All I Ask or Imagine

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,  and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph. 1:17-22)

And…

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.  (Eph. 3:20-21)

Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine? I can imagine a lot! So if you are not experiencing power in your life, what’s the deal?

There are TWO KEYS that open the door to power. One is obvious — and one isn’t.

• The master key is Christ. Look – His Holy Spirit is inside of us. It is His death, resurrection and ascension that allowed us to receive great power. This power is very real and is always available to us when we act in the will of God. Satan actively works to keep us blinded to the great power available to us in Christ Jesus. Christ’s body IS the church! Christ is not LIMITED to the church but the church embodies His power and presence in the world. He is the key to unlock salvation and the entry into the kingdom of God.
• There is another key – our own need and weakness. We think of our weakness as blocking the power of Christ. But that isn’t true at all. Because when we admit our weakness to God, THEN His power flows into our lives. From 2 Cor. 12:9 “’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.” Note that I knew the FIRST part of the verse. I didn’t realize until just this morning that the verse has a Part 2!

What Are our Weaknesses?

There are lots of kinds of weaknesses. Let’s look at 5 in particular: sin, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamity. The last 4 are from Paul’s list in 2 Cor. 12.

1. Sin — One weakness is certainly sin. We are sinful creatures. Sin can block up the flow of power, but we are also under grace! If we waited to be sinless before we had God’s power, we’d be waiting a really, really long time. Pray to be healed from sin and temptation, confess your sin, and God will forgive and empower us in spite of our weakness.
2. Insults — When people make snarky comments about you or about what we believe. When gossip gets back to you it hurts. (By the way – DON’T GOSSIP!) Or someone says something insulting to your face, or even when you read some really rude person who hates Christianity and Christians.
3. Hardships — Tough circumstances that are hard to bear. They may be forced on you or they may be consequences of your own bad decisions. Whatever caused them, they are happening and they are no fun at all.
4. Persecutions — When people abuse you because of your faith. This is not as obvious in this country as it is in countries with active political or social persecution. But there are people around who seriously will not like you because you are a believer. In the U.S. this generally takes the form of people thinking you are judgmental, mean, weak, or deluded. Or all of the above. They will try to get back at you if they can, with words if nothing else.
5. Disasters – These are the really big things like bankruptcy, losing your house, losing your job, losing loved ones, major illnesses. These are terrible things to walk through.

Yet in all of these things, what did God tell Paul? Let’s read it again: “’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 Cor. 12:9)

So when you feel weak, you know what? Turn to God in prayer and ask HIM to make you strong with HIS power, not with your own! Ask and you will receive.

As I was studying this, I felt bad because I don’t feel powerful at all these days. But you know what? Good! Because I needed to let God fill me with HIS power, not mine. Mine is tiny and inadequate and is based on feeling confident about stuff. What I need to do is have confidence in HIM and HIS power in me.

We may feel weak. In fact, we are! But we don’t STOP there. Our own weakness lets us look to Christ and Christ alone. Amen.