This morning we continue our series entitled, “The Year of Supernatural Manifestation”, with our mini-series on “The Miracles of Jesus.” After walking our way through all the miracles Jesus performed, I used the last miracle I covered, the feeding of the 4,000, as a launching point from which to discuss the importance of spiritual perception.
A few days ago we started looking at a prayer the Apostle Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus. Let’s go back to that prayer one last time. Paul said:
“I always pray to the great and glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that he will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The Spirit will let you know truths about God and help you understand them, so that you will know him better. I pray that God will open your minds, to see his truth. Then you will know the hope that he has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious.” (Ephesians 1:17,18).
As we close out this passage I will focus in on the last two sentences, “Then you will know the hope that he has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious.”
The God’s Word translation reads, “Then you will have deeper insight. You will know the confidence that he calls you to have and the glorious wealth that God’s people will inherit.”
The New Living translation reads, “So that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”
The Message Bible reads, “So that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do.”
Allow me to summarize what Paul was saying here:
— Part of the role of the Holy Spirit is to flood your spiritual eyes with light, so you can know what God has called you to do.
— Once you have a certain level of certainty and clarity, you also have confidence.
— Divine confidence is NOT confidence in your ability to perform or your ability to ‘stay the course’, but rather God’s ability to perform through you; it is about God’s dedication to your divine assignment.
— Confidence that is rooted and grounded in God is confidence that is unshakable, because it is not contingent upon shakable human ability, strength or effort.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- Faith is about being sure and certain in both what God said and in His ability to perform/keep His word (Heb 11:1).
- Part of the role of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to you what you are called to do. Once you know, and you are certain, then this certainty gives you confident hope. This hope is confident because it is not based on you. It is based on the God who called you.
- Living by faith boils down to living with certainty and confidence. Your faith and confidence will always be strong if you maintain God as your source. As long as your confidence is in Him, and NOT your ability to perform, your confidence will be strong and unwavering.
- God wants you to know what He called you to do and He wants you to remain confident in His ability (not yours) to get it done.
- The one who called you [God] is more than capable of completing the assignment through you. Your part is simple: DYING TO SELF. The more you die, the more He can live through you, and the more He will see to it that His will is done in your life.
- When your confidence is in God you are able to release the pressure to perform and rest in God’s power. This is the best place to be.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. I will experience You and Your power in my life like never before, because I release the pressure to perform. My confidence is in You and You alone! You gave me Your Spirit so I could know, with certainty, what You called me to do. Not only that, but You gave me Your Spirit and Your grace to get it done. So I live my life with clarity and focus, and with confidence and courage. My confidence is NOT based on me. If it were based on me or my ability to perform, my confidence would be shaky. But my confidence is strong and unwavering because it is based on YOU! I am able to enter every day boundless optimism, because You have boundless power and Your commitment to me is unwavering. This realization gives me peace. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
