Do you know who you are?
Do you comprehend, even a little, how much God loves you and the tremendous power He wants to give you?
Do you understand that this power is already available to you as your birthright? As a citizen of heaven, you have all rights and privileges to this power, but the question is: do you really know that and do you live like you know it?
Paul wanted us to grasp this truth so much, that he prayed a second prayer in Ephesians 3, and in this prayer Paul prayed that God would help us to understand four things.
5 Things Paul Prayed We Would Understand as Citizens of the Kingdom
1. That we would be strong
This strength doesn’t come from our character or nature. Some people are naturally stronger than others, but this strength is a supernatural strength.
In the verse just before this one, Paul alludes to his tribulations, and if you’ve ever read about what Paul went through you understand that he had to have supernatural strength. No man could endure what Paul did without a power greater than himself enabling him to endure with joy and meekness.
“that He would give you, according to the riches of His glory, power to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16b).
That power is in proportion to God’s riches in glory. How many riches does God have?
Unlimited!
This is unlimited power being made available to us by the Holy Spirit in our spirit—because the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit.
Because we have the Holy Spirit living within us, we already have unlimited power made available to us right now.
2. That Christ would dwell in us.
This is our identity, right here.
You belong to Christ. You are a new creation, your citizenship is in heaven, and God is your Father.
I am no longer identified by the fact that I have Irish and Italian ancestry, was born in Canada, raised in the Pacific Northwest and Dean Hackett is my father. Those facts no longer identify who I am.
“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:17).
I am a new creation in Jesus Christ by faith.
That is my identity now!
3. That we would comprehend the love of God
This is more than just knowing that God loves us. I think most people mentally acknowledge that God loves them. It’s on greeting cards and bumper stickers, memes and T-shirts: “God loves you.”
But do we comprehend it?
Because I think if we really comprehended it, it would change how we live. It would alter the kind of decisions we make and change the course of our lives.
“that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the width and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:17).
I find it interesting that Paul says, “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.”
How can you know something that is beyond your ability to know?
There is only one way: by revelation of the Holy Spirit.
Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to show you how much God really loves you?
- His love is so wide, you can’t get around
- His love is so far, you can’t outrun it
- His love is so deep, you can’t even reach the bottom of it
- His love is so high, you can’t see the end of it
4. We would be filled with God
How can you be filled with God?
I mean, think of it: If God is so big that He created this universe, all of the planets and stars and everything in outer space (which by the way, hasn’t even been fully discovered), how can He fill you?
How is there enough room inside of us for God to fill us without exploding our bodies?
God is outside of time and space. This is obvious, because He created time and space.
But there is more to this: it’s not just us being filled with Him, but it is us knowing His fullness. Knowing God fully.
This is just one more way that Christianity differs from all other religions. God has chosen to allow us to get to know Him intimately.
He doesn’t hide Himself from us. He doesn’t assume that we are too stupid to really know Him; He has opened Himself wide and chooses to allow us to really know Him.
We don’t have to study theology to know God.
We don’t have to even know how to read and write to know God.
God loves us that much, and He wants us to know Him as intimately as He knows us.
Then Paul wanted us to know this one last thing:
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
5. Paul wanted us to understand our purpose.
Now we know our position (we’re seated in the heavenlies with Christ right now).
We know our identity (we are a new creation in Christ, we have a new citizenship, and we are loved by our Father who created us).
Now we need to know our purpose.
Our purpose is to glorify God to all generations.
How?
- In the church—that’s us
- By Jesus Christ
But He describes God this way:
- The one who does above what we can ask or think
- The one who does abundantly above what we can ask or think
- The one who does exceedingly abundantly above what we can ask or think
And this is in proportion to the power that works in us.
Do you really grasp that?
How much power is at work in you right now?
The only thing that can stop God’s unlimited power from working in and through you is the amount of darkness you allow to reside in your life.
When you begin to truly grasp your position, identity and purpose as God’s child, you will begin to realize how dangerous it is to allow darkness to remain in your life.
The more darkness you chase out of your heart and spirit, the more you will see God’s power released in your life to live and walk as the child of God you truly are! {eoa}
Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her hero. Together, they live in the country with their two active boys, where she enjoys fruity candles and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. She holds an associates of practical theology and is passionate about discipling and encouraging women. Her passion for writing led her to author a number of books. She is the author of A Little R & R where she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. She can also be found at these other places on a regular basis. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.
This article originally appeared at rosilindjukic.com.
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