Day 18 - Filled Above and Beyond

SCRIPTURE:

Ephesians 3:14-21

“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, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 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, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.  Amen.”

DEVOTIONAL:

I haven’t figured it out and probably will never fully comprehend the power of this passage. Included are studies on:

- Identity and inner strength
- Grounding in love   
- Established in Power
- The fullness of God within me
- The secret to blessing

What transformed me: Of the many nuggets of wisdom in this passage, one in particular has shaped my thinking. God is willing and able to do for me far and above what I ask or imagine. This thought smashes the notion that God is stingy and desires to confine my freedom and dreams. In fact the opposite is true.

Are you like me? I don’t want to ask for the wrong things, or selfish things. But notice, if we live our lives according to this verse it would be impossible to ask amiss. Instead we find ourselves asking in accordance to His will and imagining in ways only the Creator can.

When our identity is grounded in Christ, established in His love, and we are walking in His power with the indwelt fullness of the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves in an immovable place of authority and unity with God. From that place God will do above and beyond all we ask or think.

When we live this way, we find ourselves asking with God-motives rather than self-motives. In those moments the power of the Holy Spirit is released to fulfill all we ask or imagine. Wow!