“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NKJV)

When this verse speaks of receiving power, it speaks of divine clothing of power. In other words, like clothing, God’s power, divine enablement, His ability is placed on you. Like a well-dressed man or woman, you wear it. Power, which is dunamis in the Greek, is power in operation and in action. It is authority to cast out devils, heal the sick, and walk in supernatural ability. God clothes us with power like a garment, and what we could not previously do in our own natural ability, we can do.

We receive power to do what God has called us to do. We gain the ability to be what God has called us to be. In whatever field we work, we can excel and be our best.

We receive power to be witnesses. What does that mean? The power of God acts as a means to draw people to Himself. His power allows us to be Christlike, which draws the unsaved. His power allows us to lay our lives down for the Gospel. His power gives us the ability to overcome, to love, to walk in victory, to heal the sick, to cast out devils, to raise the dead. The power of God enables us to speak with new tongues, to walk in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. All of these are ways to be witnesses to the unsaved.

God’s power supernaturally takes us from weakness to strength, from not knowing to knowing, and gives us power to rule in life. The power of God takes us from being weak and defeated to being victorious and overcoming. It helps us be witnesses, proclaiming the Gospel with boldness in word and deed. It provides the power to walk in the character of Christ and in the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It also gives us the ability to operate in the gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12).

As Christians, we have the power to do the works of Christ and even greater works. This is due to what Christ has done for us and to the fact that He has sent the Holy Spirit to us. His power was evident in the book of Acts, and it is still being fulfilled in believers today!

Because we have the power of God on us and in us, we are never at a disadvantage. We need to rise up, take steps of faith, and declare and demonstrate the authority and power that have been given to us. As we do, we will see God’s kingdom come and His will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. Joshua 1:3 (NKJV)

With every step we take, we take new territory for God. Keep taking steps. The best is yet to come!