Month: September 2023

“Giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, … in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God” (II Corinthians 6:3-4, 6-7).

Paul wanted folks to recognize his ministry as sincere.  A minister known for his purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, filled with the Spirit, loving, truthful, and all of it energized by the power of God.

I think we recognize what it looks like to be patient, kind, truthful, loving, etc.  But what does it look like to exercise the power of God?  How do we show God’s power in us to love and serve others, and to overcome sin, shame, pride, condemnation, and other obstacles we have talked about?

I think one way we demonstrate God’s power in us is to refuse to take on a victim mentality in the circumstances of life.  A victim approach says, “I cannot practice these powers that God promises when I am facing such dire situations.  The world is throwing so many curves at me that you cannot expect me to walk according to the power of the Spirit.”  But I believe in the challenges of life is exactly when we have an opportunity to show off the power of God; a power that the world knows nothing of.

Look at the complete II Corinthians passage we began this post with.  “Giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things” (II Corinthians 6:3-10).

It is in the very challenges of Paul’s life; in afflictions, in hardships, in distress, in beatings, in imprisonments, in sleeplessness, in hunger; facing dishonor, evil reports, sorrow, poverty … it is in this tumultuous journey that Paul seeks to be known by the power of God in his ministry.

We are not to blame our circumstances for why we cannot show the power of God to others in our lives.  It is in these times of weakness as the world sees weakness that God’s power can have its most amazing display.  “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (II Corinthians 12:9).

Your weakness is not an obstacle to God’s power.  Let it be the pathway to the world seeing God’s power perfected in you.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:9-12).

Tucked in the middle of this beautiful prayer for the saints at Colossae is a request of the Father that they be “strengthened with all power according to His glorious might.”

Paul shared a similar prayer for the church at Thessalonica.

“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:11-12).  Paul’s prayer is that God’s power would fulfill your desire for goodness.  You want to be good.  You want to live a righteous life.  And God’s power is available and needed to accomplish that in you.

In our last post on the power of God in us, we looked at these prayers from the book of Ephesians.

“I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 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.  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, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:16-19).

Paul’s prayer is that the Ephesians would know the surpassing greatness of His power.  I don’t believe this “know” is just a head knowledge, but to literally experience the surpassing greatness of His power.

And finally, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:14-16).

Paul’s prayer for the saints is that they would be strengthened by the power that comes through the Holy Spirit, not strengthened by the power of self-discipline, of willpower, of trying harder.  The power that flows THROUGH us is the power of God brought TO us by His Spirit.

My prayer for all of you who read these words today is a sincere prayer to the Father that you would taste God’s promise of power through the gift of His Spirit.  Power over sin, power over shame, power over condemnation, power over religious pressure, power over selfish ambition, power over pride, power over fear, power over depression, power over trauma, power over pain.

May you experience the power of a free life today!

“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, 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” (Ephesians 1:18-19).

God’s power toward us is described as surpassingly great and working according to the strength of His might.  That is a lot of power.  And it is directed at us who believe.

Here is another reference to the “working of God’s power.”  “The Gentiles are fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power” (Ephesians 3:6-7).

Paul’s gift of being a minister of the gospel is not only given according to God’s grace, but also given according to God’s power.  This gives us a hint that not only is God’s power directed toward us, but could it also be working through us?

“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).  God’s power dwells in you by His Spirit in your inner man.

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20).  God’s power is not just directed toward us.  It is living and working in us.  You have the power of God in you!

“For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Colossians 1:29).  The mighty strength of God’s power shown in our first verse is now working mightily in us.  Paul works, Paul labors, not in his own willpower or self-effort.  He only labors in line with the Spirit’s power working mightily in him.

God wants to work mightily through you.  Mightily is not measured in number of folks reached, not measured in number of verses memorized, not measured by your social footprint.  Mightily is us doing the work that God has placed in front of us by the power of His Spirit dwelling in us.

That is why God can call us to “work” and “rest” at the same time.  Jesus is doing the heavy lifting.  Jesus is drawing the lost.  Jesus is empowering the fruit of the Spirit in us.  We are the participants as we align our lives with His leading.  May you find rest and at the same time feel the rush of the powerful Spirit of God working through you.

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” … “We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:18, 23-24).

What kind of things come to mind when you think about the word “power”?  Are you drawn to the government realm of military or political power?  Or how about the power of money?  Do you think about the concentration of economic power in the hands of wealthy individuals, corporations, or sovereign nations?  Or what about the world of pop culture?  The idolized status of celebrities breeds an outsized social influence among fans and followers.  It seems on a cultural scale, everywhere we turn someone is trying to bring our thoughts, opinions, actions, and our money under their control, power, and influence.

Maybe it is a function of my age, but lately I am losing interest in all of these cultural powers.  I feel like this world is awash in foolishness.  And over the years and by God’s grace, my response to this foolishness has turned from anger to compassion for a world lost without Jesus.  The world, for its part, is looking at us as the foolish ones.  And this is no surprise.  The Bible acknowledged this response.  “The word of the cross” – the very thing that can save the world – is looked at as “foolishness to those who are perishing.”

But to us, “the word of the cross” is literally the “power of God.”  This is not an illusion.  The cross, for you and me, is literally the power of God.  Somehow, God completely flipped the script on what this symbol represents.  How did God turn a source of shame and humiliation and death into a demonstration of His incredible power?

He did this through the astonishing miracle that Christ accomplished on our behalf through the cross.

How did “Christ crucified” become the “power of God” for us?

THE POWER OF THE CROSS TOOK AWAY OUR SIN.

“Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).  The power wielded by the cross is the power to take away our sin.  The cross, and Jesus’ death upon it, is strong enough to hold “the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us”; decrees held against us because of our sin.  No winds of evil are strong enough to blow that certificate off of its nail.  The nail is firm.  The debt is forgiven.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS RECONCILED US TO GOD.

“And through Christ to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20).  Through the power of the cross, we have been reconciled to God.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS RECONCILED US TO EACH OTHER

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made us (Jew and Gentile) both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us (Jew and Gentile) both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Ephesians 2:14-16).  The cross has reconciled us to God and has reconciled us to each other.  The cross of Jesus has brought us together into one body.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS ENERGIZES OUR NEW LIFE.

“And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (I Peter 2:24).  Christ’s death set us free to “die to sin”, be released from its power, and to “live to righteousness”, walk according to the power of the Spirit that lives in us.  Dying to sin – something Christ accomplished for us in His body on the cross – means being set free from sin’s power as our master.

This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the power of the cross.  But it is a great place to start in welcoming the power of the cross into our lives.

Let’s examine a little further the power of Christ’s divine nature in us.

“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world” (II Peter 1:3-4).

Christ’s divine power granted to us is supplied by His divine nature planted in us.  Let’s look at each phrase in this incredible new covenant promise.

“His divine power” … This is the power of God that we talked about way back in our first post on God’s power.  This is supernatural power.  This is divine power.  This is the power of God power.  This is not the power of self-discipline.  This is not the power of a strong personality.  This is not the power of positive thinking.  This is divine power.

“Granted to us” … This divine power was gifted to us.  We did nothing to earn it.  It is completely a gift of God’s grace.  We receive it by believing the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

“Everything pertaining to life and godliness” … The word “everything” is so crucial to this promise.  There is nothing missing for you to live the life of Christ through you.  There is nothing missing for you to enjoy a godly walk in this world.  His divine power never comes up short.  You literally have everything you need for life and godliness; given to you by His divine power.

“Through the true knowledge of Him” … With the focus on divine power and divine nature in these two verses, this phrase can be overlooked.  But it is so important.  Our experience of His divine power in us will be greatest when we walk in the “true” knowledge of Jesus.  What does that true knowledge entail?

These are some things that are true about Jesus.  He is the only way to the Father.  He came to give us His life.  He indwells us.  He is living His resurrected life through us.  There is no separation between us and Jesus.  We are deeply loved, fully accepted, and completely forgiven by Jesus.  When you possess this true knowledge of Jesus, you can rest in His unsurpassed gift of grace and all that He accomplished on your behalf.  The Christian life is no longer a struggle.  It is an unfolding of His divine power dwelling in and living through us.

“Who called us by His own glory and excellence” … It was God’s choice to reveal Himself to the world through Jesus.  And we, as His glorious saints, are folded into God’s glory.  He called us to display His glory and virtue to the world.

“He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises” … His incredible promises are a gift, granted to us.  There is not one thing we have done to earn them.  And they are truly magnificent.  In fact their magnificence, their almost seeming too good to be true, are one reason I think folks fail to believe or embrace them.  But they are true.  The shear amount and power of the promises brought to us though the new covenant and our new identity in Christ is incredible.

“By them you may become partakers of the divine nature” … One of the most powerful and specific promises of the new covenant is your new nature.  When you believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, you were given a new nature.  Your new nature is inclined toward God, aligned with His ways.  And because it is divine, your new nature carries with it God’s divine power.  Your new righteous nature is wired to live a righteous life.

“Having escaped the corruption that is in the world” … The corrupt nature that is in the world is no longer your nature.  You have escaped from the old and have been clothed with the new.  You are a partaker of the divine nature.  You are not deity.  But you contain the deity!

These two verses have such a great message.  I encourage you to seek the true knowledge of Jesus.  As you do, you will mature in grace and the divine power of His divine nature in you will energize your walk with Him.