Today we continue our series “God is faithful!” The Lord led me to 2 Corinthians 4. In this passage, we are looking at what it looks like to believe God is faithful. Because of God’s faithfulness towards us, we can withstand and overcome anything!
(2 Corinthians 4:1, 7-13, 16-18 TPT)
1 Now, it’s because of God’s mercy that we have been entrusted with the privilege of this new covenant ministry. And we will not quit or faint with weariness.
7 We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.
8 Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
9 We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.
10 We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
11 We consider living to mean that we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
12 So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you.
13 We have the same Spirit of faith that is described in the Scriptures when it says, “First I believed, then I spoke in faith.” So we also first believe then speak in faith.
16 So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day.
17 We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison,
18 because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
We have also been looking at Ephesians 3. Let’s go back to it again today.
(Ephesians 3:16-20 TPT)
16 And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.
17 Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.
18–19 Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!
20 Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.
So what does this mean to you today? I will share a few things from Ephesians 3:20.
1. Dying to self brings you in alignment with your assignment.
Over the years, I have repeatedly taught you some version of the following:
a) God made plans for you before the foundations of the world,
b) He already gave you the grace to fulfill His divine plans for your life,
c) When we come to God, our plans, and God’s plans may not be in sync,
d) When we are not in sync with God, one of us needs to change, and it will not be God,
e) Dying to sin and self brings us in alignment with God and His assignment for our lives, thus positioning us to experience the supernatural life we were destined to have.
When you get to the point where you have died to sin, self, and selfish desires, you are then in a position to let God do, through you, what He planned to do from the foundations of the world. At that point, God is able to do what HE WANTS in, with, and through your life, and it will be greater than anything you ever imagined.
2. Once you are in alignment with God, your will and His will become ONE.
When you consciously make an alignment with your divine assignment, and you adjust your will and submit it to God’s will for your life, you find that you start to like what God likes, hate what God hates, and think as God thinks. Once you start living this way, you can virtually ask for whatever you want, and God will do it because what you want will be what He wants for your life. Since you have died to self, you are actually not asking for what you want. You are asking for what God wants because God’s desires have become your desires. This is the goal.
— Jesus said, “If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours” (John 15:7). Basically, at this point, your will is God’s will because your will has been aligned with and submitted to whatever God wants for your life.
— If you ever get to the point where you ONLY want what God wants, you will live an amazing life because God’s plans are better than yours!
3. The reason why you WANT to die to your plans is because God out-planned you before the world began.
Let’s say you plan out your ideal life. Let’s think about what that would look like:
— Imagine you got up every morning and you put forth the maximum effort you can as a human.
— Imagine that you did everything right and that everything aligned perfectly with your plans.
— Imagine that every person you need to help you accomplish your goals showed up for you, on time, and willing to help 100% of the time.
— Imagine you always had all the money and additional resources you needed to accomplish your goals and to succeed in every endeavor.
— Imagine every panned out… every plot, plan, project, thought, scheme, and strategy… I mean absolutely everything you put your hands to do, PROSPERED!
Can you see it? Can you imagine it? Do you have a picture of what your perfect life would look like? If so, then Paul teaches us that GOD IS ABLE to do far beyond that! If we die to self and our plans, and then accept the plans God made for us before the world began, God is able to, as Paul says, “… achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination!” Paul goes on to say, “God will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.”
God’s plans are greater than your plans. God’s ability far surpasses your human ability. You are finite and flawed. God is infinite and perfect. If you die to self and you willingly allow God to live in you, with you, and through you, you will live a life that far exceeds anything you could have ever imagined. I am a witness. That is already my reality! I pray it becomes yours!
God is able to live an amazing life, THROUGH YOU if you let Him!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me. I LEVEL UP by resting in Your love. I rest in Your love so long that I get to the point where I trust You with all my heart. Since I trust You, I am able to die to self. I give up the plans I made for my life and I open my heart to the plans You made for me. There will be some areas where You let me know that what I wanted is actually what You want for me, so I will continue to pursue those things. But there will be many areas where what I wanted was either off course from my destiny or I was thinking TOO SMALL for you. Either way, when there is a disconnect between my plans and Your plans, I yield to Your plans. Your plans win every time. Living this way, YOU ARE ABLE to do infinitely more than my greatest request, much more than my most unbelievable dream, and freely exceed my wildest imaginations! This is how I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
