Transforming power

  Over the next few weeks we will be seeing a relatively rare thing happening in our country.  It has not happened for at least ten years: it’s the transfer of power from one Prime Minister to another.

  Along with the rest of the world, we will watch and speculate about the type of leader the new Prime Minister will be.  We will wonder how he will exercise his new power.  Will the world really be transformed?   Will things be done differently?  Only time will tell!

  But, with all the media hype and political comment, it’s easy to forget that, before Mr Brown moves into Number 10, we will have celebrated the coming of a far more significant power into the world in the gift, by God, of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

  Politicians come and go.  Their power bases become eroded and they either resign or are ousted from office but the power of the Holy Spirit stems from God and is of God and so is unchanging and unchangeable.

  Politicians promise us that they are going to make a difference; that they are going to change the world in which we live, but the changes that they make are relatively superficial.  The Holy Spirit comes to change our lives completely, bringing us the strength and power of God so that we can live in confidence and hope, in both the present and the future.  He comes so that we can live according to God's values and not the world's (Galatians 5:16-7).  The power of the Holy Spirit transforms us so that we can express God's love to the world through the gifts that he gives us - of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, teaching, administration, hospitality, craftsmanship, mercy and so on (Look at 1 Corinthians 12 as a starting point).  Our ability to live out our lives using the 'Fruits of the Spirit' - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control - gives us the opportunity to transform the world far more than any political decisions (Galatians 5:22).

  In a democracy, politicians - however well meaning in their intentions - can only exercise their power through human methods of persuasion and negotiation.  When this becomes hard, they have to rethink their plans and policies.  The Holy Spirit does not persuade or negotiate with us.  He convicts us.  He enters directly into our hearts and minds as God's gift to those who accept Jesus Christ as Saviour Lord, and friend.

  We wish our new Prime Minister well, but we recognise that true power is not in humanity but stems from God himself.

by Graham Clarke.