Divine Power within us to ask
This week, I’ve had some wonderful connect time with God. He was reminding me of Ephesians 3:20. We have such a limited understanding of what this scripture means, because we so often only quote the first part of it: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…”
And that’s where we stop. Sure, God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think. That’s God at work, but there is a part B to this scripture, one we often forget to include when we quote this. Here’s the full verse:
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
God can do amazing things–exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think–but, he can only work “according to the power that works in us.” That word “according to” is more of a limiting context. God can only work according to what power is at work in us. We are the conduit, the valve of God’s power at work in the earth. Is your valve wide open for God’s power to flow through you? Or, are you just dripping?
God deposited his power in us through Christ. Early in Ephesians 1:19-20, Paul clarifies that this same power raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and lives inside of us today. God can really do amazing things, but it’s “according to the power that is in us” already.
This week, God began to speak and show me how to tap into this power through passion, through our spiritual heart. Here’s what he said to me:
Son, I am able to do so much in you, and it happens through you. You are a conduit of my power, according to your faith. Believe that it is there, right now, inside you. Creative power, divine power to doing all that you need to do, son. It’s there. And, because it’s there, I can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all you could ask or think based upon that power inside you. So, ask, think, believe, son.
What do I ask for, Father? I’m not sure what to ask.
Son, you ask what’s on your heart, what you are passionate about, what you need? Son, you have a new heart. I can trust your heart. Even when your flesh is loud, screaming and very strong, I know that your heart–the real part of you–is not set on sin. It is set on righteousness, and my Holy Spirit is a seal to show that.
So ask, son. Believe. Then, watch me work in you and through you.
Encouraging words. Do you find it hard to believe that God loves your new heart, your new spiritual heart that Jesus died to give you? It’s quite unfathomable, but it’s true. Scripture is peppered with God’s love and grace towards.
Are you a Sinner or Saint?
I’m learning more and more that in Christ, we are not sinners. There is no sin in us when we receive Christ.
In Christ, we are dead to sin (Romans 6:2). We are free from sin (Romans 6:18-22). It was dealt with on the cross. When we receive Christ and are baptized into this death, then we have died to sin. We are no longer “sinners”. Rather, we are “saints” (called ones).
Think about what John said when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized. He said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Did you see that? What did Jesus take away? “The sin of the world.” Reminds me a bit of the often-quote scripture, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” He sent his son to die for the sin of the world.
We must move from a place of a “sinner mentality” to a “saint mentality”. Do you often have thoughts like, “I’m such a sinner”? Or, “I can’t go to God, because I messed up yesterday.”
In Christ, you are not a sinner. You are a saint. And, you can boldly go to the throne of grace in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16). And not only that, you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). And, if God cannot sit in the presence of sin, then you are free from sin. Completely free.
Think about this scripture from John 16:8-11 where Jesus explains why it is good for him to go to heaven and send us the Holy Spirit. He explains what the Holy Spirit’s job is here on earth:
And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
It tells us immediately what the conviction of sin is, “because they do not believe in [Christ]“. Notice it didn’t say, “of sin, because they do not know the difference between right and wrong.” Sin is not believing in Christ. So, believing in Christ means your sin is gone.
That’s why the second in that list is “of righteousness, because [Christ] goes to the Father”. If you are in Christ, you are free from sin. Most believers understand that Jesus died for their sins. What most believers don’t understand is that if you have put your faith in Christ, then you are righteous. You have been “saved by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
So, the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict Christians that they are righteous in Christ. And, through that righteousness, we have access to God our Father. We are children of God (John 1:12). We are justified (Romans 5:1). We are friends of Christ (John 15:15). We are saints (Ephesians 1:1).
Can Christians still commit sin? Yes, of course. But according to Romans 7, it’s the sin in my flesh, not who I am in Christ.
“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Romans 7:15-17.
Paul talked about this “body of death”. He said in the next verse (18), “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.” He understood that in the flesh, there may be sins, but it doesn’t define who we are. In Christ, we are saints, we are free, we are seated with him at the right hand of God.
Faith without fear may be dead
“I’m just not sure I have the faith it takes to get through this.”
“I just know I don’t have as much faith as I should.”
These thoughts, and many like them, course through our minds as we wrestle with our sense of inadequacy as children of God. I am convinced that we wrestle with this sense of inadequacy because way too often, we try to generate from our soul, what can only come from God Himself.
Faith is not the mental agreement with a religious system or doctrine. Nor is it our resolve to carry out a mindset or a mission. It is a way of seeing that comes from listening instead of thinking.
I also see, far too often, that people think that the fact that they experience fear means that they do not “have enough faith”. What if that is not true?
I know the Bible tells us that faith without works is dead. I also think that faith without fear may be dead. If not dead, at least it is not really faith. Often the lack of fear is because we can see or reason the solution to, or we can rescue ourselves from our circumstances. What happens when we can’t see, but believe anyway?
Let me put it this way. Which demonstrates more faith; jumping off a curb, or jumping off a cliff. The first requires no faith at all because the risk (or fear factor) is minimal. Jumping off a curb allows you to still catch yourself, to rely on your own capabilities. Where is the fear (or faith) in that.
Jump off a cliff. (Don’t really go do this OK?, it’s an illustration…) You are now without the ability to catch yourself. Your resources are of no help. Only God can help you now. The fear factor increases the faith required to act.
Sometimes real faith means feeling the reality of the fear, but trusting and acting anyway. Trusting because you have a way of seeing that came from hearing and not from thinking.
Faith comes by hearing
Several Years ago, I was in a car wreck. It was my fault. I turned too quickly, the car behind me had little warning, and almost no opportunity to stop. Behind me I heard screeching tires and felt a powerful impact. No one was hurt seriously. Bruises and scrapes, and a few days of sore muscles.
For months afterward, every time I heard screeching tires I startled, and braced for an impact. My nervous system seemed to have a mind of it’s own. I reacted without consciously choosing to do so.
This response was the substance of something unseen.
Here is what I have come to know. Faith comes by hearing.
If you are someone who knows the Bible, you may recognize that this phrase comes from the New Testament. The book of Romans in particular. You might even know that the next verse says, “…and hearing comes by the Word of Christ.”
But I think the first part can stand alone. Faith comes by hearing.
I heard screeching tires and my heart deeply received…for months, my faith, my deep, deep belief, was in the sound I heard, and in an event that was no longer happening. Everything about me responded as if the event was still real, present and active.
I have a friend, who for years heard these words. “You are stupid”
She heard.
The words had power over her, her heart had received, and she believed. She did not have to see herself acting stupid. Her faith was the substance of something she initially did not see. The more she believed, the more she DID see. Her grades in school, her life choices… became the experience of what she believed, and she believed because she had heard.
Faith comes by hearing. Coose carefully who and what you listen to. Listen to those things that you want to experience as real, present and active in your life.
What’s your source?
Adam and Eve just had one rule to follow. It was a simple rule. Easy to understand. I think it’s good things were so simple because they weren’t designed to live by rules anyway. The only rule was – don’t live by rules.
Humans were designed to live by God’s life and presence, directed moment by moment out of a place of relationship and surrender. We were designed to have God as our source. We were designed to love God and to be loved by God.
Love, in order to be love, must be freely chosen. Love that is not freely chosen is not love. Love that is compelled is not love. Love that is forced is not love. Love that is taken is not love. Love, in its very essence, requires freedom: the freedom to choose love.
If there is a genuine freedom to choose love, there must be a genuine freedom to NOT choose love. There must be an option. There must be an alternative. There must be a way to freely exercise the will to choose that which love is not. If humans are to genuinely have the freedom to choose to live by God’s life and presence in moment by moment surrender with God as their source, there must be the possibility of choosing a different source.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was necessary in the Garden of Eden for this reason. This tree is a different source: the knowledge of good and evil. At its worst this kind of living gravitates towards the experience of all things evil. At its best this kind of living strives to avoid evil and do good in an effort to perform correctly and merit God’s favor. The trap of religion is that often it simply entices us to move from an evil branch to a good branch within the same tree. We give up sinful behaviors and adopt new “good” behaviors. Those that do this poorly feel a great deal of condemnation and a deep compulsion to try harder. Those that do this well feel a great sense of superiority and smugness. They are self-righteous.
In either case, this is no way to live. What’s your source?
Genuine repentance doesn’t just change from evil branches to good within the Tree of Knowledge. Genuine repentance switches trees entirely. Genuine repentance gives up all reliance upon self: my knowledge, my understanding, my effort, my performance. Genuine repentance chooses to live by a new source: God’s life and presence.
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- Divine Power within us to ask
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