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A Planting of Faith Seeds for the Glory of the LORD
Paul prays for us…
Paul prays for us, “I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit--not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength-- that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:16 – 3:20, MSG)
Amidst a world that has a difficult time understanding anything not associated with extreme power Paul asks God to strengthen us, “…not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength.” Why would he do that? What does it mean? As rock solid as our lives appear to be or we project it to be in reality we are as fragile as a flickering flame on a candle.
“God can do anything you know...” We can sure let our imaginations run wild with this statement – and some do. While God can do anything he never does anything he does not or cannot do. John Ortberg writes, “God is never a God of discouragement.” God is love, therefore God cannot stop loving you – we love God because he first loved us!
“He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” It was within Jesus’ tomb where God performed his greatest work. Therefore it is within the dark and damp corridors of our lives where he does his greatest work for us. It is when we illustrate those inner workings (blessings) in our outer lives that we bring Glory to God.
The Lenten Season affords us the opportunity not only to prepare ourselves for Easter Sunday but it also provides us the opportunity to observe God at work in the intimacy of our inner lives.
Believe it! Experience it!
Grace and PEACE!
Gary
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“Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.” (John 20:8–10, NLT)
“Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.” (John 20:8–10, NLT)
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Scriptures marked MSG have been taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.”
“Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.”