RSS

Category Archives: Power of God

What is Spiritual Power? (Repost)

What is Spiritual Power? (Repost)

I’m taking a couple of weeks off from writing, so I’m reposting some of my most popular articles.

At one point I started praying about walking in the power of God. Why does the church seem so powerless? How do you walk in God’s power? All of these and more were going around inside of me as the Holy Spirit started to work on me.

At one point the Lord spoke to my heart and I realized that because of my background in Electrical Engineering, I already had an understanding of the natural concepts of power. This revelation started a whole new string of questions in me.

Is spiritual power the same as electrical power? Are the laws that govern them the same? Are there parallels between spiritual and natural power? I began from that point and dove into the Word of God.

I realized right from the beginning that most people, ministers included, have no idea what true power is. We have no concept of the nature and function of power.

Paul’s words to us are very clear. When it comes to power in the kingdom of God, we had better do more than just talk. The problem is that most of what we call power in the kingdom today is just that – talk. The first step toward walking in the power of God is to understand what true power is all about.

Let’s start by looking at things from a natural perspective. When we talk about “power” it’s usually in the context of electrical power. We use phrases like power lines, power plant, and power outages. We think of electricity as being a form of power. How can this help us to understand what power is?

Very simply put, the definition of power is the same whether you’re talking about electricity coming into your house, or the power of God to heal the sick. The International Edition of the Webster Comprehensive Dictionary defines it in the following way:

“Power is the ability to act. It is the property of a thing that is manifested in effort or action, by virtue of which that thing produces change.”

Let me boil it down for you. True power is the ability to produce change. Change is the key word in that sentence.

It takes power to transform water at room temperature into hot water for a cup of tea. It takes power to get a one-ton car to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour. It takes power to transform a body from sickness to health. It takes power to change a liar into a saint. It takes power to replace guilt with innocence.

If we understand this correctly, then the verse above should bring new understanding. It’s the assignment of the Kingdom of God to produce change. It’s not about how well you can speak about it. Change is the priority.

© 2025 Nicolas Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 17, 2025 in Ministry, Power of God, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: ,

God as Choreographer

God as Choreographer

We’re currently going through the epistle of 1 Peter. In my last post, I talked about making sure the glory goes to God. Today I’ll continue with that thought.

In this verse Peter is telling us that when we speak, we should speak as God Himself speaking. He literally tells us that when we serve, our words are originating from the force of which God is the dance-leader.

Peter actually uses the Greek word for choreographer, in speaking about God. Think about it. God is the great universal Choreographer.

I encourage you, then you pray for sick, when they’re healed, they go and evangelize the lost. It’s like one great dance.

We all need to be involved in God’s choreography. Instead, we sit back and wait for others to do the work of the Lord. Think about what the Nutcracker Suite would be like with only three dancers. Then we complain, “God isn’t blessing this church.”

God gives grace and choreographs His will to be accomplished on earth. We do the performance, and God gets the glory in everything through Christ. The Lord receives glory, dominion, power, and strength forever and ever.

If you remember from a previous post, we are the administrators of God’s grace. Allowing God to use us in His choreography is a big part of this.

Paul understood the truth of this teaching.

Do you hear what the apostle is saying here? It’s in the administration of God’s grace that He gives me His grace. But, more importantly, the grace He gives me is actually for you.

I would be doing a grave disservice to God if I failed to pass on that grace. Unfortunately, we do that all the time. We either don’t follow through with what God is doing in us, or we ignore His calling altogether.

Much of the grace God gives to us is for someone else. I heard a great preacher once say, “God always blesses you with someone else in mind!” We need to live with that truth before us.

Always remember that God is the great Choreographer. It’s up to us to be a part of what He’s doing in this generation. Don’t be left out of the blessing; join the dance!!!

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 24, 2025 in Ministry, Power of God, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: , , , ,

Once For All Victory

Once For All Victory

We’re continuing our study through 1 Peter. The apostle has been talking about suffering because you’re living righteously. He gives us the conclusion.

Now he goes on to give us the example of Christ.

I love that phrase, “once for all.” Let me explain. I live in the Boston area. I have to admit that I was excited when the New England Patriots won the Superbowl year after year. That probably doesn’t sound very spiritual.

Actually, there’s a truth here that we need to understand. It hurts me to tell you this, but once the Superbowl is over, every team is tied for last place.

When you look at the world of sports, the game gets reset every year. What you did last season doesn’t mean anything during the next season.

From this point on it’s all about winning next year. In our society, championships are a temporary thing. You can be a world champion today and scraping the bottom the next season.

I’m glad Jesus wasn’t this kind of champion. The victory that He won was once and for all. There will be no rematch, no do overs, and no replays. It is finished.

Under the Old Covenant it was much different. The death of a bull or goat today had no power to help you a year later. The sacrifices had to be repeated over and over again.

The work that Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross will never lose its effectiveness. It will never fade or wear out. The Lord is eternally victorious.

But there’s more to the story. Christ has passed this victory on to all who will trust in Him.

As I said before – I’m glad for the Patriots past victories. The problem is that their victory didn’t do anything for me. After the Superbowl, my health, finances, and attitudes were the same as they were before. They got the glory, and I got to watch.

Christ, on the other hand, allowed me to share in His victory. Even though there was nothing I could to do to help, I benefit from all that He did. All I had to do was to trust in Him as my Lord and Savior.

In one decisive act, Jesus Christ accomplished freedom, salvation, healing, and restoration for all. We just need to get in on it by faith in Him.

Spend some time with the Lord today. Let His victory spill over into your life. Don’t walk around as if you’re defeated, hoping to win the next round. You can walk in his freedom right now.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Suffering for Doing Good

Suffering for Doing Good

We’re continuing to go through Peter’s first letter. The apostle is now going to talk about how to handle resistance from the world. It’s something we will all experience, even if we don’t live in an area with heavy persecution.

Remember, Peter’s goal is always to portray Christ to the world.

Peter asks us, who is it that will bring evil against you? He’s talking about any kind of evil, from injury to exasperation. This is especially true if you’re eager to do good.

The word he uses for eager is important for understanding this question. He’s literally saying if you become a Zealot for good. One thing we need to know is that this word, Zealot, referred to a group of Jews who were anti-Roman terrorists at that point in history.

This seems like an oxymoron. A terrorist for good. But I believe that’s from the world’s perspective.

We can see from this verse, that light terrorizes those who love darkness. That’s what happens when we live a “radically good” life. When someone acts in an evil way against us and we go out of our way to bless them.

So, Peter asks who would try to hurt you for that? Then, he thinks about his experience in this area.

What if you’re passionately burdened to do righteousness? Here’s what Peter has learned from his experiences.

First, you’re supremely blessed, well off, happy, fortunate. That’s the first and most important thing you need to know. That’s the basis for overcoming in spite of this resistance.

You had better prepare for this, just like Christ. Because we will all have to face these issues at some point.

The apostle starts by telling us to not be afraid or shaken. He lets us know that we don’t have to fear the things that frighten the world. And we’re not shaken by the things that toss them.

The world gets all upset and fearful about politics, the economy, and natural disasters. We must not give in to fear because we know who controls our life and our world.

This is one of the biggest areas we need to work on as Christians in our generation. When you see what’s taking place online and in social media, many times believers seem as stressed out as the world. We can’t be acting like people without the hope of Christ Jesus in us.

It’s time for us to start acting like Jesus is Lord and God is in control. Stop running around like the world and settle down to be accomplishing the will of the Father. Spend time in His presence to pick up His heartbeat. Then, do what you’re called to do.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Becoming New

Becoming New

We’re going through Peter’s first letter to the church. In my last post we saw that we were born again by the living and enduring Word of God.

It doesn’t matter how we were originally born, or our experiences growing up to this point. We are a new creation in Christ. We now have a new nature.

Peter continues this thought.

We all have to come to the grips with the fact that our humanity tends toward decay. We know that this is true as far as our bodies are concerned. We see the effects of aging all around us in society.

However, this tendency toward decay is true for our relationships as much as for our bodies. If you remember, Peter is telling us how true holiness breeds godly love, one toward another.

In the context of this letter, this truth about decay is being applied to our relationships. Left to ourselves we would end up hating each other. But if we let the Word of God work on us, then the effects will last throughout eternity.

That’s why godly, anointed preaching is so important. It allows us to get God’s Word into our spirit.

But it doesn’t end there. The next verse carries the same thought.

Peter is telling us that until we are truly godly, there are some things that we must put away. These are the things that bring decay into our relationships. If left unchecked, they could ruin the work God is doing in us.

The first thing he tells us to put away is all malice. That word means badness, evil, trouble. We know this one. We all like to cause trouble from time to time. But, not for ourselves – for others.

“Do you know what she said about you?”

Then we have to put away all deceit. That means baiting and trickery. It’s saying and doing things that you know will cause others to get mad. We see a lot of this happening in social media. As believers we need to stop acting this way.

Next is hypocrisy. It’s the act you put on trying to make yourself look good and others look not-so-good.

Of course, another is envy. That’s actually an inward shriveling of bitterness or spite. It only hurts you. Usually the other person is oblivious to your inner turmoil. Let it go.

Finally, Peter says to put away slander of every kind. This is defamation or talking against. This something else that people have turned into a hobby on social media. We must not be involved in it.

These are the things that must be dealt with in the maturing process. At first you have to make firm decision not to do these things. But as the Holy Spirit does His work, it becomes your nature – from the heart by the new birth.

The church in America desperately needs to walk in true godly love. We are the body of Christ and should accurately portray who He is and how He loves.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 21, 2025 in Power of God, Relationships, Revival

 

Tags: , , , ,

God’s Word – Living and Enduring

God’s Word – Living and Enduring

As we go through 1 Peter, we’re seeing the work of holiness being accomplished in us. The apostle continues on, showing us the reason for this transformation.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you know that one of my main themes concerns the Word of God. I believe that we miss it if the only way we view the Word is thinking about it as the Bible.

In many of my posts I talk about the relationship between the Word of God and the Scripture. The Bible is the written Word of God. But we also need to hear the Word from the Holy Spirit. This is where the power of God intersects with our lives.

The Bible teaches that we must correctly handle the Word of Truth. In order to do that I must be studying the Scripture – the written record of God’s Word – so that I can handle the Word I receive from God today.

The Bible uses many terms in relation to the Word of God. It uses language such as spread, increased, grew, reached and multiplied. In the above verse we’re told how. The verse says in this way. If you read through this nineteenth chapter of the Book of Acts you’ll get a taste for the effects of the Word.

We see the gifts of tongues and prophecy being manifested. There was boldness in preaching. Handkerchiefs and aprons that touched Paul were taken to the sick and they were healed.

Demonic spirits were confronted and expelled. There was widespread repentance such that a group of new believers burned the equivalent of $5,000,000 worth of satanic sorcery books.

That’s the way the Word of God is described as growing. Literally, the above verse says that the Word became a force to be reckoned with. The Word of God is alive and it grows.

The fact is that we’ve been saved by the living Word of God. That Word is a seed that’s growing inside of us. It will never decay or diminish. It’s there forever.

Peter explains to us that it’s living and enduring. It’s always alive and growing. Nothing and no one can extinguish its flame.

Somewhere along the line somebody spoke God’s Word to you. It doesn’t matter whether they used the Bible or not – you heard a Word from God that changed your life. It might have been a Bible verse, a word of prophecy, or a statement of divine truth. Either way, you received it, it grew inside of you, and eventually you accepted Jesus Christ and were born again.

That’s how the Word of God starts its work in you. The fact that you’ve established Christ as your Lord and Savior is proof that the Word has taken residence in you. Now it’s up to us what we do with that seed.

That’s why Peter is writing his letter. So that we can experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in us. That should be our goal. To walk more and more into the Lord’s holiness and righteousness.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , ,

Set Free

Set Free

I’m currently in a series of posts about 1 Peter. He has shown us not only that God wants us to walk in holiness, but how to accomplish this. Now he goes on to show why this is way we’re to live.

The incredible truth is that we have been redeemed. That’s a big word. We need to understand all that his encompasses.

Normally, when you see the word redeemed in Scripture it means to buy back or purchase something. That’s not the case here. The word that Peter uses means to loosen or set free.

What has the Lord loosened us from? It was from the empty behavior that we inherited. It’s all the emotional and lifestyle baggage we grew up with. It’s the ongoing behavior we acted out with nothing to show for it in the end.

But, according to the apostle, the valuable blood of Jesus Christ rescued us from all of that. We no longer have to live a life that amounts to nothing in the end.

We need to see that nothing takes God by surprise. God knew what was to happen even before the world was created. He didn’t have to call an emergency meeting with the Holy Spirit.

“Oh No! What are we going to do? They just killed the Messiah.”

Absolutely not! God had the plan for our redemption already in place before the world was formed.

This verse goes on to say that now, in these last days, this plan is made manifestis revealed – in us. It’s our job to reveal Christ to the world. We are God’s voice, declaring His restoring power to all those around us.

Now, because of what God did in Christ, our faith and our expectation can firmly be focused on God. This is the foundation for the walk of holiness.

So that brings up some important questions we need to be asking. Is my faith focused on God’s Word and plan for my life? Do I truly expect what God says the results should be as He responds to my faith?

As we spend time in the Scripture and in relationship with the Holy Spirit, our faith and expectation toward the Lord should be growing. That’s the maturing process. It’s how I continue to grow in the body of Christ.

Only then can I lead others to experience the same walk of holiness and righteousness. I can’t simply teach it. I must exemplify it by walking it out in front of younger believers.

This is where the Lord is desiring to bring us all up to.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Fear of the Lord Part 1

The Fear of the Lord Part 1

We’re now going through a series of posts in the epistle of 1 Peter. He’s been talking about the importance of walking in holiness. In my last post, we left off talking about the fear of the Lord.

In looking at this verse we took note of the word “since”. Peter is addressing a people who are calling on the Lord. If that’s the case, then we must get an accurate picture of God as the final Judge.

We saw that He judges our works impartially. He’s not impressed by what we do as much as the motivations for doing them. So, I want to take some time to go into the fear of the Lord a little deeper.

In my last post I talked about the fact that many times we water down the fear of the Lord. Many teach that it’s simply a healthy respect. We need to see that it really is a fear.

It’s not being afraid of God. But being afraid of harming the relationship that Christ paid such a high price for.

Too often we only zero in on what we can get from our relationship with the Lord.

“God wants you happy, healthy, rich, full, entertained, satisfied.”

We have to understand that our eternal rewards or lack thereof are based upon His decisions. Unfortunately, there are times when we become too familiar with worshiping the Lord.

Again, the word reverence in this verse is the Greek word phobo – the literal word for fear. It should be clear from this and other Scriptures that the fear of God produces holiness.

Paul talked about the day of judgment that we will face as believers. It’s not about heaven or hell, but the quality of our rewards. We’ll be judged on how we built upon the spiritual foundation Christ laid down for us.

The fire is the final exam. But we’re clearly told that it’s not our works that will be tested. When you talk about building, anything listed in this verse can be used to build with. I’ve seen these structures around the world.

Even in the USA there are some pretty impressive houses made of wood. But that’s not what’s being judged. It’s the quality of the worked based upon how fire-resistant it is. God is looking for quality, not appearance.

When we look around the body of Christ these days, a question arises. Why don’t we live as we should for God the way they did in the early church? In many circles worship seems to be optional. We shy away from Bible study and prayer. I believe it all comes down to a lack of the fear of the Lord.

This is an important topic. So, I’m going to take one more post to talk about it.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 10, 2025 in Faith, Power of God, Revival, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

A Future Perspective

A Future Perspective

As we go through the book of 1 Peter, we’re now at verse 13. There are a few good points here, so I have taken the last couple of posts to talk about them. Today’s post will tackle the final one from this verse.

The third section of this verse tells us to expect the grace of His return. That tells me that we need a future oriented mindset. We must learn to look to the eternal.

This means that we must stop seeing only the temporary – the things which are passing away. We can’t be distracted by the situations that come and go. Our focus has to be on what will be important 1,000,000 years from today.

Because we died with Christ, we’ve also been raised with Him. That’s the basis of an overcoming life. Sin doesn’t have the hold on us that it used to have.

We now have a higher calling. We kill off the desires of the world in order to seek the eternal.

That’s where we need to focus our attention. Paul says this in two ways. He tells us, set your hearts and set your minds on things above. Those phrases literally mean to diligently seek and obsess on things above, respectively. Our attitude should reflect an upward vision.

This is a very important truth. We receive from God when we seek the eternal. The writer of the book of Hebrews understood this.

Eternally minded people search for, crave, demand a hometown. That’s why Jesus told us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. We’re not looking for the temporary high that the world offers us.

The final result of this attitude is that God is not ashamed to be called their God. That’s interesting. Are there times when God is ashamed to be called someone’s God? I think this verse implies that He could be.

Before we pick up this eternally minded attitude, we’re only accomplishing what a man can do. Is God satisfied with what is merely possible even without His help? Of course not. He expects us to do a God sized work.

When that happens; the world can see His glory. God’s people need to stop chasing the temporary pleasures of the world and focus in on the eternal glory of God. Let Him accomplish what He desires in you.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Preparation for Holiness

Preparation for Holiness

We’re now going through the New Testament book of 1 Peter. In the last few posts we were talking about the salvation we share in Christ. The apostle now gets to the heart of the matter.

Peter begins the next section with the word, therefore. That means that everything he has said so far was the groundwork for this. He is about to start talking about holiness. That’s an important message for church leaders to understand.

Let me review some of the things I’ve already taught about holiness. Holiness is one of those concepts that we have trouble grasping. A little while ago we looked at 1 Corinthians.

The word sanctified in this verse literally means made holy. It’s something that’s already been accomplished. However, Paul also says that we’re called to be holy. That’s looking toward the future.

The fact is that there are two parts of holiness. Part 1 is something only God can do. He makes you holy. When you put your trust in Him for your salvation, He sets you apart for His use. That’s Him making you holy.

But part 2 is something only you can do. You must make yourself holy. This means that you set yourself apart for God’s use. The truth is that you cannot do part 2 unless God has done part 1.

If you’re saved, then He has set you apart. But He cannot use you until you set yourself apart. In today’s post, we’ll start to look at how to do that.

Please note that Peter doesn’t use the word holy until verse 19, but we’re starting in verse 13.

The literal translation of the first part of this verse is to gird up the loins of your mind. That’s an interesting statement. But it goes right along with what Paul said in regard to our spiritual armor.

This verse literally tells us to stand firm with our loins girded all around with truth. The two apostles are obviously talking about the same thing. But the big question is; how do we gird our minds with the belt of truth?

Jesus answered that question in His prayer for us right after the Last Supper.

Jesus prayed for us in this verse. He asked God the Father to make us holy by the truth. What is that truth? It’s the truth of God’s Word. It all has to start with the Word.

That’s why God’s Word is so important. It changes my attitudes of how I see myself. I’m not my own. I have been bought with a very great price.

Make sure you start your faith journey with the Word of God. It’s the foundation for everything.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , , ,