PERSCRIPTION FOR PERSONAL POWER
Signs of the Times Magazine, May 1988
By Dwight K. Nelson
“What we think about, we are changed into; what we behold, we become.
It’s an unvarying law that cannot be broken.”
What are you drawing?” a mother asked her little boy as he sat intently working on his
paper and crayons?
“A picture of God,” he answered.
“But, Son, how can you draw a picture of God? Nobody knows what He looks like.”
“They will,” the little fellow said, “when I get finished!”
It’s true, isn’t it? We splash our colors and spread our crayons on the canvas of life. And almost
imperceptibly, a picture of God emerges when we get finished – not only a portrait of us, but also a
picture of God. The question is: what is His picture going to look like when he gets finished?
Let’s face it. There are moments when we feel all but finished. Worn down and washed up, how many
times have we felt like throwing in the towel along with our paper and crayons? “If life has to keep
ending up like this, you can count me out! I’m finished!”
Take our day in, day out struggle with sin. How many times has it nearly finished us off? We win a
few, lose a few, win a few, lose a few. The crayon-scrawled picture of our hearts after days, weeks,
months, and even years of that kind of living isn’t a portrait we’re proud to hang anywhere, especially
since it’s always our hearts that seem to get hung in the struggle.
But does that struggle have to be the picture we live with? Must we resign ourselves to a perennial
win-sin-win-sin syndrome that colors our pictures with the gloom of defeat rather than with the glow of
victory? Or is there a picture of God that could set us free?
Let’s contemplate just such a portrait, an incredible picture of God that emerges from a rather obscure
sentence Jesus once spoke. You have probably hurried over these words of His before, not realizing that
they offer the very key that can open a brand new door to divine power and daily victory.
It happened one day in Palestine. A young Teacher and Healer from Galilee had been crisscrossing the
hillsides and villages of the land, leaving His sandal prints beside tired, worn hearts. The gloom of defeat
had seemed to erase the last crayon-colored horizon of hope from people’s lives. Gone were the bright
greens, the flaming reds, the royal blues. Now the national colors seemed lost in the gray shadow of
failure and defeat. A foreign power held them captive. Dreams of victory were continually doused by the
crush of defeat. There seemed to be no way out; they were finished.
But not Jesus. Wherever He went, the compassionate touch of His hand and the quiet words from His
heart spread fresh colors – a new picture of God. To young and aged alike He held out a promise: if they
would embrace this picture of God, it would be the beginning of a new, color-splashed way of living He
called “the abundant life.” (See John 10:10).
This particular day a delegation of religious leaders confronted the young teacher with a burning
question: “When will the kingdom of God come?” They were tired of waiting, tired of hoping, tired of
praying, tired of losing more than winning. Their hungry eyes were on the horizon of the future:
“Someday God is going to do something powerful and spectacular, and we’d like to know when.”
Jesus’ reply must have caught them by surprise. But what He said has left for us all – them and us – an
unforgettable portrait of God. He said, “The kingdom of God does not come visible, nor will people say,
‘Here it is,’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)
Can you imagine that? “The kingdom of God is within you.” In your mind and your body – there is
the kingdom of God. Oh, it’s true that God reigns from His eternal throne in a literal heaven just as the
Bible teaches. Jesus Himself promised to return to this planet one day to take His friends and followers to
that celestial kingdom. (See John 14:13)
But could it be that, like the Pharisees who came to Jesus, we have become so preoccupied with being
delivered from this life that we have missed the divine offer of deliverance in this life? Can we find in
this portrait of God that Jesus drew the golden key to unlock the door to divine power and daily victory?
Somehow, kingdom and power seem to belong together. I grew up in Japan, a land of legends,
kingdoms and warlords. I remember as a boy gazing in awe at the gray rocky battlements and mossy
stonewalls that still surround ancient pagoda-like fortresses. It doesn’t take much for a child’s
imagination to run rampant at a moment like that. Suddenly it was as if those towering fortresses sprang
to life. I could almost see the flashing steel of samurai swords and hear their clashing echoes across the
valley. I could almost see the color-swathed warlords as they charged on glistening black steeds in
defense of their kingdom. Whether it’s an aged castle in Japan or an ancient fortress in Europe, when we
think of kingdom, it isn’t difficult to sense the force of power.
So when Jesus describes the kingdom of God as being within us, He must be offering as something
much more than just a colorful figure of speech. Talk is cheap in any language. But “the kingdom of
God is not a matter of talk but of power.” (1 Cor. 4:20.) When Jesus declares that the kingdom of God is
within us, He is describing a picture of incredible, infinite power!
Here is a portrait of the God of all power who chooses to establish His kingdom within us. Haven’t we
ended the Lord’s Prayer with the affirmation, “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever”? And isn’t power exactly what our hearts desperately need? When you think of all the shackled
emotions and the habits that hold us captive, when you remember the vice-like grip that the win-sin
syndrome holds on our hearts,, nothing less than infinite power will do!
But the critical question our hearts desperately need to have answered is: How can I experience that
kind of infinite power in my life? How can I be set free from this perennial win-some-lose-some cycle that
keeps falling short of victory?
First of all, we must understand and utilize an eternal law that operates in all human life. Solomon
phrased it this way: As a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7, KJV. Paul expressed the
same law in different words, “We all . . . beholding . . . are changed.” 2Corinthians 3:18, KJV. Both
writers are describing the same law of life: You are what you think; what you behold you become.
William Parker, a Christian psychologist powerfully illustrates this eternal law in his book, Prayer Can
Change Your Life. On page 54 he tells of an experiment in which a young male under hypnosis as given
a piece of chalk and instructed to “smoke” it. (While warning against the use of hypnosis, Parker in this
case uses it as an illustration.) Believing he was smoking a cigarette, the young man puffed on the chalk.
A few moments later the researcher, feigning shock and warning, exclaimed, “Look out! It’s burning
your fingers.” The subject immediately dropped the chalk and began to complain that his finger hurt.
The researcher then suggested to the man that he had burned his finger. Amazingly, a blister formed
where the young man had been holding the chalk. He had had no blister before. The subject’s mind sent
a signal to his body, and the body became what the mind suggested. As a person thinks, so he is; by
beholding, we become changed. The law has always proven true.
In fact current research at the National Institute of Health is suggesting that “ailing people can get well
faster by thinking positively.” – The Orlando Sentinel, January 28, 2987, p. A8. Candace Pert, a
neuroscientist at the Institute, says, “The more I look, the more I’m convinced that emotions are running
the show.” (ibid.)
But should we be surprised? The Bible long ago declared that what we think, we are; for we become
what we behold. If that is proving true for healing in the physical realm, will it not prove true for healing
in the spiritual realm?
Could it be that here is a critically significant key to victorious Christian living? When we long and
pray for victory over our perennial syndrome of failure, what, in fact, is the focus of our thoughts? Are
we not concentrating on our sins? Maybe it’s an evil temper, perhaps it’s impurity, or it may be pride or
dishonesty. But whatever your besetting sin, have you been making it the focus of your thought? “O
Lord, you know I have this awful sin in my life. Why just this afternoon I fell again. And yesterday, You
remember , I had the same problem. I know it’s going to be there tomorrow when I awaken. So, Lord,
take this sin away.” How often have we prayed such prayers!
Certainly we can ask God to deliver us from our besetting sins. After all, the Lord’s Prayer itself
petitions God, “Deliver us from evil.” However, we must remember that what we think about, we are
changed into; what we behold, we become. It’s an unvarying law that cannot be broken. And so all these
years as we’ve been praying for victory over that defeating sin, it has entrenched itself ever more deeply
into both our subconscious and our conscious living and thinking. Is it any wonder? We’ve been staring
our sin squarely in the fact so long that we have become what we have been beholding!
But just contemplating the words ‘God and Power’ can hardly be enough. Jesus once declared, “If the
Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) So why don’t we go to that place where He died
to set us free? Climb a rock pile call Golgotha and gaze on that wooden cross, jammed into the stony
summit of execution. That Friday 2000 years ago has much to do with this offer of freedom today. So go
ahead and look long and hard at that crimson-stained Roman spike.
As Christians we rejoice at the cross, for there we see the bloody, outstretched arms of God, nailed
wide open in an eternal embrace, assuring us of pardon for even our darkest sins. But there is more to the
death of Jesus! Not only does His cross proclaim pardon, it also promises power! The cross provides
forgiveness for sinning, but it also becomes a force for living. That’s why Paul could exclaim, “We
preach Christ crucified . . . the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:23-24.) That’s why Peter could unequivocally
declare, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for
righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, emphasis supplied.) The power of
God is in the cross of Christ!
So how can your heart tap into that eternal power? What if you went to that place where you can
behold the supreme demonstration of God’s power of love? What would happen if every single morning
you spent a quiet moment focusing on Calvary and your victorious, crucified, risen Lord? What if instead
of focusing on your evil temper, you focused on Jesus’ quiet and calm spirit there on the cross? What if
your heart heard Him praying there under such intense and cruel provocation, “Father, forgive them”?
Doesn’t the eternal law of life say that you will become what you think? Wouldn’t the power of God’s
kingdom within as revealed there at the cross be able to transform you into what you have been
beholding? Isn’t the God of Calvary able to change you into His own image?
We have known that law of change all our lives. But could it be that we have been ignoring the very
principle that God longs to use to set us free from our sin-broken, self-defeating way of thinking and
living? If it is an unvarying law that we become what we behold, then why not focus our minds on a
picture of divine power, a picture that reveals the full potential the human life can reach when it is joined
in partnership with the powerful presence of God? Could there be a more positive portrait of God than
the picture we see every time we contemplate the life of Jesus?
So here’s a prescription for gaining transforming power in your life. As you awaken each morning,
set aside 15 to 30 minutes of quiet time when you can be alone with God. Choose one of the Gospels to
focus your thinking on the life of Christ. Since each Gospel describes Jesus’ pilgrimage to the cross, you
will discover that wherever you turn in the Gospels you will sense the powerful shadow of Calvary. But
you must not hurry through your reading. Instead, select a single incident from Jesus’ life to be your
focus for those contemplative moments.
As you think of His life – visualize it – you will discover the very character qualities that can defeat the
sins over which you seek victory. Focus your heart on those qualities of Jesus’ life. For example, if you
are seeking victory over impurity and lust, then watch Jesus carefully to capture those moments in which
His character shines forth in all its transparent purity. It may be that moment when He stoops beside the
prostitute who has been thrown at His feet. Her scarlet-stained life is evident just by looking at her. But
don’t focus on your sin that you see reflected in her. Instead gaze into Jesus’ face. See the purity that
glows in His eyes. Hear His strong words as He lifts her face to meet His: “Neither do I condemn you . . .
Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11) But don’t hurry away. If you wish to be changed, you
need time to behold. Linger in that quiet place.
Since the kingdom of God is within you, you know that He is there with you, in you, at that moment.
Hold the image of His purity in your mind. Thank Him for not condemning you either and for offering
you His infinite power to become pure like Him. Before you leave your quiet place, picture the cross of
Jesus lifted up in your mind’s eye. Remember, it is not only a place of abundant pardon, but it is also a
promise of abundant power! Take a moment to thank God for the power you will experience through the
day ahead, power to live Jesus’ life of purity in your heart.
And then, as the day wears on, bring back that picture of God revealed in Jesus. Let your mind
visualize again what you contemplated in the morning. Temptations will still be pounding at the gates of
your heart, but you can whisper, “The kingdom of God is with me, and it is not a matter of talk but of
power. Thank You, Lord, for the power I am experiencing now.” Remember, you are not to focus on
your sins but rather on the infinite King within who “is able to keep you from falling and to present you
before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” (Jude 24)
Once again at night before you fall asleep, let your last prayer of the day be one of thanksgiving to God
for the power He is already manifesting you your life.
“The kingdom of God is within you.” It is neither magic nor mystery. But it is a matter of power, the
very power we need to live on the cutting edge of victory. The cross of our Lord is eternal proof that this
divine power is available to every heart that beholds Him there. “Behold, the Lamb of God which takes
away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). That’s good news, isn’t it? He died to take away our sins – our
pattern of repeated failure. No wonder our hearts are daily summoned to behold Him at the cross. For
by beholding, we are changed. It’s a fact. It’s power.