Powerless
Pretend that a $156,015.00 2019 Porsche 911 is sitting in my front yard. With no battery.
I suppose that if you could get a battery for $87.00, the car would still be worth $155,928.00. It still looks great in my driveway.
How much are we devalued if we are powerless? We may have the look, the talk, the relationships, the library and the rest, but if we are not sufficiently in submission to the Spirit of God to be empowered, we might only be (as Lucy in Peanuts would say) “dressing the set.”
Sometimes we are connected, but there is always more that we could have access to; more of us that He could have access to. Don’t stop improving. Don’t stop longing for more. He isn’t.
Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.
(2 Timothy 1:6-12 Holman Christian Standard Bible ®©)