Last week had me bubbly and bubbling with joy and excitement from studying God’s word and just gleaning wisdom from His word. One of these bible verses that got me excited is Genesis 24:1 – Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. I think it is such a huge “flex” to see that Papa Abraham grew so much in stature that God blessed him in EVERYTHING! I think it is such a huge blessing to be blessed in everything; from physical to spiritual to mental to health to family- he was blessed in everything! Another of the scriptures that has me all excited is II Samuel 22. Lord! I was so excited that I sent out a newsletter to everyone who subscribed to my mailing list. It is so beautiful to see how the Lord marvelously helped King David. I also think that these verses hold promises that we all can stand on, believe, and pray into our lives even more so King David said in the last verse of the chapter, “The Lord shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore” The key phrase for me here is “David and his descendants forevermore. King David was a wise man to speak and decree God’s mercies and blessings over his descendants too. You may say or ask, “Am I from the line of King David?” Well, Jesus Christ came to the earth from the lineage of King David. A good number of times Jesus Christ was referred to as the son of David and we all who believe in Jesus Christ have been adopted into the family of Jesus Christ -Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:15.
With all of my excitement from the word of God, I was unsure of what to share with you today, so I asked the Lord for His help. Not too long after I had prayed I scrolled through my news feed and saw an interview with Mrs Ibukun Awosika. For some reason, I stopped to listen. Although I was interrupted in the middle of it, I went back to finish listening. Every time I listen to her, I am left in awe of God inside of her but the thing is I haven’t heard a full sermon or interview from her in a loooong time. As soon as I was done listening to the interview, I searched for other sermons from her and I settled in to listen to one with the title, “Audacity to pursue as a steward of God“. It was an insightful sermon but the thing is the Holy Spirit expanded my understanding of one of the verses she cited – Ephesians 3:20. As she read out the verse, it was as though a new understanding was unlocked – Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
Power of the New Life in Christ :
More than often, we quote and decree that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we seek but more than often we gloss over or leave out the other part which says “according to the power that worketh in us”. With no doubt God is able to do so many things, more than we could ever imagine but more than often “the abundantly above all that we can imagine” is a function of the power that is at work in our lives. So a good question to ask ourselves is, “What power is at work in my life ? “What is the measure of power at work in my life?”.
You know I was thinking about the disciples when they first came to Jesus Christ and by the time they were all baptized in the Holy Ghost- they were different men and women. During the early days and life of Apostle Peter with Jesus Christ he was a man with fears and doubts but by the time he was baptized with the Holy Ghost; oh! he was a powerful man. A man who allowed God to do abundantly above what he could ever imagine according to the power at work in him. The same applies to the other disciples including apostle Paul who wrote this particular chapter. Their ability to do so much more increased as the power of God became stronger inside of them and I believe this verse is pointing us to this fact. When we give our lives to Christ, a measure of the Zoe life, the life of Jesus becomes resident in us. This new life in Christ resurrects our inner man, our spirit man which was once dead begins to live and breathe for Jesus Christ (Ephesians2:1,3:16). This new life gives us the capacity to believe the word of God and begin to live for Him but it doesn’t and should not stop there. Jesus Christ tells His disciples, “I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” -Luke 24:49. One of the keywords from this verse is Power.
The Power of the Holy Ghost:
Never in her lifetime nor in the generations of old or generations to come has any woman been with a child without knowing a man. But here comes angel Gabriel telling Mary that she would become pregnant without knowing a man- Luke 1:30-31. Mary was wise and curious enough to ask, “How shall this be?” The angel responded to her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” – Luke 1:35. Everything about this verse points to the fact that the ability of Mary to conceive miraculously was dependent on the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost. All through scripture we see what the power of the Holy Ghost could do through the life of the men and women. As a believer who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and would love to do so much more for Him and His name, I highly recommend that you take heed to the instruction of Jesus Christ – But stay here until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”. That ability to live above pornography, live above telling non-stop lies, and even much more will come. I think it is great to wrought so many miracles in the name of Jesus Christ but I also believe living above sin consistently is such a powerful feat any believer can attain in this life. All of this and even much more than we can ever imagine can be accomplished according to the power at work in us. A good question to ask yourself today is, “Is the Holy Ghost at work in your life?”
Power of the Love of Christ :
Before apostle Paul got to Ephesians 3:20, his first stop was to address the content of the lives and hearts of the readers of his message. His approach was to pray for as many as read this letter he wrote to the church in Ephesus. Take a look, “For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named(Ephesians 3:14 & 15). That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. We see in these four verses, that he emphasizes that the love of Christ dwells in our hearts while we remain rooted in His love. The selfless, sacrificial love of Jesus Christ is so powerful that it brought humanity redemption and salvation. When we give ourselves to the knowledge and workings of this kind of love inside us, it pleases the Lord, prompting Him to draw near to us. The Bible tells us that when we draw to God, He draws near to us – James 4:7.
Furthermore, there is just a different kind of power that is generated from a place of love. All through scripture, if we pay close attention to many of the miracles that Jesus did, we can tell that it was from a place of deep love for the people. For example, when the multitudes followed Him for three days without food, out of love for them and not to see them languish in hunger- Jesus blessed the little bread and fish they had. This act from Jesus blessed over 500 men, women, and children. If Jesus didn’t care or as much as love these people, he wouldn’t have bothered to ask God to multiply the little food available. Other miracles, the bible tells us “Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed” -Mark 1:41. So my dear I say Amen to apostle Paul’s prayer in our lives in Jesus name.
Power of the fullness of God through Christ:
You see, this is the stature, the height, and the model every believer is working towards. I do not think this height is attainable on this earth, nonetheless, some people are closer to it than others. As children of God born of His spirit and growing in the knowledge of God, he expects that we grow in the knowledge of Him and also in stature. Because with this growth comes great capacity, comes great power at work inside of us. I mean Jesus Christ could not go to the cross at age 6 or 12 He had to grow in stature, and knowledge of God – Luke 2:52. Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that you and I may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18) so that He who can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think can do so according to the power that works in us :).