​Did you know that the Bible lists cowardice in the same category as murder, sexual immorality, and sorcery?
Revelation 21:8 reads,
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Wow! Fear is as bad as killing? How is that? I know that fear stops you from trying, which stops you from accomplishing. Fear keeps you from enjoying life. Fear stands between you and the gift on the other side of the fear. I know this from personal experience.
Years ago, I was afraid of everything a person could be afraid of. I could not enjoy life because I was only able to watch from the sidelines. One day, God told me to go on a mission trip to The Amazon Jungle of all places. Could any place have so many things I was afraid of all together in one place? That trip changed my life. Every day of that trip I had to do things that scared me like climb ladders, step over a gap, climb steep hills, and deal with bugs. As our trip neared its end, we were enjoying a day of sightseeing.  We were visiting a shop right on the river.  There was a tall rickety old bridge leading back from that shop into the jungle. People were walking along the bridge and I was afraid to cross it. I wanted to do it but I couldn’t make myself move, so I settled for waiting for the others to return. Well one man, decided I was not going to miss and it sternly encouraged me to take the walk along the bridge with him to join the rest of the group. He told me my fear was based on imagination and not reality. I took a deep breath and walked along that rickety old bridge, and there around me were beautiful towering trees and a plethora of birds I had never seen. A monkey moved along the tree tops above us. At the end of the bridge was a lovely little lagoon type of area with giant lily pads, gorgeous flowers, and caiman swimming through the dark water. It was breathtaking! I stood there and marveled at the God’s creation. No description of it could ever have done it justice. I would have missed out on that blessing had I given in to the fear. I would have missed out on the entire trip had I let fear stop me. Before that trip I was afraid of EVERYTHING. After that trip, fear couldn’t stop me from anything.
Fear is not from God. Fear keeps us from doing God’s will, enjoying His gifts and experiencing His fullness.
2 Timothy 1:6-7 reads,
 “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
We have The Holy Spirit! That Spirit is powerful, we have love, and we have self-control. Some versions of the Bible read sound mind rather than self-control. Fear is the antithesis of power, love and sound mind or self-control. Fear is a timid, loveless, and turbulent mind. We have nothing to fear! Fear is part of a life without God. God loves us, He holds in His arms, Our Papa.
Romans 8:15 says,
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
Do you remember when you were little; you knew if Daddy was there, all was right with the world. He told the monsters under the bed to get out. He held you when you were scared. And when he held you there was nothing in the entire universe that could hurt you. Your Abba, your Father in Heaven is holding you tightly in his arms. Nothing can take you out of His mighty hands. John 10:28-29 reads,
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
He will not let anyone hurt you. He will not let the enemy touch you! The enemy will taunt you, he will threaten, he will lies to you but he can’t touch you. You are safe in your Daddy’s arms!
1 John 5:18 says,
“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
What is fear keeping you from doing? What is it you are afraid of happening? Change? Death? Maiming? Is any of that a real fear? Are you imagining what will happen if things go wrong? That is worrying. That’s not reality. Where are those thoughts originating? Those are not from God! Remember God didn’t give you a Spirit of fear. Remember the enemy wants you to fear. The Bible tells us not to worry.
Philippians 4:4-7 reminds us,
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
He didn’t promise nothing bad things would not happen to us but He did promise to be with us regardless (Hebrews 13:5). He promised that everything works for good to those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Don’t let fear stop you. Don’t spend your time imagining “what if”. If you fear something remember the enemy doesn’t want you to live a victorious life and he wants you to be afraid. That’s probably a good reason to overcome your fear and do whatever it is, the enemy doesn’t want you to do.
Before He went home, in John 14:27 Jesus said:
 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Don’t ignore that gift. I challenge you today; Do the thing you fear. Do it now. Let the enemy know he can’t touch you. Do what you are afraid to do and accomplish what it is you are afraid of doing. See what wonderful thing God has in store for you and for your world.

Psalm 49

This Psalm of the Sons of Korah is titled, “Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?” That is a good question. Why should we fear? What is it we have to fear? How can anything cause us fear when we are children of The LORD? If we put our trust in Him than surely there is nothing and no one that can shake us or hurt us. We can tell the world we are secure. We can tell those who try and hurt us that there is nothing they can do to us. And we can tell those who have been injured by the powerful that they have hope. Verses 1-4 read,

“Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.”

Everyone needs to know that God can be their salvation. Everyone whether powerful or weak, rich or poor, needs The Lord. It is in wisdom and love we share the gospel through the Holy Spirit and with prayer. When we praise God we share the secret of salvation and give hope to the lost. Don’t keep your praise private. People need to know the beautiful truth.

People do not want to admit they are weak and unable to do something. We like to rely on ourselves. We cheer the self-sufficient. It isn’t the self-sufficient man who is saved. It is the man who admits he can’t do it himself. It is the man who concedes his sin and weakness and acknowledges he needs Jesus who is saved. Verses 5-9 say,

“Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.”

We can’t rely on our wisdom, our strength, our money, or our authority. The smartest man can still go to the pits of hell. The bravest man can still perish forever separated from God. The richest man cannot buy salvation. The cost is too high for any man to pay himself. Only Jesus can pay the price.  Romans 6:23 tells us,

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Only Jesus can pay the price of salvation and He doesn’t require us to pay a thing, he freely gives us eternal life. That is awesome. That is great news that every person should get the chance to hear. No one can be good enough, wise enough, or powerful enough to earn eternal life. Verses 10-12 read,

“For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.”

Those people who proudly depend on themselves and who cannot humble themselves to confess they are sinners incapable of perfection will die and go to Hell. It is a fact we need to remember. We don’t remember it so we can argue a person into faith in Jesus. We don’t remember it so we can laugh at them. We remember so we can be grateful and humble ourselves and love others enough to share the gospel. So when we boast, we boast in Christ and not ourselves. We boast in our weakness and so glorify Christ to all those who witness our lives. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10,

 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

It is not our own power, wealth, intelligence or wisdom which glorifies Christ. It is His strength exercised through our weaknesses which glorifies Him and testifies to the world how awesome He is. Verses 13-15 describe the route of the prideful man,

“This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah”

When we admit our weakness, our poverty, and our sin Jesus ransoms us. He pays the price and gives us the gift of eternal life. We may not have the strength to fight, but The Father does. We may not have the power to overthrow evil, but Jesus does. We may not have the discernment to handle any situation, but The Holy Spirit does. He generously gives us His strength, power, discernment, and righteousness. There is nothing for us to fear. If God is for us who can be against us? Verses 16-20 encourage us.

“Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself--
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.”

Romans 8:31-39 sums it up so much better than I ever could,

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You have an enemy. Whether you are a follow of Christ or not you have an enemy, but if you are a follower you are in the war against him and his minions. Paul wraps up his letter with some powerful and meaty teaching about it. Verses 10-12 read,

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Paul tells us to be strong, not in our own strength, talent, or wisdom, but in the Lord. We re exhorted to be strong in the Lord. But what does that mean? Remember this, who you are in Christ is different than who you were outside of Him. He gave you gifts. He has trained you, grown you, and moved you through trials. Exercise the faith, wisdom and discernment He gave you and use the gifts He endowed to you. Walk with God, remembering He is alongside you, within you, and you are in Him.

The next verse tells us further how to be strong in the Lord, we are to put on the whole armor of God. It is a choice to use all the gifts and tools we have been equipped with or to let them rust with inactivity. We are all in the battle, but we have a choice in regards to fighting or cowering, and to fight well or poorly.

This isn’t just any fight. We’re not fighting the lost people. They have the same enemy we do, they just don’t know he’s their enemy. It is important to remember that our enemies are not men and women. The lost the prisoners of war. Our enemy is Satan and his underlings the demons who infiltrate, do his bidding, and put the chains on those prisoners. They fight to keep you weak. They fight to keep you ineffective. They do whatever they can to stop you from breaking the POWs out of their prisons and to ensure the captives have no idea they are bound.

But know that you have nothing to fear from Satan much less his demons. You are not called to cower or recoil. You are called to be strong in the Lord and put on His protection. Paul says in verse 13,

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

If we put on all of God’s protection we will withstand and if we use His strength to be active in the war, we will stand firm. We will remain effective fighting warriors allowing Jesus to set the captives free. Let’s take a brief look at the armor we are to wear. And don’t worry it isn’t cumbersome, every piece helps us to stand and fight.

Verse 14,

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”

The belt of truth is the first piece of armor. The belt held up the soldiers’ tunic allowing him to run and move freely. The truth does that for us. John 8:44 describes Satan as a liar and murderer,

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Satan can only lie. And he lies well. He can make lies sound truthful, good, and beautiful. His lies can trip us up, keep us from believing we can fight, leave us tangled in the web of deceit unable to join in the battle. When we know the truth, we don’t have to second guess and trip over the lies that scoundrel tells. We don’t even have to listen to them!

One lie he likes to tell you is that we are not worthy to fight with Jesus, that you are too sinful to dare fight in the Lord’s army. But he’s wrong. The next piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protected the soldier’s vital organs and kept him alive and able to use his weapons for fighting instead of trying to constantly protect his life. You do not have your own righteousness. But you do have Jesus’ righteousness. Romans 4:22-24 read,

“That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

We were credited with Jesus’ righteousness, not because of any work, not because we fight in the war, not because we pleased God but because we had faith, believed and live with Jesus as our Lord. Jesus’ righteousness gives us eternal life. Our heart is new, it is the temple of God and it is protected. The enemy can’t have our heart. It belongs to God.

Does it bring you joy and excitement to think about your salvation? It does me. Being saved, I want the POWs to be saved as well. And freeing the captives is one of our most important missions. So our next piece of armor is used for that assignment. Verse 15 reads,

“and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”

You need shoes to walk well and far. Walking barefoot eventually your feet become bruised and painful, causing you to limp. Your feet need shoes to allow you to keep walking with God rather than limping along. Knowing the truth of the gospel, what you believe and why you believe it keeps you walking rather than limping.

Your feet are fitted with the readiness. What does that mean? 1 Peter 3:15 says,

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

You have to know what you believe and why you believe it. You have to keep Christ honored as your Lord. Your life should show that you belong to Jesus and cause people to ask about the hope, the difference they see in you. You should be able to answer them. You should be able to point them to Jesus, to the Gospel.

The lost have no idea they can have peace with God. They don’t know that God wants to reconcile with them, heal their wounds, and give them freedom and rest. It is our mission as operatives to tell them. We can’t tell them by standing still, we have to go and on order to go, we have to move our feet and travel to them.  Romans 10:13-15 read,

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Verse 16 reads,

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”

The shield allowed the soldier to stop weapons from hitting him. He kept it on him always and used it to stop the blows that might have injured him, weakened him and stopped him from being useful in the battle. Our shield is our faith. Faith means you know who God is. We trust completely in His power and strength. We believe He is our Savior, Creator, and the whole world and everything in it is His.

The enemy shoots a fiery arrow your way, but faith in God keeps it from touching you. 1 John 5:4-5 reads,

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

We know how the war ends. God wins, we win! We are already victorious and we keep fighting to complete our mission to free the captives with the gospel of peace. So as hard as the enemy wants to try and hurt us, he can’t. Keep the faith in all circumstances. All the arrows the devil throws our way bounce off the shield of faith and don’t even singe us. Satan can’t even get close to us, he has to fling arrows and hope we are not holding up our faith in order to hurt us. He only has the power to hurt us, if we let him.

Verse 17 reads,

“and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”

The helmet is the most important part of our protection. The breastplate covers the heart and lungs, but the helmet protects the brain. The brain is the control center for our entire body. It coordinates everything in order for us to live.

We can’t be in the Lord’s army unless we have Jesus’ Salvation. That salvation is what directs the faith, gospel, righteousness and truth to work together for our victory. Without salvation we can’t have faith. We can’t reconcile people to god, if we are not reconciled to Him. We have no righteousness without salvation. We do not know the truth.

The next part of our armor is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. The sword is the weapon of our armor. It takes training to use a sword well. It requires up close combat to use a sword. Unlike the enemy who fling mendacious arrows at us from a safe distance, we are fully involved with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

The Spirit is powerful and He is Truth. When we read the word, He reveals it to us and helps us to understand it. He brings it back to us when we need to hear it. He speaks to us and guides us through every circumstance. But to use the sword well, we must be trained in it. He can’t remind us what He has said, if we never read it or listened to Him. We won’t even recognize His voice if we don’t spend time with Him.

The Word of God is powerful if we use it properly. Remember our mission is to free the captives and reconcile them to God. We have to get in there and use the sword as it was meant to be used. Remember just how powerful the Spirit is. He raised Christ from the dead. He brings people to their knees. He can and does do more than we imagine. He speaks to God for us when we don’t know how.

The word of God is a weapon more powerful than we realize Hebrews 4:12 describes it like this,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

In Jeremiah 23:29 God describes His word.

“Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

That is an amazing weapon. What good is it laying by your side? Pick it up, handle it, and use it. The truth of the Gospel is in the Word. The Love of God in the Word. Read it, hear it, speak it and do it.

One of the ways we use the sword of the Spirit is through prayer. Yes! Prayer is wielding the sword of the Spirit. Speaking to the Lord and hearing His Word and doing His Word through obedience makes a difference. Verses 18-20 read,

“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

When we pray we are actively exercising the powerful weapon we’ve been given. Asking the Lord to help us and help others, strengthens us, encourages us, equips us, and unites us. Paul ends this letter with verses 23-24.

“Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.”

Love incorruptible. Nothing can sully God’s love, nothing can damage or rust it. The armor of God, like God is incorruptible. Have faith in Everlasting Awesome God. Be strong.

Ephesians 3 14-21

This amazing section consists of two sentences in eight verses, but they are intense. There is so much depth I imagine I could spend days or weeks on them and not extract all the treasure they hold. I encourage to read the section for yourself and see that you may mine different gold than I have. I will spend a little time on each verse today and quarry a nugget or two to encourage us through the day and give us even more reason to praise the Lord.

Verses 14-15 read,

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,”

We worship and submit to God because of the salvation He gave us and is offering to anyone who asks. He is our Father. We are named for God, Jesus. We are in His Family, adopted to be His heirs. Because we are named for Him, we represent Him and our family throughout our lives. What we do and how we react is reflected on our brothers and sisters all over the world. It is reflected on God. We are Christians, we are Children of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we have a name in Heaven that we don’t know yet. (Revelation 2:17). Names have meaning. In the Bible, people’s names said something about them, their personality, their purpose, or their relationship with God. So our names also have meaning, the name we will receive in Heaven, the name that identifies us as Believers, and the name that denotes us as belonging to God. These names are an honor and we should reflect that honor.

Verse 16 reads,

“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”

God has an endless depth of triumph, brilliance, and beauty and from that glory He strengthens us through His Spirit. Whatever we go through, no matter how weak we feel, He is with us and His power gives us the strength to endure. His presence is the power that allows us to persevere and overcome every obstacle and further glorifies God. He is not glorified when we depend on our own limited strength. He is glorified when we let Him be our strength and our power. His strength is immeasurable. It never ends. It never gives in. He gives that might to us. It is God who makes us potent.

Verse 17 reads,

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”

Because we submitted to the Father and He gave us a new name and identity and the Spirit indwelled us with strength and faith, Christ abides in the essence of our being, our hearts. Jesus who is the personification of perfect love lives in us and gives us a new foundation. Our Cornerstone, our Rock gives us the base and substance of love. We are able to love like He loves because of His love. We can love because He loved us first.

Verses 18-19 say,

“may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

It takes that power, it requires the Spirit to even begin to grasp the vastness and completeness of Christ’s love. Because we have the Holy Spirit we can realize it, but without Him, no one can know it. And we can never completely know it in the present. So we always seek it more and first. Dioko Agape.

In seeking His perfect, abundant, and infinite love God fills us with His fullness. We are filled with His Spirit, with His glory, with His desires and joys. We share in His nature, gifts, and power. We are filled with His richness, completeness, and abundance. We are not simply given a portion or shadow but are stuffed to overflowing with the fullness of God.

Verses 20-21 read,

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

The lives we live glorify God forever and through every generation after us. His power is infinite. He can do more than we can ever dream and more than we can consider asking for. Nothing is outside the realm of possibilities with God. We don’t even know what to ask for, but God knows what is best for us and what will bring about our transformation and His glory. So He works within us and that work is huge. Look back at your salvation. Consider your transformation. Think about the miracles, provision, and protection over your life and your heart. The power that did that is incalculable. The authority and force that accomplished that is within you. God, the Holy Spirit in your spirit, God, the Son, Jesus Christ in your core has done that.

What more does He have in store for you? I encourage you to continue pursuing to know Him more, to carry on seeking to love Him more and love others with His love, and to take joy in His fullness by making use of it and glorifying God everywhere and every moment.

Read Ephesians Chapter 1 Verses 15-23

Believers, we have so much to be thankful for. Our Salvation is not fire insurance. In fact it ensures we will go through fires on this present Earth. But it also holds the promise of so much more. Paul told the faithful at Ephesus how he prayed for them and how he wanted them to know and experience what the hope of Jesus Christ entails. It encompasses more blessings than any of us can express. As difficult as the hard times get, the blessings make them easier.

Verse 17-18 reads,

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

First of all I love when God is represented triunally in a passage. Here is such a case, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit are in one verse. Because we have Jesus Christ as our Lord we can ask for the Spirit to reveal God to us through wisdom and knowledge. We have the privilege of getting to know God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He reveals Himself to us and the more we seek and pursue Him, the more He will reveal Himself to us.

The Spirit also reveals to us the hope He gives us. Our hope is vast. It is more than Heaven. It is not about walking streets of gold and eating from an endless buffet. It is about completion, perfection, and being with God face to face and knowing Him fully, absolutely, and wholly. Our inheritance is for eternity and it is also for the here and now.

We will be perfected one day soon but we were made righteous already. Every sin was forgiven. Every transgression was wiped out. We may still sin, and we may still fight to overcome our worldliness every single day, but the fact is that our completion has already been achieved. We got credit for Jesus’ perfection already. That gives us all the more reason to continue endeavoring to know God more, to keep striving toward working toward righteousness, and to persist in our transformation through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Verses 19-23 read,

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. “

In other words, that same power that raised Christ from the dead and gave Him authority over everything is at work in you. That same capacity and force transformed you from death to life, from errant to righteous. You can’t ever make yourself good enough, but The Holy Spirit, God Himself is at work in you. In one moment He made you blameless and now He is changing you, giving you the ultimate makeover and each day He is making you more like Jesus.

The trials we experience, the suffering we face, and the pain we endure all help shape us. God is our potter, we are His vessel. We can actually take joy in the ordeals because we have God with us and in us and because we know that He is using those difficulties to sculpt and mold us for His glory. Romans 5:1-5 describes it like this,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

So thank God through your tears. Appreciate the tribulations. Remember your hope, not just for eternity but now, right where you are. Ask God to reveal Himself to you through the pain. Take the opportunity to get to know Him deeper. Dioko Agape.