"More From the Pastor's Desk"
Being an electrician, it
is easy for me to draw on the analogy of a “light” in the physical sense. One
thing I know is that a light needs some source of power. And, if not connected
to the right source, the light may be very dim, or not work at all. We, as
Christians, have the greatest and most powerful source available to us to make
our spiritual light shine like the “stars in the universe”…However, some
Christians try to make their light shine by attempting to generate power by
some other means…maybe works, or talents, or knowledge, but the key words here
are “trying to make” their light shine. We ought to stop trying to make our
light shine, and start “allowing” God’s light to shine through us. We are
called to reflect God’s light, not try to create our own.
Paul tells us in our
text for today, that it is “God who works in you to will and to act according
to his good purpose” the problem is that we don’t always “allow” Him to do so.
As I read and re-read this scripture, I asked myself the question - “How does
God work in me?” Does the Bible give us some idea of how God works in us to will and to act according to His good
purpose? And of course, the answer is yes. So I would like to give you a few of
the things I found.
The first has to do with
empowerment; it is found in Ephesians 3:16-20 and it may be very
familiar to you; “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with POWER through His
Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through
faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have POWER together with all the
saints, to grasp how wide and how long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably
more than we ask or imagine, according to His
POWER that is at work within us…to Him be the glory!” Three times he
mentions “power” so first of all, God works in us to “empower” us.
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