I was reading to my children this morning before we started our homeschool lessons for the day and this message just poured out of me. Have you ever had those moments where you're like, "I must shout this from the rooftops!"? I am having one of those moments. My friends, I pray that you walk away from this message with strengthened faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and hearts on fire to serve Him.
In Ephesians 1:17-21, Paul prays for the Ephesians saying, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."
I want to break this down for you. Firstly, Paul asks for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. I will confess, I spent the first ten years of my Christian life walking lightly in faith...never really asking for wisdom. Always giving myself slack for "not being smart enough"...but that is NO excuse my friends. You see, this all-powerful Savior of mine CAN and will equip me with knowledge and wisdom, I just have to ask in faith. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." +James 1:5-8 This awesome God of ours WANTS to give us wisdom and understanding. But the responsibility is on us, to ask in faith. Ever heard the saying, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"? It is the same concept friends. He has this endless abundance of wisdom, just waiting to be poured out on us. And if I ask for and get a barrel full of it today, that doesn't mean He only has a teaspoon left for you. You can get your barrel full, or swimming pool full, or ocean of wisdom! Just ask Him and believe He will give it to you.
Secondly, hope...hope is to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment, to have confidence; trust, to look forward to with confidence or expectation. What is the hope that we have been called to? Salvation. Our heavenly reward. Our inheritance in heaven, but also our inheritance here. Peace...Jesus' true uncompromising peace. Calm in the storms of life. Help when we need it. Power-not power for selfish gain, but power for the kingdom of God. The supernatural ability to do the things that Jesus has asked us to do. Love. Growth to be like Jesus-His character qualities to be manifest in us.
Thirdly, I want you to focus on this power mentioned. His "incomparably great power"...the same power that He "exerted when He raised Christ from the dead". I think sometimes I forget just how powerful God is, AND that He wants to share His power with us. You know those moments where you are stretched so thin you might snap, you just want to give up, you have NOTHING left to give, you want to run away and hide? Those are the moments that God wants to give you His power. We are tapped out at that point, our reserves are deficient...we do not have enough. But He does. And He will give us what we need in that moment. It's like manna. He isn't going to once and for all make us strong enough to move our daily mountains forever, but each time we are faced with a challenge, He wants us to come to
Him and ask for His power. When I am at the grocery store and all five kids are having a rough time, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, stares and rude comments from people, and I just want to crawl in a hole, my God is there to strengthen me and help me finish my job. Sometimes He sends a sweet person along with an encouraging smile and comment, sometimes my husband sends me a strengthening text message, and sometimes He just fills me up in mysterious ways and gives me the perseverance I need to finish. But His power is there, and I just have to ask.
Fourth, I want to talk about the invoking of His name. We all know that today is the 12 year anniversary of 9/11. I was explaining it to my children and I told them that Osama Bin Laden had a powerful name. I'll bet his name just needed to be mentioned and people would be willing to do his bidding. His name and the power behind it are responsible for thousands of deaths and instilled fear in millions of people. We can see the evidence of his power on earth. And yet, Jesus Christ is MORE powerful than he was. He is "far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and EVERY name invoked". If Osama Bin Laden had the power to command the end of thousands of lives, what can our infinitely MORE powerful God do for our good, for His good?
I guess my point today is, don't sell God short. I think we tend to put Him in a box and see Him as an absentee God. He's just observing and not acting. But that is so wrong. He is alive. He is moving. He is present, right beside us, in our daily lives constantly. If we can't feel Him, it is because we have shut the door and turned our backs. We are on autopilot. Open that door with me! We don't need to ask God to meet us somewhere-because He is already there, waiting to give us His power! We need to ask for enlightenment-to have our eyes opened to His awesome power and faith that He will empower us each moment of our lives.
Dear Lord Jesus, I pray that You would open our eyes to your glorious, incomparably great power. I pray that You would keep reminding us that Your endless storehouse of power is available to us, and that we need only ask. I pray that You would grow our faith and help us to understand and trust that You are who You say you are and that You will do the things You've promised to do, not just at the end of time, but also each day in our journey. You are amazing Jesus. Please help us to glorify You today.
In Ephesians 1:17-21, Paul prays for the Ephesians saying, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."
I want to break this down for you. Firstly, Paul asks for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. I will confess, I spent the first ten years of my Christian life walking lightly in faith...never really asking for wisdom. Always giving myself slack for "not being smart enough"...but that is NO excuse my friends. You see, this all-powerful Savior of mine CAN and will equip me with knowledge and wisdom, I just have to ask in faith. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." +James 1:5-8 This awesome God of ours WANTS to give us wisdom and understanding. But the responsibility is on us, to ask in faith. Ever heard the saying, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"? It is the same concept friends. He has this endless abundance of wisdom, just waiting to be poured out on us. And if I ask for and get a barrel full of it today, that doesn't mean He only has a teaspoon left for you. You can get your barrel full, or swimming pool full, or ocean of wisdom! Just ask Him and believe He will give it to you.
Secondly, hope...hope is to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment, to have confidence; trust, to look forward to with confidence or expectation. What is the hope that we have been called to? Salvation. Our heavenly reward. Our inheritance in heaven, but also our inheritance here. Peace...Jesus' true uncompromising peace. Calm in the storms of life. Help when we need it. Power-not power for selfish gain, but power for the kingdom of God. The supernatural ability to do the things that Jesus has asked us to do. Love. Growth to be like Jesus-His character qualities to be manifest in us.
Thirdly, I want you to focus on this power mentioned. His "incomparably great power"...the same power that He "exerted when He raised Christ from the dead". I think sometimes I forget just how powerful God is, AND that He wants to share His power with us. You know those moments where you are stretched so thin you might snap, you just want to give up, you have NOTHING left to give, you want to run away and hide? Those are the moments that God wants to give you His power. We are tapped out at that point, our reserves are deficient...we do not have enough. But He does. And He will give us what we need in that moment. It's like manna. He isn't going to once and for all make us strong enough to move our daily mountains forever, but each time we are faced with a challenge, He wants us to come to
Him and ask for His power. When I am at the grocery store and all five kids are having a rough time, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, stares and rude comments from people, and I just want to crawl in a hole, my God is there to strengthen me and help me finish my job. Sometimes He sends a sweet person along with an encouraging smile and comment, sometimes my husband sends me a strengthening text message, and sometimes He just fills me up in mysterious ways and gives me the perseverance I need to finish. But His power is there, and I just have to ask.
Fourth, I want to talk about the invoking of His name. We all know that today is the 12 year anniversary of 9/11. I was explaining it to my children and I told them that Osama Bin Laden had a powerful name. I'll bet his name just needed to be mentioned and people would be willing to do his bidding. His name and the power behind it are responsible for thousands of deaths and instilled fear in millions of people. We can see the evidence of his power on earth. And yet, Jesus Christ is MORE powerful than he was. He is "far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and EVERY name invoked". If Osama Bin Laden had the power to command the end of thousands of lives, what can our infinitely MORE powerful God do for our good, for His good?
I guess my point today is, don't sell God short. I think we tend to put Him in a box and see Him as an absentee God. He's just observing and not acting. But that is so wrong. He is alive. He is moving. He is present, right beside us, in our daily lives constantly. If we can't feel Him, it is because we have shut the door and turned our backs. We are on autopilot. Open that door with me! We don't need to ask God to meet us somewhere-because He is already there, waiting to give us His power! We need to ask for enlightenment-to have our eyes opened to His awesome power and faith that He will empower us each moment of our lives.
Dear Lord Jesus, I pray that You would open our eyes to your glorious, incomparably great power. I pray that You would keep reminding us that Your endless storehouse of power is available to us, and that we need only ask. I pray that You would grow our faith and help us to understand and trust that You are who You say you are and that You will do the things You've promised to do, not just at the end of time, but also each day in our journey. You are amazing Jesus. Please help us to glorify You today.
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