Today we will continue our series entitled “God’s Grace & Our Faith.” For the past few days, we looked at John 1:14&17 and Galatians 5:6. I recently added Ephesians 3:16-20 to it as we continue to flow in this vein.
(John 1:14 NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:17 NIV)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 5:6 KJV)
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
(Ephesians 3:16,17 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.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
(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 for you today? A few things.
1. The more revelation of God you receive, the more revelation of His love you will receive because God is love.
Paul said, “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” (Ephesians 3:16 TPT).
— Paul prayed for God to “unveil” the unlimited riches of His glory. Let’s think about what this means. When you unveil something, you are revealing what is already there. Something is there, but it is concealed from you. It is behind the veil. When God pulls back the veil, He reveals to you what was previously concealed from you. This revealing (or revelation) comes from the Holy Spirit.
— You cannot separate God from His glory. Wherever God is, His glory is present. But we, as humans, cannot fully handle the fullness of God’s glory. In Exodus 33, Moses asked God to reveal His glory. Moses said, “Now, please show me your Glory.” God responded, “I will show my love and mercy to anyone I want to. So I will cause my perfect goodness to pass by in front of you, and I will speak my name, Yahweh, so that you can hear it. But you cannot see my face. No one can see me and continue to live.” God was saying; basically, “You, in human form, cannot handle the full nature of my glory. If I revealed myself to you face to face, you would die. One day you will have a glorified body that will be able to handle it. But right now, as a mere human, you cannot.”
So this is what God did. He said, “Here is a place for you to stand by me on this large rock. I will put you in a large crack in that rock. Then I will cover you with my hand, and my Glory will pass by. Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back. But you will not see my face.”
— Now that you better understand the vastness of God’s glory, let’s go back to what Paul said, “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.” Paul was praying for God to reveal the unlimited riches of His glory to us as believers on the inside. While our bodies cannot handle the full exposure to God’s glory, Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus to get a revelation of it.
— If you get a revelation of God’s glory, revealed to you by the Holy Spirit Himself, then Paul says, “supernatural strength will flood your innermost being with God’s divine might and explosive power.”
— In context, the revelation of God’s glory is also a revelation of His love. This is why Paul went on to say, “the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.” So Paul is teaching us that the more we receive insight, wisdom, revelation, knowledge, and understanding concerning God’s nature (His glory and His love), the more OPEN we will be to God’s divine power. This revelation helps us to FREE ourselves from the limits and flaws of our own humanity long enough to keep our focus on God and His power, not us and our failures.
— The revelation of God’s love (once you are convinced God loves you and there is nothing you can do to make Him stop) is what helps convince you that God’s love towards you will never fail. The more you grasp this revelation in your heart and mind, the more you will be renewed, on the inside, every single day. Not only that, but the revelation of God’s love towards you will empower you to walk in His grace. Once you do, there is nothing you can’t do because, at that point, you are not the one doing it. It is the Father, who lives in you, who will be giving you the words and performing the work (see John 14:10). But none of this happens until you know God loves you. Faith works by love.
— Real power does not come from you trying to convince God to do anything for you. Real power comes from God convincing you that He loves you, that He made plans for you before the world began, and that He will accomplish those plans through you if you would simply yield to Him and get your flesh out of the way. The convincing I am talking about does not happen in your head. It does not come from a book. This happens in your heart. It happens as God reveals Himself to you as you walk with Him, and you learn to get intimate with His Spirit.
— The Holy Spirit is the key to this type of revelation, and He is the key to your life. Your outer man may be perishing (in a gradual state of degradation), but you have an inner man that can be renewed every single day through the Holy Spirit Himself who lives in you. The Holy Spirit reveals God to you. He reveals God’s glory and His love to the point where you believe: 1) there is nothing God can’t do, and 2) there is nothing God won’t do for you becuase He loves you.
2. Resting in God’s love is the key to living the life you are destined by God to live.
Paul said, “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” (Ephesians 3:17 TPT). Let’s take a closer look at this verse.
— For Christ to be “released deep inside of you,” Paul says that you must constantly use your faith. In Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia, Paul taught us that “faith works by love” (Galatians 5:6). Therefore, if you don’t live by faith, you won’t receive the fulness of Christ in you, and if you don’t get a revelation of God’s love, you will never live by faith because faith works by love. It all boils down to God’s love. You must get a revelation of God’s love to the point where you are so convinced that He loves you that you will do, by faith, whatever He leads you to do, even when you have no sense-realm evidence to support it.
— To be clear, the love of God is so deep, so unsearchable, that it takes the Holy Spirit’s revelation and your faith for you to even grasp it. Think about that for a moment. Understanding the nature of God’s love (which is the nature of God Himself becuase God is love) is a supernatural act. Without the Holy Spirit and without faith, you will never comprehend it.
After driving home the importance of the revelation of the Holy Spirit and our faith, Paul said, “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! 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.” (Ephesians 3:18-20 TPT).
All the emphasis is on God in this passage. His love is far-reaching. His love is endless and transcends understanding. His love is extravagant and overflowing. And when you finally get it (when you get a revelation of God’s love in your heart, by the Holy Spirit), you will never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you. He will achieve more than your greatest request. He will exceed your wildest imagination. He will outdo everything you ever dreamed, but it all starts with believing and receiving the love of God towards you. Faith works by love!
— Paul says, “the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.” When you get a revelation of God’s love towards you, and you learn to REST IN IT, the love of God will be the source of your strength and the root of your life.
I will deal with this verse further tomorrow. I feel led to stop here for today. I have given you enough to meditate on.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for saving me from sin, for filling me with Your Spirit, and for calling me according to Your purpose. Now that I am Born-Again, Your Spirit lives in me, and He is revealing to me the fullness of Your nature. Your nature is love.
The Holy Spirit pulls back the veil for me. As He does, I get a revelation of Your glory and Your love, and it changes everything! It changes the way I see You, the way I see myself, and the way I see others. Your love releases Jesus IN me. Your love unleashes divine might and explosive power through me. I am fully persuaded that You love me, and I find my resting place in Your love. My faith is strong because my faith is rooted and grounded in Your everlasting love towards me. 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.
