Extreme Power: Bangladesh

BANGLADESH: ABDULLAH

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Acts 1:8

Since Abdullah accepted Jesus, his family had tried very hard to change his mind. After all, his father was a respected man in their village and in all of Bangladesh, having built a mosque right next to their property.

When talking didn’t convince Abdullah to return to Islam, they resorted to beating him. When beating didn’t work, they called others in to beat him more severely. Nothing worked; Abdullah tenaciously hung on to his faith in Christ. Finally, in exasperation, his mother stopped feeding him, putting only ashes on his plate. Abdullah prayed for God’s strength, and he stood strong.

As a last resort, the family called on the mullah (an Islamic religious leader) to come and hold an Islamic ceremony to rid the boy of the “devil” that had taken over his life. The mullah came to their home and recited Muslim prayers over the boy. He chanted. He laid hands on the boy. He danced and he yelled. The Spirit inside Abdullah stood fast. After five hours, the mullah gave up, exhausted.

“Abdullah’s Spirit is more powerful than my spirit,” he told the boy’s father as he left. Abdullah couldn’t be turned away, and he couldn’t be stopped from sharing that powerful Spirit with others. In a few short months, he had led twenty-seven Muslims to faith in Christ, infusing them all with the Spirit of Christ!

In an attempt to creatively deal with a potential energy crisis, modern engineers are attempting to design cars that run entirely on battery power. The hitch is that the cars must have access to a power source to recharge their batteries. As it is, the concept is still so new that the stations with the auxiliary power chargers are few and far between. Without a power source, the car is helpless. In the same way, Christians who attempt to be effective witnesses apart from the power of the Holy Spirit are equally helpless. Along with learning the word of God, we must rely on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, protection, and power in our witness. Are you trying to do things in your own strength for Jesus instead of allowing his power to flow through you?

This is one of the readings from the book, Extreme Devotion, available from VOM’s online bookstore. You can also receive devotional thoughts daily via email. Sign up here.