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Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)
What a tremendously powerful promise! Paul is telling the Christ-followers in the City of Ephesus that the same God that created the universe and all that is in it, who sent His son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind, who rose Jesus from the dead and placed Him at a place of honor in Heaven’s throne room, who sent His very Spirit to dwell within those who choose to follow Christ. This same God has promised us that He can and will use us to do mighty things. Things that even go beyond our wild imaginations!
There’s an old adage that says “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!” But this adage doesn’t speak to the power of God working within us. He has the power to do whatever He wants as is evidenced in history, and the desire to see us prosper for His glory. His promise is sure. He can do amazing things through us.
So why is it then that we don’t see amazing things happen in our lives? You may ask, “If God is able to do those things why isn’t He doing them in me?” There could be several reasons we don’t see God working miracles in us and through us.
- We may not be looking! Some people look at things as being ‘mysterious coincidences’. But in reality there is no such thing as a coincidence. Our Sovereign God works in marvelous ways. Sometimes we need to train our eyes to see His work. Just as we often fail to notice a beautiful sunset, or appreciate the beauty of a flower or the new born baby.
- We may be locked in our past. It is easy for us to look at the mistakes we’ve made in the past and think that those mistakes will keep us from seeing God work in mighty ways. Take a look at the people in the Bible. All of the great ‘leaders of Faith’ stumbled and fell and failed God often. Yet they rose from their past to perform great works for the Kingdom of God.
- We may be imprisoned by sin. Jesus came to forgive us of our sins. Once we accept Christ we follow a new set of rules. A set of rules built on relationship and love, not law and condemnation. While we may be forgiven, if we continue to live according to the patterns of the world we may hinder God’s ability to work through us. His power is becomes greater as we grow closer to Him in a relationship of love.
- We may need to change our focus. Sometimes we have an idea of what we want to do for God rather than seeking what He wants to do through us. Seek His direction through Bible Study, prayer and your accountability group. Make sure you are following HIS vision and not your DESIRES. Even though your desires may be good and valid, they may not be what God wants you to do.
- The hard story of consequences. The story of God’s Grace is found throughout the Bible. In the midst of all those stories of God’s love and forgiveness however there are some hard stories, tough lessons to learn. Take the story of Moses for example. Moses focus in life was to bring God’s people into the promised land. But as he approached the border of the promised land God told him that because he struck the rock to get water rather than speaking to the rock, he wouldn’t enter the promised land. God used Moses mightily before and after the rock incident. But in the end he only got to view the promised land from a distance. Sometimes the consequences of our choices in the past can keep us from attaining all we hoped for. God forgives the sin and cleanses the conscience. But sometimes, for reasons we don’t understand, the consequences remain. Can God still use us? YES! Does He still love us? DEFINITELY. Should we give up and consider ourselves failures? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Regardless of the consequences you may be bearing from past choices, God has a plan for you and wants to do mighty things in your life!
PRAYER: Holy God. I thank you for the many stories in the Bible that show how you work through the lives of imperfect people like me. I confess that too many times I’ve doubted your ability to use me, or failed to clean up my life so I can be used by you. Forgive me for my rebellion and sin. Show me where I need to change so that I can see you work in me. Because of your promise I’m claiming great things for your Kingdom! Amen.
The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1
Have you ever been walking alone or in a room at night and felt like you were being chased? The ‘rational’ part of your mind assures you of the facts: “You are alone. There is no one there.” But the fear screams at you louder. You may even get up and check the room or turn around and check your surroundings to verify the truth: “You are alone. There is no one there.” But the fear persists. Facts don’t matter, feelings take over.
That is the picture the writer of Proverbs 21:1 uses to define the difference between the ‘righteous’ and the ‘wicked’. It’s really about faith and trusting facts over feelings. The enemy, Satan, is a great purveyor of doubt, doom and despair. He is always there to remind you of how many times you’ve failed. He’ll question whether God can really forgive you again, or is this the last straw?
Fear and doubt are great ‘cripplers.’ They will keep us from attaining all that God has for us. Every time we fail. Every time we sin is one more ‘example’ that we can’t do this Christian Life thing. It’s hopeless. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘big sin’ or a ‘little sin’ the effect is the same. We dwell on the failures and not on what really matters.
As Christ-followers we can be like a lion. Lions are confident and rulers of the jungle. They are feared above all animals because of their power and cunning. Lions aren’t afraid of anything, neither man nor beast. They walk with nobility knowing exactly who they are and what they are capable of.
That is the picture Proverbs 21:1 paints of the Christ-followers. We can walk with confidence and without fear because our righteousness is not based on who we are, what we can do, or how well we ‘do life’. Our righteousness is built on Jesus Christ and His ability and willingness to forgive us of our past lives, and freely give His Grace for the future.
God doesn’t look at where we were or where we are. He looks at where we are going. He doesn’t expect perfection, but He does demand trust and reliance on His Holy Spirit to live for Him. He sees us as diamonds in the rough, ready for polishing and of great value. Gems to be cherished and shown off.
Stop dwelling on your failures. In debt? Start now to do what you can to spend wisely. Hounded by worry? Burdened with guilt or the consequences of sin? Jesus came to relieve you of those things. Every day try to give just one more thing to Him. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect; He isn’t interested in what you are like today. He sees the possibilities in you and wants to help you be all you want to be. Don’t listen to the fears and feelings. Walk confidently in the FACT that God loves you and is working now to make you all you can be. Be patient with yourself along the journey.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I’m burdened today with worry and fear. I’m having a real struggle between acting on what I know and being crippled by my feelings of guilt, shame and hopelessness. Thank you for Jesus and His righteousness. Help me to remember that I live by His work on the cross and not my ability to follow You completely. Empower me today to see me as a lion and to walk confidently in the fact that You see my possibilities. Amen
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
All the farm animals were sitting around one day deciding how they could honor the farmer who took such good care of them. The Cow gladly offered some milk. The chicken jumped in to offer the eggs. All eyes turned to the pig sitting quietly in the corner. “You know, said the cow, some ham would go mighty nice with those eggs and milk.” The pig thought a moment and then said, “Yes, but you don’t realize that each of your gifts are but a part of you. For me to give, I would have to give my entire life.”
The old story reminds us that we are more likely to take an interest in things when they cost us. It’s easy to say we believe in God and Jesus when we are in a safe crowd. It’s easy to look godly on Sunday morning and angelic when we sing praise and worship songs.
It’s difficult to make the right choices when the pressure is on to have to sacrifice everything to go along with the crowd. It’s almost impossible to be willing to risk your own life or the life of your children for someone else or a cause.
The Bible is the story of God’s desire to show love to mankind. His desire is and always has been to give life to His most cherished creation. That’s why He gave all He could possibly give to provide you with a relationship of love with Him now and a promise of eternal life after we leave this world.
Because He loves you so much, He watched His innocent son die among thieves for the sin of guilty criminals. Because He loves you so much, He allows you to refer to Him as ‘Daddy’ He welcomes you into His arms as though you (a mere mortal) were His very own son. Because He loves you so much He is honored to accept you into His very presence, into the throne room of Heaven. Because He loves you so much, He is willing to give you His own power through His Holy Spirit.
Is it any wonder then, that we can rest in His protection. If we draw near to Him and trust us with our lives we don’t need to worry about the enemies that surround us. Nothing can separate us from Him. Nothing can attack us without His permission. Even when we rebel against Him, He beckons us to come to Him for healing.
If God is for me, then no seen or unseen enemy will win over me! I am His and He is mine. Forever.
PRAYER: Father, I confess to you that most times the struggles I endure and the fears I face are consequences of my own poor decisions and my stubborn rebellion to follow your ways. Thank you for giving up so much of yourself for me when you knew I would fail you and others around me. Forgive me for my rebellious spirit. Help me to learn to walk with you through the struggles of life whether they are my own creation or the work of the enemy. Empower me now to live with the resolve to follow your ways and be guided by Your Holy Spirit. Give me courage to do what is right regardless of the fall out. Amen.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Bad habits. It only takes a few days to learn them and sometimes a lifetime to break them. They hound us day and night. They lurk in the shadows waiting for a moment of weakness on our part so they can pounce on us and cause us to fall…once again.
Sometimes the habits are relatively harmless, like chewing your fingernails or leaving the toilet seat up! Sometimes those habits are life crippling addictions that destroy our reputation, steal our character or obliterate our relationships with people we love dearly.
In order to learn to cope with bad habits we label them and categorize them according to our opinion of their severity. Pornography, anger and drug addiction are bad habits. They hurt people, even kill people. Gossip? Worry? Sarcastic, hurtful comments? Now those aren’t so bad. In fact those can even be funny (we think). In reality, in God’s eyes, they are all the same. They are all sin.
The Apostle Paul was struggling with something. We don’t know what it was. Some think it was a physical ailment, an eye problem left over from the Damascus road perhaps. Others think it could have been something else, a spiritual issue. The Bible doesn’t tell us what it was for good reason.
The problem in Paul’s life wasn’t the issue. The issue was how he handled it. God doesn’t want us to know what Paul’s struggle was. He wants us to realize that all of us struggle. Not only do we all struggle, but the struggle we have isn’t as important as what we do with it!
Every day we need to remind ourselves that failure is inevitable in the human life. God knew that when He first created us. That’s what Grace is all about. Grace reminds us that even though we are weak, in God’s eyes we can be strong. Through Grace God can use our weaknesses for His Glory. Every day He uses ordinary, sinful people for great and mighty things.
You may be ready to give up. You may be tired of falling, getting back up and falling again. You may be thinking “I’ll never be able to conquer this”. That’s good! Once we realize we can’t fight the battle on our own God has us right where He wants us. When we feel our weakest He is ready to jump in and use that weakness as strength.
Once we accept the fact that we are weak the power of Jesus Christ will be able to work through us to tackle life’s struggles and to show others the way to Jesus. Let God’s grace turn your weaknesses into powerful weapons for good!
PRAYER; Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I’m often discouraged by my inability to live the way I want to. Like the Apostle Paul I find myself doing the things I don’t want to do and not doing the things I want to do! I hereby confess my weaknesses to you and ask that You use those weaknesses for Your glory. Work through me to rely on you daily. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 