verse 13 says that Jesus then laid His hands on her, and immediately “SHE WAS MADE STRAIGHT AND GLORIFIED GOD” (Verse 13).
I believe this miracle reveals a great spiritual truth. Jesus sent His word and destroyed the devil’s power over this woman’s life. The root cause of this woman’s problem, the spirit of infirmity that had twisted her body, had been forced to release its grip from her life. It was done in a moment of time! But the miracle was incomplete at that point. The woman’s body was still twisted and bowed down. She still lived in the same physical pain that had been caused by this now departed spirit of infirmity. She was still in need of a second dimension of healing that could only come by the impartation of His power. She had heard the Word of God but now she needed to be touched by the power of God in order for the total restoration to be complete.
How many people are there today in churches who, like this woman, have heard the Word of God yet their lives are still twisted, bowed over, and being lived at a level that is far below what God has desired for them? Their condition may not even be visible physically, but they are twisted none the less. They may have attended church for many years. They may pray and read their Bibles. They may attempt to live a lifestyle that honors God. But in their hearts, their minds, their emotions, and their attitudes, they are still twisted and bent down because of the remaining effects that the power of darkness once exerted in their lives. Jesus destroyed the power of the devil when He shed His blood on the cross. When a person believes that truth, the power of sin and death is broken for that person, but they may not look like it, think like it, feel like it, talk like it, nor live like it! Why is this case for so many people? I believe that it is because they have HEARD the Word of God but have not EXPERIENCED THE POWER of God which is capable of making them STRAIGHT!
We must have BOTH the Word of God and the experience of the power of God in our lives if we are to live the lives God has intended for us to live! The Word of God destroys the devil’s power, but it is the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT that makes a person who is twisted and bent low able to stand STRAIGHT! We MUST learn to live both in the authority of the Word of God but also in the presence of God on a continual basis. His presence is His life and power. It is that place of living in His presence that transforms a life that has been set free from the grip of the enemy into a believer that is able to stand STRAIGHT, live STRAIGHT, and worship God in the liberty, freedom, and blessing that God desires for all of His children!