Divine Power, Part Two.
We saw yesterday that the key to functioning in God’s plan for your life is to know and rely on the power of God.
Look at Paul’s letter to the church at
Ephesians 1:15-20
15 For this reason I
too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and
your love for all the saints, (Paul
is writing them from prison, so he has only heard of their great faith)
16 do not cease
giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
17
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a
spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. (That word spirit is PNEUMA, and it also
means a lifestyle of wisdom)
Now comes
Paul’s prayer for them:
18 I pray that the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope
of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints,
What does Paul pray for? For their problems to go away? For them to have great wealth, family harmony, friends, etc.? No, his prayer for them is for a focused, clear spiritual life.
19 and what is the surpassing
greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with
the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought
about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right
hand in the heavenly places,
In verse 19, Paul prays for them to KNOW the SURPASSING GREATNESS of God’s power TOWARD US! Then in verse 20 He says exactly what this power has already done – raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him in Heaven.
Don’t miss exactly what Paul has said – he makes a direct correlation between the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead and the power available to us!
What will the understanding of this power do for you? It can give you the same attitude as Jesus had here:
John 18:1-11
1 When Jesus had
spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with
His disciples.
2 Now Judas also, who
was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His
disciples.
3 Judas then, having
received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the
Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 So Jesus, knowing
all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them,
"Whom do you seek?"
5 They answered Him,
"Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I am He." And Judas
also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
6 So when He said to
them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Therefore He again
asked them, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus the
Nazarene."
8 Jesus answered,
"I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let
these go their way,"
9 to fulfill the word
which He spoke, "Of those whom You have given Me
I lost not one."
10 Simon Peter then,
having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his
right ear; and the slave's name was Malchus. (Don’t worry, Jesus
put it back on!)
11 So Jesus said to
Peter, "Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has
given Me, shall I not drink it?"
Remember, Jesus knew what He was facing. But because of His faith and confidence in the power of God, He could be relaxed even in this situation.
If you understand and focus on this divine power available to you, and not on your own power, you will have the confidence to drink the “cup” that the Father has for you!
God gave us this power because He knew that we would need it!
I pray that you will have the knowledge of and confidence in the power of God available to you, and that you will have faith that God’s power can deliver you through any problem or adversity.