Omnipotence

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Eph. 3:20

I have been studying the "omni's" - God's Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence.  These are those very great attributes of God that give us assurance that God is present, He knows what is going on and He has the power to do something about it.  

It is because of God's omnipotence that Jesus can say, "Have faith in God.  Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours." (Mark 11:22,24)

Nothing is impossible with God. He has the power to do whatever he wills.  He has the power to change me, to change those around me and to change my circumstances. When we pray and believe this, we will have our answer.  The answer may not look the way we envision, but we know that when we pray believing, God's power will be at work in us and will accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine. (Eph. 3:20)

May we pray along with Paul, that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened in order that we would know the exceeding greatness of His mighty power that is working for us so that we can pray in faith believing that we have received whatever we have asked of God.  (Eph.1:18,19) 

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Renewed

Have you never heard? Have you never understood? 

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. 

He never grows weak or weary.

No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. 

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)

When I feel weak, tired or discouraged, I love to read these words from Isaiah 40.  I realize that my feelings are cyclical and that I will be renewed again as I wait upon God in hope and trust.  What a great promise!  Those who put their hope in the Lord will again be lifted up to soar as eagles.  God will not fail to lift me again to the heights.  But not only that, he will give me new strength to run the race ahead of me and to accomplish my daily duties without fainting.  When he renews me again, I will soar above my circumstances in great joy.  He will give me strength to run and work hard toward the goals he has given me and he will give me endurance to accomplish all the tasks of the day. 

Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Psalms 62:8 (NIV)

Snow

Snow in Tonto Hills, Arizona

 “The rain and snow come down from the heavensand stay on the ground to water the earth.They cause the grain to grow,producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word.I send it out, and it always produces fruit.It will accomplish all I want it to,and it will prosper everywhere I send it."

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NLT)

God's ways are so much greater than ours; his plans so much higher.  He has things in mind for us that we can't even imagine.  He can bring good to every situation, no matter how evil.

Our pronouncements of what should happen or what should be done have little power and often have a negative effect bringing the opposite result of what we wanted.  But, God's word goes forth with great power and accomplishes exactly what he sends it forth to do.

Lord, expand our minds and our vision to see what is possible because we put you in charge.  As we make you Lord of every situation you bring new, creative and powerful ideas for solving every problem.  Let us wait on you and your word.  Give us words to speak that will accomplish your good purposes.

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

Our snowy backyard.

Exchanged

My old self has been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Gal 2:19-21 (NLT)

I read this word with disbelief.  How can I be dead to sin when I so often feel the pull of temptation and often yield to its call.  I am so conscious of my own weakness and failure, its hard for me to get my mind around the idea that Christ actually lives in me.

The scriptural and theological picture is that of us dying with him and then being raised again to new life.  When we surrendered to Christ and trusted him as our savior he gave us new life, his life. Paul exhorts us to consider or deem this to be our true condition no matter how we feel. (Romans 6:11.) There is great power in this reckoning.

The truth of the matter is that the eternal Christ has chosen to take up residence in us.  We now have the power to choose not to give in to our own ways, but to yield to his. As we recognize and yield each moment to his life within, we begin to experience victory over those things that bring us down.  We live by faith in his indestructible life within us.  It is an exchanged life - my life for his.

I declare, "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."  You are here living in me, Lord. Help me to yield and defer to your life within at every moment so that I may experience victory and joy.  I turn away from myself and recognize your presence in me.

He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have.

And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us

by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 

Romans 8:3 (NLT)

Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ

so that sin might lose its power in our lives.

We are no longer slaves to sin.

 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

  So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin

and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:2,6,7,11 (NLT)

Power

Power Plant at Davis Dam, Laughlin, Nevada

 So that you can know and understand what is the

immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness

of His power in and for us who believe…

Eph 1:19 (AMP)

Throughout the psalms, David speaks of many fearful things - earthquakes, mountains crumbling, oceans roaring, nations collapsing, enemies out to kill him and armies rising against him - things that would terrify any of us. And yet he says,” I will not fear.” (Psalm 27 & 46.)  How could he say that??  He obviously had a strong faith in God’s power and ability and believed in God’s willingness to use it on his behalf.  He had a big God.

When we focus on our weaknesses, we are brought down by thoughts of our insufficiency.  When we think about God’s ability and power our faith is built up. 

How big is your God?  Maybe you have him in a box, restricted in what he can do, limited to only certain areas of your life?  Let him out.  He has the power to act in every area – inside and outside.   He is ready, willing and able.  Put your trust in him today.  He has the power to open doors of opportunity and to give you the strength to walk through them.  

Small god = small faith.

BIG GOD = BIG FAITH!

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us,

 to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Eph 3:20 (NLT)

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

2 Cor 9:8 (KJV)