A Life of Power
Sep 16 2025 - Eric Buresh
“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)
Just before the risen Christ ascended into heaven, He gave His followers a promise—power. The Greek word is dynamis, from which we draw our word “dynamite.” It is strength, ability, force beyond human capacity. Timid disciples, scattered and afraid, were to be transformed into powerful witnesses for Jesus. What would bring the change? The Holy Spirit!
Believers today possess dynamis because the same Spirit that first arrived at Pentecost is still moving through His people. We are not left to live life in our own frailty; we are strengthened with God’s power for the task God has appointed for us. As I reflect on this dynamis, I must admit there are times that I don’t feel like I’m living in the Spirit’s power. But these powerless times are self-inflicted – sometimes I’m trying so stubbornly hard to succeed in my own power that I refuse to depend on the Spirit and, as a result, I do not live in His power. Other times I try to deploy the Spirit’s power in pursuit of my own goals and desires – to secure His help walking my own path. That doesn’t work either. God grants us His power when we depend on Him and follow Him by faith on His path and His task.
And what is this task? Christ declares: “You shall be witnesses.” The Greek word here is martys, from which we derive “martyr.” To be a witness is more than to speak—it is to live. Our powerful lives must testify. Every act of kindness, every refusal of sin, every word of truth, every prayer offered is evidence in the great courtroom of the world that Christ is alive, powerful, and reigning. We bring Jesus glory by being living evidence of His power!
Notice also the order Christ gives. The disciples are to begin in Jerusalem. Their mission starts at home, in the very streets where their Lord was crucified and where they had just trembled behind locked doors. So it must be with us. Our witness begins with family, with friends, with neighbors and coworkers. We should not dare to speak of missions to the ends of the earth if we will not speak of Christ across our own tables. Yet the vision cannot stop at the near. It must stretch outward to Judea, to Samaria, and yes, to the very ends of the earth. The Gospel is not a local treasure to be hoarded but a global light to be spread.
This is our commission. Empowered by the Spirit, we testify of Christ—in word, in life, at home, abroad. Some will go, others will send, all must pray, and none should be idle. For the world’s greatest need is the Savior who died and rose again, and we are His witnesses.
Take up your calling! Rely not on your own strength, but on the immense dynamis of the Spirit. Live so that your life itself is a testimony. Speak boldly, serve faithfully, love sacrificially. Begin where you are and continue until He is named where He is not known.