It is hard for me to even imagine what “immeasurably more” looks like. I haven’t seen it… yet. But I’m going to. And our church is going to. And maybe your church will to. Paul has just finished asking God to do some incredible things in the lives of the Ephesian believers. But it is when there is a church full of empowered believers that “immeasurably more” begins to happen. Think about it…
What if in our church there were 100 believers who did not just have Christ hanging out from time to time as a guest in the home of their heart BUT had Christ dwelling there, abiding there, had ownership there. What if He was calling all the shots – not just the ones we allowed Him to be involved in? What if EVERYTHING we said or did or thought was Spirit-directed and had a stamp of approval from Christ our Lord, the owner of our surrendered hearts? This is Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith. And this is when immeasurably more happens!
And what if knowing that God loves us was not just a “4 spiritual law” that we can say or an application of John 3:16 but was something that fueled and empowered our lives each and every day? What if we really got it? What if we grasped the magnanimous love of God for us in such a way that it drove us to worship, drove us to care for the helpless and hopeless, drove us to pray at the throne of grace, drove us to boldly proclaim the gospel in word and deed? That is when immeasurably more happens!
How will immeasurably more happen? When we stop trying to do church and stop trying to be a good Christian and stop trying to make things happen – and begin to understand that it is His power alone that can bring immeasurably more to happen. This is why Paul prays in verses 14-19 and this is what he means in verse 20 “according to His power that is at work within us.” It is going to take an act of God for immeasurably more to happen. And perhaps He is just waiting to unleash that act upon us until He sees a people that are hungering for it to happen – a hunger that is expressed through prayer in the same way that Paul prays.
Update: So after last week’s “Here’s the Deal” challenge there are now 7 of us who are praying that Ephesians 3:14-21 will become reality in our lives. We have been praying daily for a week now. I’ll extend the invitation again if you want me to begin praying for you and if you will commit to pray for me for 30 days. Just email me (sreyner@Ridgecrest.cc) or FB message me to let me know. Sometime Monday or Tuesday I will email all of you who are praying so that we can all pray for each other.
And so that we can begin to watch “immeasurably more” happen together!
I’m just sayin’!
Next Week’s Passage: Ephesians 4:1-6
I think that in order to see “immeasurably more” happen it takes a commitment from the leaders and the people to strive to implement the fruits of the spirit in their daily lives. Gal: 5:22-23 says” But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law.” Notice that love is the first on the list, because without it you cannot produce the fruits that follow love in Gal: 5:22-23. 1John 4:8 says: “He that loveth not knowth not God; for God is love. ” Love is more than just an expression, and if the people do not know that love extends beyond expression and love is not dissected in a way that even the children can understand, we will always lack “immeasurably more.” Great choice of scripture and topic Pastor Shay, I am inspired!!!
Count me in Shay