UNDERSTANDING HIS POWER

 

UNDERSTANDING HIS POWER

Eph. 1:19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him NLT

First of all, we should be a people of prayer. We should be praying for one another so that we can be all that we should be in Christ. Life would be so much easier for the believer if everyone would be praying for someone in the church. We all need the prayers of others.

Secondly, we have such limited understanding of the incredible power of God within us. We are so often reserved when it comes to tapping into God’s power. We hesitate to step out boldly in power because we fear failure. We know in our minds that great power exists in us, but our hearts don’t fully grasp it. We fail to be as strong and effective in our walk with the Lord because we don’t let His power be released in us.

I don’t know what it would look like in our lives if we were to have greater faith and let the power of God flow through us. I am sure that things would be different for most of us. I also know that there would be a lot of abuse, people manufacturing a semblance of power who really don’t have it. But, isn’t it worth the risk? If we were to tap into the power of God more, I do believe that we would grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord. It would enhance our desire to be the holy people of God He commands us to be.

The power of God is governed by the Spirit of God. The more we are controlled by Him, the more we will be able to do in and through Christ. If you lack God’s power at work in you, it’s time for you to surrender your all to the Spirit of Christ and let Him rule your heart.

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH

 

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH

Eph. 1:15-18 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. NLT

What a wonderful thing it would be to have a Paul on our side! Think about it. Who wouldn’t benefit from having someone pray constantly for them? I know I would! The prayer of Paul wasn’t for repentance. It wasn’t for superficial things. It was a prayer of purpose. Paul asked the Lord to bless the church with spiritual maturity. His desire was that the body of Christ would have the resources of God that would enable them to become godlier in their thinking and living.

Spiritual wisdom and understanding, knowledge of God, the light of God to guide us, hope for the future, and an awareness of how rich and glorious this life we have in Christ, are all essential to a healthy soul. Would anything change if we were to be in constant prayer for one another for these things? Of course it would! We are to carry one another’s burdens to the Lord, but it shouldn’t be all that we carry to Him.

We should love each other enough to want each other to continue to grow into spiritual maturity and blessings. We should ask the Lord to help each other become stronger in faith and more Christlike in daily living. And, I believe that if we were to pray constantly for one another in this way, the burdens we bear will be less of a burden to us. We will be better equipped to handle what life throws at us, because we will to properly connect to our Burden-bearer.

If we are in constant prayer for the good of one another, we will have very little time or desire to find fault with each other. We will be far less likely to dwell on each other’s weaknesses. We will be less likely to complain. We will be less likely to play the comparison game. We will be less likely to be jealous or proud.

It is a good thing for us to pray good for each other. It pleases God and moves him to bless us and those we pray for. If you are not praying for the good of others, there is no better time than right now to do it. Pray, and watch the Lord work to accomplish some great things in the Church for His glory.

GOD'S LOVE FOR US

 

                                               GOD’S LOVE FOR US

Eph. 1:4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. NLT

Wow! What a wonderful truth to dwell on today! Before He even made the world, God loved us and chose us to be holy and without fault in His eyes as we live in Christ. Before He made the world, God knew He would make us as the objects of His love. He knew exactly how He would make us and what needs He would instill within us. He knew how to make us so that we would be able to love and be loved by Him. He knew exactly how every detail of what makes us human needed to fit together. He knew how to place every minute detail together in such a way that we would be unique from all other living creatures.

God chose us, the objects of His love, to be holy and faultless as we live in Christ. God knew that we would have a desire to live in sin when He made us. He knew that with the ability to love Him would come the ability to not love Him. He made us anyhow because He had so much love to give and wanted to be surrounded by those who would love Him in return. He knew that many would rebel and reject His love and that He could not stand to have them around Him because of their sin. Therefore, He planned to provide a way for those who wanted it a way to be made pure and holy in His eyes. He lovingly decided before we were ever made to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Only God could change us from objects of His wrath to objects of His love.

God knew that what we needed was holiness of heart. He is holy and only holiness can be near Him. In Christ, we are made holy. The closer we live in relationship to Him, the more like Him we become. And, the more like Christ we become, the more we please God and are embraced in His love and invited to draw near.

CHRIST CHANGES US

 

CHRIST CHANGES US

Gal. 6:15 It doesn’t make any difference now whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people. NLT

The only thing that really matters as far as God is concerned is whether or not we have been changed into a new and different people. Jesus saves us to change us and if we are not changed we are not His. There are many different ways in which He changes us.

He changes the way we think about life, others and ourselves. We come to understand that life is not meaningless, that it indeed has a purpose rooted in Christ. We discover that every person has a soul and is of great worth in God’s eyes. We discover that we are special to God and that He chose us to be His children. We discover that all of life revolves around Christ and not us.

He changes the way we feel. In place of sinful passions, He installs godly passions. He tempers our feelings that are fueled by sin and gives us the ability to react in a more godly way. He gets to the root of our feelings and transforms them into a more acceptable way of feeling.

He changes the ways of our hearts. He works to transform our motives into that which pleases God. He redirects our motives so that we live to please God and not man or ourselves.

He changes our desires so that we will want to seek after the things of God. He keeps working on us so that we will want to spend time with Him in His Word and prayer. He instills within us a desire to be in fellowship with His children. He changes the desires we have for the things of the world to desires for the things of God.

The many ways God changes us should be obvious to all, including ourselves. We should be able to take a regular examination of ourselves and see progress. If we are not changing like we should, then we are not properly connected to Christ.

DON'T QUIT

 

DON’T QUIT

Gal. 6:9 So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. NLT

It is so easy to get tired of what we are doing and give up trying. This is especially true when it seems like we aren’t making any difference at all in people’s lives. We have a need to know that we are not wasting time and energy on something that’s not working. We measure success by results we can see and not by what we can’t see.

God is different. He measures results by the impact it has on the heart of man. God knows what difference we make in the thinking of others. What is planted in another’s life may not ever be seen by us, but it is always seen by God. We need to grasp this important and wonderful truth. No labor of love done in Jesus’ name is a waste of time or energy. It is always good for us to do that which is good.

Satan wants to weary you. He wants to get you discouraged and move you to give up your efforts to do good. He wants to put a stop to the good you are doing. Protect your soul and don’t listen to him. God says that your living and serving have eternal value. God says that anything done for His honor and glory will be blessed by Him and used by Him to help others.

God promises that our labors are not in vain. In due time, we will reap a harvest of blessings. We may not see the harvest, but in eternity we will. God uses what we do and adds it to what others do and reaps the harvest at the appropriate time. He knows when it is time to bring it all together. He knows the heart of man and exactly when it is time to reap the most spiritual good.

Keep on doing good and let the Lord bring forth the results. Don’t let discouragement get a hold of you. Don’t ever give up. The Lord of the harvest blesses those who faithfully serve Him to the end.

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

 

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

Gal. 6:7 Don’t be misled. Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! NLT

Satan wants to lead you astray. He wants to convince you that you can ignore God and His Word and it doesn’t matter. He wants you to believe that there are no real consequences to leaving God out of your life. He doesn’t want you to know that no one can ignore God and get away with it. He wants you to believe that you can stray from God and get away with it.

We always reap what we sow. Sometimes we live with the consequences of our behavior in this life, and sometimes we will pay the price later. Either way, we reap what we sow.

There is an important truth here that we must know. When the Lord saves us from our sin, He doesn’t always remove the consequences of our sins from us. We often are victims of our sinful behavior. Some relationships that are broken will never be fixed. Some health issues will linger and haunt us the rest of our lives. Some penalties to society must be paid. Sometimes we will pay for the rest of our lives for the sins we committed. The Lord helps us deal with the consequences of our sinful choices, but He doesn’t always remove them from us.

Take life seriously; take faith seriously. Each of us reaps what we sow. Live to please God always and you will not be burdened in life with the consequences of bad choices.

DO THE RIGHT THINGS RIGHT

 

DO THE RIGHT THINGS RIGHT

Gal. 6:4-5 Be sure to do what you should for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct. NLT

There is personal satisfaction in knowing that we have done things right. When we live in Christ sincerely seeking to honor and glorify Him, we can know that God is pleased. Knowing that we please God should free us up from the need to compare ourselves with others. It doesn’t matter how we stack up to others as long as we are living to please God. When we stand before God, we will not be judged in comparison to others, we will be judged in comparison to how we have lived by the Word of God.

Each one of us is responsible for our own conduct. No one can live our life for us. We have to answer to God for how we have lived in response to what we know about Him and His Word. The more we know about God, the greater our responsibility will be for what we do in life. Once we know the truth, we will be held accountable for making that truth a part of our living.

We dare not let this awareness pass in one ear and out the other. It has to stop in our minds and get hold of us. There will be no excuse for our failure to live out what we know. Ignoring God’s revealed truth is deep trouble for our souls. God does not take His Word lightly and neither can we.

Examine your life today. Are you living in such a way that you can boldly stand before God knowing that he is well-pleased with you?