God's Power working IN US to change us makes all happen

The Power that Works within Us

Eph 3:20,21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Whatever we can think of or imagine, God can do more. Whatever we may be able to ask God for, He can do exceedingly abundantly above that.

Can we dream of being like Jesus Christ in character, temperament, self-c0ntrol, love, discipline or wisdom? Can we ask for that? God is able to do it, even to a greater degree than we can imagine.

But when we ask, we must ask in faith.

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. " (Mark 11:24)

We must be sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. We do not see it with our eyes, but we may yet see it dimly with our imagination. But if we have no idea of what we are asking for, how can we have faith for it? How can we be sure of something when we don't know what that thing is? "Faith is the substance of THINGS hoped for" (Hebrews 11:1). There must be some internal representation in our hearts and minds of what we are believing for, however dim, because if not, we cannot say that we are believing for anything. And I would say that the clearer our understanding is of what exactly asking God for, the sharper and more potent our faith will tend to be. If we don't know what we are asking for, how can we even know if God answers the request?

Therefore, we do well to meditate on what our answers from God will look like. We are not so much concerned with HOW He will do the miracle - that is His business, but rather WHAT the miracle, once complete, will look like.

What are we going to concentrate our faith on? I believe we can go for many good things, and we should, but if we neglect the MOST IMPORTANT thing, the one which most faith preachers do NOT concentrate on, then we could be great eternal losers, though we gain the world with our faith. The thing we need, more than anything, is TO BE LIKE JESUS. Like Jesus in love, faithfulness, wisdom, dedication, purity AND in capacity to bless. We should not seek first the capacity to bless others above the character attributes that God puts a much higher price on. Neither should we be so selfish that all we care about is to be pure and isolated Christian monks who never serve the needs of a dying world in any meaningful or relevant way. Jesus was both inwardly and outwardly complete. His works showed forth the glory of God, but He was far more than His works. It is the character of Christ that we must treasure. Let us use our faith to take hold of that!