Monday, November 17, 2008

God is Able - Ephesians 3:20

Have you ever heard the statement "God is Good...All the Time!"? How do you feel about it? Do you agree or disagree? (I'd enjoy any comments to post regarding your responses) Sometimes we just cannot agree because we are wrapped up in our circumstances. Life is not going well, so we cannot view God as good - especially not at "this" particular time.

It took me a while to fully embrace the statement above, after I heard it. Basically, I missed the point of the statement, along with its depth. I viewed it selfishly. I am sure I wasn't the only one to view it this way. However, now that I do fully embrace the statement I can see the goodness of God in situations. He is not only good, but He is able. Yesterday, we looked at the phrase "God is able" and below are some areas where He is able. May they be useful in your spiritual walk this week...

God is able...
  1. To Keep You From Falling - Our ten-month old is beginning some early phases of trying to walk. He is starting to take his hand off of an object to stand long enough to realize he's on his own, then to plop down. As we walk with God, there are times when we aren't going to be having it all right to walk freely. We need to have several components to be able to walk. May you be continually working on the elements found in II Peter 1:5-7 in order to keep your walk balanced and you from falling.
  2. To Deal With Problems on Earth - Police lineups are generally about 6-8 people. A witness must try to pick out the one they think committed the crime. It can be very difficult because they may look similar. How about trying to pick out someone in six billion? We generally think that we're not important...but God could pick you out easily. You are very important to God. He is so able to deal with the difficulties on this earth that He can easily deal with us, individually!
  3. To Free Us - When it comes to plans like cell phones, I love the word "unlimited". It makes it so freeing to know you don't have to worry about how much you use. One of our early plans we had a "regional" plan, but it still was "hit and miss" about what our area was once we got outside our immediate area. Plus, we still had a limited amount of minutes to talk. Our plan now includes nationwide service, and to certain numbers the minutes are unlimited. Under the old law, you had a limited amount of time before you broke the law. Once broke, always broke. Under the new law, there is an unlimited amount of grace that is available to those who walk in the light. How freeing it is to know that as we walk with God we can lay our head down at night with assurance.
  4. To Supply Our Needs - Christmas time brings about a lot of "want". We want so many things...But how many of them are needs? Needs aren't always fun, but we need them. We're in a situation that I don't want to be in, but I may need to be in it. There are lessons to be learned through waiting. You may have a similar story...not wanting to be in your situation but needing to be in it. Ponder your situation and look deep to see if it is one you "need" to be in.
  5. To Offer Hope - God is able to provide a hope that is beyond all hopes. One with an assurance that is completely comforting. If you don't know Jesus, you need to reevaluate how much hope there is in Christ! IF you do know Jesus, praise God for the hope you do have in Christ!
  6. To Completely Save - The word "complete" can offer a lot of assurance. When you are insuring your house, you don't want to have certain parts of your house uncovered with your policy, you want complete coverage. If you were to find out that you weren't able to have complete assurance that you would go to heaven when you do what God asks, you wouldn't think it is a very good deal. However, God does save with an offering of complete salvation. Jesus' sacrifice was a one time sacrifice that gives us the assurance of knowing we can have complete salvation! Praise God for His completeness!
God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine...that's for sure! May that verse be a sense of encouragement as you start your week (or just go through your week).

Praising God For His Awesome Abilities...

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