Troublesome Topic: Plenty of Power Is Available

Allow me to quote someone who explains the science better than I can. This has been extracted (and shortened) from an article called “Brain Battery” by Ryan Jones on the Knowing Neurons website – https://knowingneurons.com/2012/12/14/brain-battery/

(Be sure to read to the end of this quote.)

Here’s Ryan:

“The human brain is a collection of approximately 80 billion to 100 billion batteries.  Each neuron (a nerve cell in the brain) possesses the ability to accumulate a charge across its cell membrane, which results in a small, but meaningful voltage (potential energy between two points).  The average neuron contains a resting voltage of approximately 70 millivolts or 0.07 volts; in contrast an AA battery has a 1.5 volt charge and a wall socket carries about 115 volts.

Voltage is defined as an electropotential difference between two points. In the case of the AA battery, this potential difference is measured between the top (+) and bottom (-) of the battery and is due to an excess of negative charge at the negative pole. In a neuron, this potential difference is measured across the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane and the intracellular side is generally more negative. Normally, the membrane is around 5 nanometers thick, which means that the 70 millivolt potential difference is separated by only 5×10^-9 meters.  In contrast, an AA battery’s poles are 2 inches (5×10^-2 meters) apart.

When there is a potential difference between two separate points, an electrostatic field is produced. A great example of an electrostatic field is the field produced by the difference in charge that develops between the clouds and the surface of the earth during a thunderstorm.  If this field becomes too strong, a spark of electricity shoots across the gap between the positive and negative poles and becomes lightning!

The strength of this field is defined by a simple equation: E = – Δϕ/d where the strength of the field (E) is directly related to the potential difference (Δϕ, otherwise known as voltage) divided by the distance (d) between the poles.  So, in a lightning storm, the electrical field would be measured as the difference in voltage of the earth and the clouds, divided by the distance between them. Lightning is produced when the electrostatic force (E) is around 3 million volts per meter!

How does a lowly neuron, with its 70 millivolts, compare to the awesome power of a lightning strike?  We know that the voltage across a neuron’s membrane is 0.07 volts and the average thickness of the membrane is 5 nanometers.

E_Neuron = -(0.07 volts) / (5×10^-9 meters)

E_Neuron = 14 million volts per meter!  That’s more than four times the electrostatic force required to produce lightning during a thunderstorm!!!” (bold added by me, Paul, for emphasis).”

Thanks Ryan, that is cool!

Why Do So Many Christians Feel They Lack Spiritual Power?

Many believers go through their Christian lives feeling like they aren’t very close to God and don’t have much spiritual power. Satan uses many things in their lives to make them feel small and powerless.

As we saw above, the energy generated across the cell membrane is over four times, almost five times, greater than the power involved in a lightning strike, when measured per meter. Across the cell membrane there is lots of work being done and there is plenty of power available to get it done. But it is not impressive, it does not look like great power. It will not burn you the way lightning does. It is great power exerted on a small scale.

And that is a description of our life in Christ – amazing power exerted on a small scale.

A life that is fully given to God can be used by Him to accomplish great things. There is no such thing as extraordinary people, just ordinary people with extraordinary faith who allow God to use them to do extraordinary things.

Great power is available because God is so close to us!

Why Aren’t More Believers Using This Power?

In electricity we have conductors, which transport electric power, semiconductors, which transport that power more slowly, and insulators that block the flow of electric power.

If you cannot access the power of God in your life, the problem is probably that there are things which are blocking that power. The power is available, God is close, but something is getting in the way of its transmission. It could be anger, greed, pride, selfishness, lust, unforgiveness, or many other things.

 If you remove the obstructions, the power will flow!

You can’t remove those hindrances by yourself, but God can help you and He wants to help you. God wants you to live in the power of His Spirit, but you have to be willing to receive God’s help.

Another way to say it is this: If you feel far away from God, guess who moved!

In the New Testament, one of the words that is often used to describe the power that is at work in us is the Greek word from which we get our English word “dynamite.” In Greek it is not explosive power, but it is definitely effective at getting work done. It is capable, productive power and you wouldn’t want to try and stop it.

So remove those blockages, stay focused on God not self, and then live in the power that God has made available, not to look impressive, but to give Him glory.

CONCLUSION: In the previous lesson we learned that all our past failures, hurts and other problems are held by certain neurons of the brain and thousands of them come together to influence every decision we make. This can be mitigated against by filling our minds with God’s word – His messages. But that may seem like a difficult up-hill climb. We may think that the deck is stacked against us.

But in this lesson we learned that we have all the power we need because our power source, God Himself, is extremely close to us. We may think we don’t have much power, but the power we have available to us is more than the power of lightning (3 million volts per meter), and more than that of a cell membrane (14 million volts per meter). We have plenty of power to do anything and everything God asks us to do.

Also see Hebrews 12:1, Psalm 145:18, Acts 17:27 and James 4:8

There is no reason to doubt our potential, no reason to hold back from doing what God is calling you to do! There is no reason to feel helpless when faced with temptations. There is no reason to believe Satan’s lies about you, no reason to join Satan in beating up on yourself!

Don’t be a whiner, be a climber. Don’t be a sleeper, be a sprinter. Don’t be a waiter, be a game changer!

Go for it! Live in the POWER that God has made available to you!

The next lesson is Breaking Free from Enslaving Habits