“God loves it when we break a sweat for a kingdom cause, but exerting our own strength isn’t enough. Loving God with all our strength is living in His strength. But many of us never flip the switch. We never receive the power He promised. And without His power, we become nothing more than theological Christians. Our testimony is reduced to our words. Our impact is reduced to our abilities.”- Mark Batterson
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”- Ephesians 1:18-19 (NIV)
In Chapter 9 (The Hammer of a Higher God”) of Primal, Mark Batterson notes that in Ephesians 1:19, Paulo combines two Greek superlatives, hyper and megas, to describe God’s incomparably great power. In other words, there’s no point of comparison with God’s power.
Therefore, not one of us can imagine the capabilities of God’s power. As a result, we can’t imagine what’ we’re capable of when we give God control of our lives. With the chain reaction set off by His power and His energy at work within us, there’s nothing we cannot do.
Hence, Mark stresses, the quest for the lost soul of Christianity involves rediscovering the primal energy that :
- sustained the first-century church during persecution
- propelled them to take the gospel to the four corners of the ancient world
- empowered the church to do miracles in Jesus’ name
Finally, we need God’s power at work within us in order to accomplish His purposes. Our lives must reflect this reality.
Today’s question: What Bible verses remind you that exerting our own strength is never enough? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Our biggest problem – a small view of God”
