This is one of my favorite portions of Scripture. Overwhelmed by the blessings given to Jews and Gentiles and the privilege of sharing this newly revealed “secret plan,” Paul exclaimed, I fall to my knees.Paul praised God as both the Father and the Creator of everything. When his children kneel before him in prayer, they come to the God who is in complete and ultimate control. These words set the tone for the prayer that follows.
Paul knelt before the Father; then he prayed that God would grant certain petitions made on behalf of these Christians. Because the riches of God’s glory are without measure, Paul prayed that the answers would be given to believers without measure and beyond their comprehension.
Christ takes up residence in the hearts of those who trust in him. Christ’s indwelling presence and the Spirit’s strengthening power also help believers’ roots to go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.
As believers get to know Christ better, they will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. We need not look anywhere else. The ultimate goal is for believers to become Christlike individuals, filled so totally with Christ that he is seen in us.
Paul uses superlatives to drive home his point: God is able to do infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope—more than we would dare to imagine. God is far above and beyond our finite minds. God is able because of his mighty power. To the unfathomable depths of Christ’s love is added the exceeding abundance of his power. Believers can claim Christ’s great love and know that his power is at work within us through the Holy Spirit.
God alone deserves glory, for He alone is glorious. The ability to give glory to God comes only in Christ Jesus, for he brought the church into existence through his sacrifice for sin and his resurrection from the dead. This glory will be made known through endless ages.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)
"With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine." Ephesians 3:20 (NCV)
One of the greatest gifts God has given you is your imagination. You were made in God's image. So like our Creator, we were made to be creative.
What I want to do today is stretch your imagination because that’s what God wants to do. He wants you to imagine how God could use you in ways like you’ve never, ever thought of. Today we’re going to look at the life of Joshua, a man in the Bible, who reveals four secrets of being used by God. Let me have you go and read Joshua 1:1-11
If you want to be used by God, if you want God's blessing on your life, if you want His dream for your life... SECRET #1. YOU MUST LET GO OF YOUR DOUBT.
God says to Joshua “Joshua, you’re going to be the guy who goes in and leads this little band of slaves who’ve been running around in the desert for forty years in fear, you’re going to lead them to take over the Promised Land – the area of Palestine. There’s only one problem, Joshua. Palestine is inhabited by seven enemy nations all of which are bigger and stronger than you guys. But we’re going to take it over.”
Joshua had a lot of doubt, a lot of fear. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in his life. So just on the verge of him beginning this campaign which was going to be a battle for many, many years, they’re standing on the banks of the Jordan River and they’re going to cross over the river and begin this campaign to take over Palestine which is now where Israel is today. And in that campaign, the night before, God says, “Let Me give you a little pep talk.”
In Joshua chapter 1, four different times, God says, “Be determined and confident.” He said, “Joshua, the first thing you’re going to have to do if I’m going to use you is you’ve got to let go of doubt.” Joshua 1:9 says “Be bold and strong. Banish fear and doubt for remember the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” What does that mean? It means “get rid of, eliminate, put it out of sight, dump it.” And if God is going to use you, the first thing you have to do is dump your doubts.
The second secret of being used by God
SECRET #2. YOU MUST LOOK FOR A PROMISE
The word “promise” is a very important word in the life of Joshua and it’s a key to his success. Thirteen times in the book of Joshua, the word “promise” is used. If you were to summarize the life of Joshua it would be “Capture the Promised Land.” God had promised it to him. And at the very beginning as they were standing on the edge of the Jordan River getting ready to go into this major campaign, God says, “Let’s just remind ourselves of the promise that I made.” In Joshua 1:3 God says, “I promised Moses that I would give you this land. So I will give you every place you go in the land.”
You see, God can’t lie. If He makes a promise to you He keeps it. If He says He is going to use you, He will use you. If He says He is going to bless you, He will! If He says I will protect you, He will! God can’t lie.
At the end of Joshua’s life many, many years later when he was very old and he was about to die looks back over his life and sees that they have conquered all of Palestine. At the end of Joshua 23 he says this, “Now my time has come to die and every one of you knows that God has given you all the good things that He promised. Every promise He has made has been kept. Not one has failed. “
Do you want to be used by God? Get in this book, the Bible! This is a book of God's promises, the Bible. As I said last week, there are over 7,000 promises in this book. They’re like blank checks, waiting for you to cash. If you’re going to grow in faith, you’ve got to build it on the promises of God.
If you want to be used by God, if you want God's blessing on your life, if you want His dream for your life... SECRET #3. YOU MUST LEAN ON THE LORD
You let go of doubt, you look for a promise and you lean on the Lord. Leaning is more than just believing. It means depending on Him. What do you do when you lean on something? When you lean on something you are trusting it to hold you up. That’s what it means to lean – trusting something to hold you up. When you lean on God it means more than just “I believe in God.” It means, “I am trusting Him to hold me up.”
Joshua 1:5. God says, “No one will be able to defeat you all your life. Just as I was with Moses so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forget you.” And God says that to you too. He says you can lean on Me. And as long as Joshua leaned on God, he was undefeatable. He was victorious in every single battle as long as he depended on the Lord. Joshua accomplished the impossible at incredible odds because he was leaning on the Lord. Four times God said in this passage “Be confident... Don’t doubt ... Be strong... Be determined...” because you lose your fear when God is near. And He says, “I’m never going to leave you. You can lean on Me.”
Very important question: Who or what are you leaning on for strength? What is your source of strength?
The fourth secret of being used by God
SECRET #4. YOU MUST LAUNCH OUT IN FAITH.
There comes a point in life where you have to stop discussing it, talking about it, thinking about it, praying about it. You must step out in spite of your feelings. In spite of your fears, your doubts. There comes a point where you stop merely listening to my messages and get up off your blessed assurance and you put it in gear and you do something about it. It doesn’t have to be big but you do something that shows faith in your life.
Joshua 1:10 says,“Then Joshua issued instructions to the leaders to tell the people to get ready to cross the Jordan River.” This was the moment of truth. They had to go for it. They had to get it in gear. They had to lay it on the line. They had to take the plunge. Literally. Because they’re going to cross a river here.
The Jordan River, once they crossed they were going to begin this battle to take over the nations. The Jordan River is not a very big river. It’s only about a hundred feet wide and twenty feet deep. Except in flood season. In the spring when all the snow melts off the mountain it comes down into the Jordan River and becomes a giant, rushing, torrential, very dangerous river at that time. They happened to be right there during flood season. That’s typical of God to put them right there during flood season when everything is looking like it’s overwhelming.
They said, “How are we going to get across?” There weren’t any bridges over the Jordan River. They didn’t have any pontoons to put out. How is Joshua going to get his entire group of people across this raging river? God says, “I’m going to do a miracle!
God said, “start walking through the river first - then I will dam up the water upstream about seventeen miles upstream, miraculously dam it up and the waters will recede - but I want you to step in first. This is a test.” So the spiritual leaders got at the front they began to walk into the water. And God did a miracle and He damned it all up. And the waters receded and the people crossed over. They launched out in faith.
If you want God to do a miracle in your life – you have to step out in faith –launch out! Get out of the boat!
Question: What is your Jordan River?
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