Oh how thankful I am that God loved me so much to provide a perfect plan for my salvation. I have a hope! A hope that is secure in my faith in Jesus Christ!
Ephesians 1:17-19a "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be englightened 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,.." (NIV)
Paul is writing to the Ephesians, and yes possibly to a larger group of believers in the area, letting them know that he is thanking God for them and continually praying for them. Do you have someone in your life that thanks God for you, and the faith that you exhibit? Do you pray that prayer for someone else?
Do you ask God to be filled with His wisdom and revelation? If you ask God, do you know how to get these things from Him? It's a matter of being in God's word, spending time with Him in prayer, and building a relationship with God. He will give you wisdom and provide revelations to you. James reinforces asking God for wisdom in James 1:5 " If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." (NIV)
Do you ask God to open the eyes of your heart (sounds like a good song title!) to be enlightened and filled with God's desires? I know that God has called me to be with Cliff in full time ministry. I know that God has called me to focus on women's ministry. I have a passion for women to grow in their personal relationship with God and to seek after Him. I wholeheartedly believe that within the calling that God has on my life he will clearly define for me what he wants me to do. But the only way that I am going to expect God to reveal these definitions is to truly spend time with Him and allow Him to take control of my heart!
I struggle with God having control of my heart - do I see you shaking your head and saying the same thing. Yes, I admit it, I'm a control freak! (Just ask my family) I can rationalize and acknowledge that God has called me. I can see Him working in so many areas of my life. Where I struggle is seeing God break through my heart and take control of every part of me in my ministry. I have an awesome example of God leading and taking control of someone's heart in my husband. As he moves ahead with challenges facing him in ministry, he seeks God's desires and God's leading in all aspects. Sometimes, my challenges leave me saying, "Am I being the women's leader that I need to be? Am I exhibiting God's love in everything I do? Am I being filled with God's strength or am I operating on my own?"
What does it look like to have the strength and power of God? To truly experience His power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, I have to have faith and hope. Philippians 3:10 tells us "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death," I am dead to my sin as a child of God. I am free from the chains. Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glorious power of God, I too have been raised and I'm to walk in a new life, a life that is filled with God's power and strength. Read Romans 6:2-14.
So, when I ask the questions that I mentioned above, I already have the power of God in my life. I already have a hope that He is going to show me what I need to do. Romans 5:5 says "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." I can't be disappointed! When I cry out to God I have the hope and confidence that He is going to respond. This hope comes from my faith in Jesus Christ - when I asked for forgiveness and turned my life over to Him, He responded - I am forgiven and filled with the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Faith tells me that I have a hope - the Hope, the promise of my Savior, Jesus Christ walking with me through every detail, every circumstance, every trial, every joy, everything that I encounter!
My prayer is that the eyes of my heart will be opened and that I will truly see what God has in store for me each day. I have faith that tells me God will respond and provide wisdom and revelation to me when I ask. I need to ask more often! I am blessed to be one of God's children. I am free from death and moving on with life eternal - Praise God!
Romans 5:5, I committed that verse to memory about 2 months ago and hope does not disappoint us. I cling to the promise of hope. I was listening to Charles Stanley last week, he is doing a series on the promises of God and talking about how wealthy we are in those promises but like a rich man who never cashes a check at the bank or draws on his money, he could starve to death by not cashing in any of his wealth. It's like that for us, do we "cash in" or call on His glorious promises? Scripture is so full of them but if we are not in God's Word then we could live without ever knowing how rich our inheritance is.
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