EPHESIANS 3:20-21

KEY THOUGHT-Even though God, in His sovereignty, can cause certain things to happen for you, He doesn’t want to work outside of you.

The passage says the power that works in us. This signifies  

1. a divine presence of God
2. The Holy Spirit dwelling in believers
3. Always energized by the power of God.

Three Lessons from the Passage

1.Learn to cultivate a rich fellowship with the Holy spirit to experience the full potential of God’s power

• The power available to us is limited by the power that works in us. When Paul was praying for the saints at Ephesus, he says in chapter 3:16 “That you may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man.” The destination of the strength is the inward man.
• Paul understood that the ability to do the supernatural was not rested in heaven but within him. By the Spirit he said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” It was his personal testimony. Paul couldn’t think failure, defeat or impossibilities.
• Paul knew the ability of the Spirit had been granted him to achieve supernatural results, and he spoke accordingly.
• We should know that God’s ability to do more than we can ask or imagine is demonstrated through the power He has given to believers, the Holy Spirit, which is at work within them.

2.The power is limited by a space given by a believer. John 7:38-39, Ezekiel 47:5-9.

• More thirst, more prayers, more study of the word, more active in the things of the Lord means more power given to us.
• The Holy Spirit should be allowed to take full space in our lives.

3.Be aware of the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of mighty power (Ephesians 1:19)

•  Become conscious that God lives in you in His fullness, which means all His power and eternal might are domiciled in your spirit.
•  The power at work within us is God’s own personal ability at work within us to please Himself.
•  The working of his mighty power emphasizes that God’s power actively works in us to live a life of faith and obedience.
• The power that works within us helps us to reveal the Son of God so that we may preach Him among the people (Galatians 1:15-16)

NOTE

It is a power acting within us, not just our own activity. Our actions flow from this inner power. We are controlled by this power, we are not in control of it. So, we can yield to it or resist it.

This power makes the Christian life free and unmechanical, not legalistic.

EXAMPLES OF THIS POWER IMPELLING SOME TO SPEAK

• Acts 4:20-But Peter and John replied to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you and obey you rather than God, you must decide………But we ourselves cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Nothing could stop them from sharing the gospel. They had just to obey God and not man.
• 1 Corinthians 9:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:14 Paul says “The love of Christ constrains me.  And “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” so, the love of Christ is the engine behind evangelism. It’s a driving force that impels believers to share the Gospel.
• The love of Christ is a supernatural, irresistible love that holds believers, pressing them forward to live a live a life fully devoted to the One who first loved and sacrificed for them.
• In Colossians 1:29-Paul continues to say that “I lobor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. “Paul recognized that his human effort was not enough, rather it was Christ’s divine, superhuman energy, power that enabled him to achieve spiritual results and present believers complete in faith. His effort needed to be energized by God’s power.
• He understood that true sufficiency comes from God.

CONCLUSION

• We must not be satisfied until we know this power working in us, lifting us up and producing fruit through us.
• Release God’s power by faith through consistent prayer, speaking God’s word and renewing our mind.
• Create an environment where His power can flow through joyful declaration.