Ephesians 3:16-19

Ephesians 3:16-19

Thoughts from Chelsee Sanchez

Dive Deeper

Godfidence- Swipe
Slide

“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:16-19

Godfidence- Behind the Scenes
Slide

This week we are starting our new devo series – “God-fidence”, and I’m so excited to dig into this with you. It’s perfect that after learning how we are captive to so many things, our fear, our pride, our anxiety, the world and following up with how to be captive to Christ that we would continue to show WHY you can have the confidence, in God, to do just that.

Slide

We live in a world that says that you are your own god, that you rule your life, and that your truth is all that matters for you. We also live in a world where significant mental health issues are on the rise, including in our precious children. But we as believers have a much better way – we can admit that we can’t do it all and embrace our weaknesses, relying on God our Father for sufficiency. We can have confidence, not in ourselves, but in the God who created us. We can boldly access God’s wisdom and sufficiency.

Slide

To fully understand this, let’s back up to Ephesians 3:10-12, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” (Emphasis mine)

Slide

So now, let’s look at our passage today, “…to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” This word power in Greek is dynamis and means moral power and strength of soul. Though we live in a world where weakness is considered bad, we know that where we might be weak in the world’s eyes, we have the power – moral power and strength of soul – living IN us.

Slide

THIS is where we get our strength, our power, and our confidence to do the hard things. The things that don’t make sense to the world but are right and just in the upside-down Kingdom of God. When we see people forgiving the person who murdered their loved one, when we see parents who lost a child still breathing, when you see the person in financial hardship still giving generously – these things are through the power of the Spirit; through the strength and confidence that God is for us and not against us.

Godfidence- Make it Real
Slide

Lately God has been surrounding me with people who are going through some really tough things. Some things that I would seriously struggle with while maintaining my faith. But these people are demonstrating their God-fidence. They are demonstrating their reliance on Him and Him alone in these times to get them through, to make the hard decisions, to step out in faith into something they cannot do in their own power.

Slide

When we try to face these things in our own power, we feel defeated, worthless, exhausted, and hopeless. You see, we were not created to do these things on our own. We were not created to toil and strive and simply survive.

Slide

And what about the little things? What about when we’re faced with the opportunity to “spill the tea”, skim a little off the top, tell the “small” lies to keep ourselves out of trouble? Shouldn’t we be able to just buckle down and do the right thing? Shouldn’t we be strong enough to NOT gossip, steal, or lie?

Slide

Well maybe we can be strong enough to resist these on our own, but here’s the thing: if we practice and exercise the muscle of dependence on God with the little things, that becomes the training ground for the bigger things. Then when we are faced with something that we absolutely have no power to face and survive ourselves, we know Who to go to and Whose yoke to carry. Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Slide

What are you trying to carry on your own in your own strength today? What can you surrender to the power of the Spirit and move forward in fullness and rest?

Godfidence- End in Prayer
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Father God, we thank You that You are enough for us – that in our weakness, You are our sufficiency. Help us to surrender those things we are trying to do in our power to You and Your power. Help us to rest in You – our provider and sufficiency. In the mighty name of Jesus, we give it all to You! Amen!

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“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” 

Ephesians 3:16-19 

Behind the Scenes

This week we are starting our new devo series – “God-fidence”, and I’m so excited to dig into this with you. It’s perfect that after learning how we are captive to so many things, our fear, our pride, our anxiety, the world and following up with how to be captive to Christ that we would continue to show WHY you can have the confidence, in God, to do just that.  

We live in a world that says that you are your own god, that you rule your life, and that your truth is all that matters for you. We also live in a world where significant mental health issues are on the rise, including in our precious children. But we as believers have a much better way – we can admit that we can’t do it all and embrace our weaknesses, relying on God our Father for sufficiency. We can have confidence, not in ourselves, but in the God who created us. We can boldly access God’s wisdom and sufficiency.  

To fully understand this, let’s back up to Ephesians 3:10-12, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” (Emphasis mine)  

So now, let’s look at our passage today, “…to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” This word power in Greek is dynamis and means moral power and strength of soul. Though we live in a world where weakness is considered bad, we know that where we might be weak in the world’s eyes, we have the power – moral power and strength of soul – living IN us.  

THIS is where we get our strength, our power, and our confidence to do the hard things. The things that don’t make sense to the world but are right and just in the upside-down Kingdom of God. When we see people forgiving the person who murdered their loved one, when we see parents who lost a child still breathing, when you see the person in financial hardship still giving generously – these things are through the power of the Spirit; through the strength and confidence that God is for us and not against us.  

Make it Real

Lately God has been surrounding me with people who are going through some really tough things. Some things that I would seriously struggle with while maintaining my faith. But these people are demonstrating their God-fidence. They are demonstrating their reliance on Him and Him alone in these times to get them through, to make the hard decisions, to step out in faith into something they cannot do in their own power.  

When we try to face these things in our own power, we feel defeated, worthless, exhausted, and hopeless. You see, we were not created to do these things on our own. We were not created to toil and strive and simply survive.  

And what about the little things? What about when we’re faced with the opportunity to “spill the tea”, skim a little off the top, tell the “small” lies to keep ourselves out of trouble? Shouldn’t we be able to just buckle down and do the right thing? Shouldn’t we be strong enough to NOT gossip, steal, or lie?  

Well maybe we can be strong enough to resist these on our own, but here’s the thing: if we practice and exercise the muscle of dependence on God with the little things, that becomes the training ground for the bigger things. Then when we are faced with something that we absolutely have no power to face and survive ourselves, we know Who to go to and Whose yoke to carry. Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

What are you trying to carry on your own in your own strength today? What can you surrender to the power of the Spirit and move forward in fullness and rest? 

End in Prayer

Colleen McGeorge

Colleen McGeorge

ACF Devo Team

Father God, we thank You that You are enough for us – that in our weakness, You are our sufficiency. Help us to surrender those things we are trying to do in our power to You and Your power. Help us to rest in You – our provider and sufficiency. In the mighty name of Jesus, we give it all to You! Amen! 

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