Posts in the category: ‘General’
The Danger of Unbound Beauty
“Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength…Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 29:1–2
There’s a common saying that is disastrous when taken seriously and even heretical when taken spiritually. Maybe you’ve heard it: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Sounds humble enough, doesn’t it? It’s the idea that each of us finds beauty in different things or experiences in a different way from the person next to us; that if we tried to define beauty we would rob one another of human enjoyment by applying narrow and artificial parameters. But the subtle buy-in of this statement is that beauty is not something “out there,” beyond our own finite consciousness, but is something “in-here,” a human-centered value and invention. Taken to its limit, this little platitude means that none of us can say for certain whether or not something is good or whole or valuable. It means we must accept, with however painful an acquiescence, that it is perfectly normal for someone else to be repulsed by the very thing that enthralls us, be it a concerto, a sunset, or God Himself. It means we must make our peace with radically differing preferences, as if it were completely natural for some of us to prefer total darkness, while others of us prefer light. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then it is nowhere.
The deepest mystery of what it means to be a human created in the image of God is explained by the eye. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body” (Mt. 6:22), and he would know. After all, He designed humans to be enraptured by splendor, to gaze and go on gazing insatiably on beauty. So if we insist that beauty cannot be defined, or geo-located, then we are in trouble; we have lost our bearings in the search for our deepest significance.
And “lost” aptly describes a culture such as ours that exults in visions of terror and immorality. Take the pornography industry for instance—over 11,000 new pornographic films are released every year (about twenty times the mainstream movie output). Two and a half billion pornographic emails flit through the interwebs every day, and “sex” is the leading search term entered into our web browsers. What’s worse, there is a strong correlation between purchases of pornographic magazines and recorded rapes, but that may not come as a great surprise when you consider that most mainstream pornography is extremely violent. It’s not hard to see how these trends could lead to much larger and pernicious trends such as human trafficking. There is nothing remotely beautiful about any of this. The “beholders” have gone astray and, as a result, beauty and justice lie fallen in the streets.
What the pornography industry demonstrates is that when our perspective of beauty is separated from the Creator of beauty, soon after, it demands that we give expression to every vain and worthless thought that pops into our heads. The generation of Noah knew this well and they tumbled into a global culture so depraved that God pronounced “every intent and the thoughts of [man’s] heart . . . evil continually” (Gen. 5:5), just before He washed them all away.
As we survey the landscape of our planet and see daunting social justice issues such as human trafficking, what can we infer except that the minds of millions of wicked men have dreamed up monstrous evils and are now acting out their vision? The crimes committed across the globe were first dreamed up by people in the privacy of their mind’s eye.
As our eyes have wandered in search of truth and beauty, the answer has been staring us in the face. Acclaimed Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, when cornered with the question of relative beauty, answered this way: “Beauty is an extraordinary gift given to us, but it is not given in a vacuum. Scripture says worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. It must be bounded by the very person and character of God.” Unbound beauty is to blame for a thousand ills. But put in its proper place—to, from, and through a holy God—beauty becomes the magnet that pulls us into our destiny. This is in part what the psalmist meant in Psalm 29, when he wrote: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and majesty.” Credit God as the author of beauty, and you will be drawn into consummate beauty, God himself.
The most private issues of personal sanctity to the most grandiose social justice agendas begin with a reformation of the eyes of our heart. If we don’t embrace the clear understanding that we are not the reference point of reality and wholeness, we will miss the critical point: God is our reference point. When we choose to gaze on His beauty, we find our innermost desires satisfied and a plan for humanity birthed in the mind’s eye of a holy God, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.
Author
Bret Mavrich is the Director of Abolition at Exodus Cry, the IHOP–KC department formed to address human trafficking. Exodus Cry is developing a feature-length documentary called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, unveiling the roots of immorality fueling human trafficking and the global sex trade.
Join us today as Mike Bickle delivers an important message to the IHOP–KC staff
Join us today as Mike Bickle delivers a message to the IHOP–KC staff about his recent and highly significant time with Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM.
Live webstreaming begins Monday, May 24, at approximately 4:30pm CST.
Notes for this meeting are available here: Notes (PDF) | Notes (Word)
One Heart Ministries International Interview with James Adams
Nate: James, you were born and spent your early years in Haiti. Is that right?
James: Yes. I was actually from the streets. When I was four years old I was on my own, fending for myself. I ran in the streets for about nine years, and then went to an orphanage. Long story short, God opened a door, my parents came to Haiti on a ministry trip, and the Lord spoke to them. He said to my parents that I was to be their son and that they were to raise me up as a Samuel in the house of prayer. At that point the house of prayer in Kansas City hadn’t started yet.
Nate: When was this?
James: About twelve years ago. My parents brought me to America, and we lived for around two years in Chicago, then we moved to Kansas City for school. We lived here for about a year and went to Metro Christian Fellowship, where Mike was the pastor. Then we moved back to Chicago, started a house of prayer, and did that for about six years. My parents decided to move to Kansas City, and my wife and I ended up moving to Haiti. We had been in Haiti for two months when the Lord directed us to move to Kansas City. and we’ve been here ever since.
Nate: At what age did you begin walking with the Lord?
James: My salvation story is amazing to me. About a year after I was adopted, I was radically saved. In every taxi in Haiti, they would say, “God is good.” They know how to speak the religious language. I grew up knowing to tell people what they wanted to hear. About a year after I came to America, my dad came to my bedroom one night to confront me about something that had happened. One thing led to another; I repented and my dad led me to the Lord. I began to weep, and I had a picture of fire. I didn’t speak in tongues; I didn’t know about anything like that. As a matter of fact, I was just learning English. I had a vision of fire coming from the front yard to my bedroom, and I started weeping and speaking in tongues the whole night—just weeping and crying before the Lord.
Nate: So your first encounter with the Lord was a vision of the fire of the Holy Spirit hitting you?
James: Yeah, and ever since, by the grace of God, I have desired to walk in His ways.
Nate: I ‘d like to talk to you about Haiti—your biological family is still there, right?
James: Yes. When I was adopted, I was a very bitter young man. I suffered a lot of abuse growing up; I would say 99 percent of young boys and girls are abused in Haiti. So, I was resentful and angry. I remember leaving Haiti and saying, “I will never be in poverty ever again.” Initially, I had no desire to go back. As a matter of fact, I wanted to be a pilot and travel the world. When I got saved, it was clear to me that the Lord was calling me to the nations. For about two years the Lord actually opened the door for me to work on my relationship with my biological mom. She encouraged me to help with a food program in Haiti, and our relationship was restored.
Seven years ago, I had an audible voice encounter with the Lord. He spoke to me and said, “I’m doing something in Haiti that you are going to want to be part of.”
My response to Him was, “I’ll do it if you tell my wife about it.”
Later on I said to my wife, “Hey Tab, did the Lord happen to speak to you last night?”
She said, “Actually, late last night, right before I went to bed, the Lord gave me an invitation.”
I said, “What was the invitation?”
She said, “The Lord said, ‘I’m doing something in Haiti and you are going to want to be part of it.’” I lost it. I just began to weep.
Nate: It couldn’t be any clearer, huh?
James: That was the initial call to Haiti. That week, there was a conference at our church with Rhonda Hughey from IHOP–KC. Sunday morning, my dad, who was the pastor at the time, invited us to share about Haiti. I went up and shared my story and gave a quick update. Rhonda went up and she was weeping. She said that the Lord was calling our church to make a covenant with Haiti. At the time, my parents and I were trying to adopt my younger brother. It was going to cost $10,000 to do it. Rhonda came up and began to prophesy over us.
She looked at me and said, “James, the Lord says to you, ‘Whatever you ask concerning Haiti, I will give it to you.’”
I began to weep. She took an offering, and we raised exactly $10,000 that morning. My parents were able to adopt my brother. About two years later, my wife and I started One Heart Ministry International. We launched it specifically wanting to help the large number of orphans in Haiti.
I felt like the Lord was giving us a strategy to care for the orphan, the needy, and the broken. We began working with orphanages—training their staff and bringing medical teams. We told them that if they gave us a year to train their staff and teach them from the Bible, then we would bring clothes, shoes, and other needed items.
Two years ago, I was privileged to lead the first IHOP–KC team to Haiti, and we saw wonderful things happen. The Spirit of God fell on our team and two of the IHOP–KC worshipers began to prophesy in Creole in front of 300 pastors.
Nate: No previous language training?
James: None. But they were singing and declaring the word of the Lord. A lady started prophesying back to us in English. It was an amazing trip, and we’ve been taking teams for the last six years.
Nate: So you were already at work in Haiti before the disastrous earthquake struck in January.
James: When the earthquake hit, I got a phone call from a friend of mine asking if I had seen the news. The first thing I did was to call my mom, uncles, and aunts. Nobody answered the phone. Our pastors, directors—nobody picked up. I called the head nurse of our organization to tell her that we were going to Haiti. The night before I left, Sean Malone of Crisis Response International (CRI, an IHOP–KC-related ministry) called, saying that they needed someone to help get them into Haiti, which we were able to do. Driving through Port-Au-Prince was like driving through a war zone. There were piles of dead bodies; mass graves were being dug.
Nate: I’m sure you were thinking, “I haven’t heard from my family, I haven’t heard from my pastors, I haven’t heard from anyone.” What was your conversation with the Lord at that point?
James: Everything was happening at such a fast pace that I don’t really know. Going through Port-Au-Prince, I thought for sure that my whole town had been destroyed. I’m talking about miles and miles of destruction. I stayed with CRI to make sure they were stabilized, and about two days after that, I went to my village. The first time I cried was when I was driving to my town and I began to see bodies and collapsed buildings. I said, “God, what is happening?” Two days later, I was invited to an orphanage of about eighty kids. They had been in a two-level house, and it had collapsed. It was tough, but we just did what we were trained to do. Three hospitals in Kansas City had given us keys to their warehouses and told us to take whatever medicines and supplies we needed. So we took care of patients all day long, helping as best as we could.
Right now, we are taking teams to Haiti every four to six weeks. The teams are made up of doctors, medical professionals, pastoral carers, psychologists, and other volunteers. Most of the medical teams that initially responded are now gone, so it’s small organizations that are taking care of the people now.
How to pray: Please be in prayer for James and One Heart Ministries International as they leave for another round of aid and relief for the people of Haiti. If you would like to help, or would like to contact One Heart Ministries, please visit their website at ohmhaiti.org.
IHOP-KC News Video
IHOP-KC News May 2010
Title
IHOP-KC News May 2010
Description
Coverage from the New England Outreach, why to pray for Israel, the upcoming Israel Mandate Conference, and the Forerunner Media Institute.
In this episode of IHOP–KC News, Allen Hood gives a special report with student testimonies of the IHOPU outreach in New England. Wes Hall prepares for our Israel Mandate conference this week by talking about why we pray for Israel. If you’d like to learn more about the Forerunner Media Institute (FMI), join Jono Hall as he shares the vision for FMI.
Crisis Response International
In 2001, Sean Malone was in New York City, working on a movie set as part of the lighting crew. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, an airliner slammed into one of the twin towers. After viewing footage of firefighters digging through rubble and debris using only flashlights to light their way, Sean and his father gathered their movie-lighting equipment and headed to Ground Zero to help search-and-rescue crews recover victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Just a few short years later, Sean and his family were evacuated from their new home in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina edged closer and closer. After Katrina hit, the Malones returned to the city to gather whatever belongings were left. Their hearts were stirred with compassion for those in need of food and shelter. For months, they stayed in New Orleans and hosted teams of volunteers for the rebuilding process. Following their time working in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Malone family moved to Kansas City, where Crises Response International began.
In the coming days, natural disasters and political, economic, and social upheavals will be prevalent. Many people will not be prepared for the coming trouble. The Lord is going to shake everything that can be shaken (Hag. 2:7; Heb. 12:26). CRI’s vision is to train and equip mercy missionaries to reach the harvest in times of crisis. Through night-and-day prayer and hands-on relief training, CRI plans to mobilize thousands of forerunners to serve the nations in need. CRI focuses on creating small teams of properly trained volunteers to bring stability and physical, emotional, and spiritual hope to people groups affected by disasters.
Your Eye Is on Me
Do you know that God is watching you? Do you know it in your heart of hearts? You may have understanding of the concept, but do you dwell in the penetrating light of this truth? If we understand this in even a measured way, if we grasp just a little bit of it, then nothing can hinder our lives in God. Being an overcomer is much more than stubborn drudgery and refusing to quit. Granted, perseverance is half the battle, but in order to overcome, there must be an unshakable inner disposition, an anchor for our souls.
If it is true that God’s eye is on me, then nothing else matters. I may have bouts of weakness in my flesh, but if I know that He is intentionally giving His attention to me, then my resolve will be strengthened, and freedom becomes attainable. We all face the diverse trials and struggles of life. These trials exist to purify and prove the worth of our devotion to Jesus in the same way that struggles in a marriage prove our devotion to our spouse, and refine that devotion into selfless, sacrificial love.
In this day, people fickly quit at the first signs of hardship, without ever experiencing the joy of overcoming the cruel tyrant of despair. One day there will be no more pain and no more sorrow. The implication is that there will be no more trials to prove or refine our love. Do you realize that you have the opportunity to love Jesus today, in the midst of confusion, pain, and struggle, to show Him how you feel about Him? It’s the one gift that only you can give to Him. No one else can love Him like you can, because no one else is facing your exact circumstances.
We can actually encounter the manifest goodness of God through our struggles. Not that the trials are easy to engage with and overcome; we still feel pain and loss and heartache. But when we draw strength from the conviction that God sees and knows our pain, we become more willing to press on for the sake of knowing and gaining Christ.
If you find yourself facing difficulties today, take heart. Nothing you do is in vain when it is done in the light of His countenance. Look at us today, O God, and let us know You are looking, for then we can overcome anything.
National Day of Prayer – Opening Letter from Mike Bickle, Lou Engle & Brian Kim
There are moments in history when a door for massive change opens. Great revolutions for good or for evil occur in the vacuum created by these openings. It is in these times that key men and women, and even entire generations, risk everything to become the hinge of history—the pivotal point that determines which way the door will swing.
We believe that America is in a pivotal moment in history. The question is what will this generation do with that moment? Brothers and sisters, the nations are shaking. Economies are falling. America’s constitution is being shredded by ideologues, who seek to alter the godly foundations laid by our forefathers. In moments like this, when there is no human recourse, no political solution, God gives His prescription: “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice . . . Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you” (Ps. 50:5,15). Again in Joel 2, the prescription given is to “Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people” (Joel 2:15).
The National Day of Prayer takes on possibly more spiritual significance this year than at any other time in our nation’s history. It seems that in 2010, everything hangs in the balance. It is a year of transition and consequence. We want to see the Church, every ethnic group and every denomination, setting one day apart to fast and pray with humility and penetrating personal repentance, asking God to put an end to the Church’s and the nation’s moral defiance of Him, and to send a great spiritual awakening.
Humility, fasting and tears, a sincere rending of the heart, and sacrifice must mark this National Day of Prayer. We need undeserved mercy, not empty promises of a great retirement plan in the mirage of our American dream. Shut it all down and call upon God to turn our nation in repentance to Him. We must have righteous leaders in every sphere of society. Promotion comes only from the Lord, and only an appeal to heaven can loose such favor.
We must turn our hearts from the pursuit of wealth to compassion for the poor. We must work justly to answer our great national sin of abortion. We must see a reversal in the Church of her easy agreement with divorce. What can end the plague of pornography that sweeps our pulpits and our people? It has always been “If my people will humble themselves and pray” (2 Chr. 7:14).
This National Day of Prayer is not meant to be just another good idea. Let everyone cry to the Lord with fasting. May God grant us revival in our day of trouble. TheCall, the International House of Prayer of Kansas City, and the prayer movements of America unite wholeheartedly behind James and Shirley Dobson and the National Day of Prayer.
Dwell
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. (Ps. 111:2)
One need not go far to study the works of the Lord. His majestic works are displayed all around us; in the heavens, the earth, and the oceans. But the greatest miracles to behold are those that He has wrought in us! What God will do in a human heart testifies of His goodness and mercy. I need to constantly remind myself of all that He has done within me. I may study the works of His fingers in creation, I may look into the heavens and wonder at His power, I may watch the moon and the stars and be amazed by His beauty, but the greatest miracle is when God touches the human heart and draws it in love to Jesus.
I study the faithfulness of God in my life because it reminds me that I am in His thoughts day and night. If I ever forget what He has done in my life, then my perspective and vision are off. If I don’t remember what God has done in me, I can easily forget the hope of my calling. The temptation is to focus on my present circumstances instead of God’s promises. The testimonies we have need to be held in awestruck remembrance and unending gratitude. My focus needs to be on what has been promised, and my faith rooted in what God has done.
Fuel for the Prayer Movement
What could possess someone to the degree that they would willingly and gladly lay down their life? The answer: something greater than the world has to offer. No one, no matter how noble or selfless, would voluntarily lay down his or her life for something mediocre. There must be an internal resolution that is not based on external circumstances, and a knowledge of the reality of the invisible world. Jesus Christ was such a one, as were His disciples. The apostle Paul was a man possessed. He was not himself.
These considerations motivate the Church towards prayer. God’s ordained way from death to life and weakness to strength involves, among other elements of faith, the simplicity of asking (2 Chr. 7:14; Lk. 18:7-8; Mt. 7:7-8). Why does prayer exist on the earth today? Why is there a symphony of prayer growing louder in the nations? The answer: something greater is coming . . . and it is not mediocre!
The chief concern of the prayer movement is to hasten the coming Day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:12). When He comes, righteousness will be restored, wickedness will be expelled, life will abound, death will be no more, crying and anguish shall cease, truth will roll like rivers of water, and all nations shall walk in the light of the glory of God. Beloved intercessors, it is not a light thing we do. Every prayer in agreement with the promises of God will effect a change for eternity. Take courage, you watchmen! The day is coming when you shall walk by sight, and all longing for restoration will be fulfilled by a glorified home called the New Jerusalem, the Paradise of God.
When the Jewish captives were released from Babylon in 536 B.C., they returned to Jerusalem after seventy years to rebuild the temple of the Lord. Many of the 50,000 Jews who returned lost heart at the burden of the labor before them. But the Lord established two messengers, Haggai and Zechariah, to prophesy encouragement, and the people “prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah” (Ezra 6:14). Those who labored found hope again from the words of these men. These prophets of the Old Testament were similar to the apostles of the New Testament. They were gripped with an understanding of the age to come, knowing that all things are made right under Messiah’s dominion. By the Spirit of the Lord, these prophets understood that there is continuity between the labors of the present age and those of the age to come.
Are you weary in doing well? Look at the words of these prophets; take heart. Your labors are not in vain. What you are doing now has an eternal effect on history, even in the Millennium. Partnering with God’s purposes through prayer and intercession will release something that all creation now groans for—the restoration of all things (Rom. 8:18–23). One of the primary weapons that the enemy uses against us is the lie that what we are doing is insignificant or ineffective. We must resist the lie that would persuade us to give up. The weakness of our efforts is not a hindrance to the Lord but the primary way that His glory is displayed in and through us! We long for the day of Christ’s appearing and we labor to hasten that day when all will be made right. The hope of our calling is that the Lord will fully answer every cry for justice (Luke 18:7–8).
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” (Rev. 21:3–7)
Our Place of Authority
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ . . . In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ . . . in [whom] we have redemption through his blood . . . (Eph. 1:3–7, NIV)
Wouldn’t you think the Bible would say, “God will someday bless us with every spiritual blessing” once we reach a certain level of spiritual maturity or once we have resurrected bodies? But God says He has already given us every spiritual blessing in Christ. “He has blessed us.” It is past tense. Believe it. This verse is as true for the one who was born again in Christ two days ago as it is for the one who has been walking faithfully with the Lord for fifty years.
In Ephesians 1:3–14, Paul describes our spiritual inheritance in God. Before He made the world, the Father saw us and chose us in Christ. We were loved and desired as sons and daughters before He hung the stars in place. Christ paid for us to stand faultless before the Father when He poured out His lifeblood for us. Upon believing this, we received the Holy Spirit—God living on the inside, think of it—who continually bears witness to the day when we will be glorified in God’s presence as coheirs with Christ.
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6, NIV). I don’t claim to know the fullness of what it means to be blessed “in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), but I am quite sure of this: it’s a lot more than we currently realize and live out! It’s as though we’ve been given a billion dollars, but we’re living on ten cents a day. We tend to approach God as beggars, while He sees us as beloved kings (Rev. 1:5–6)! We often live in a mindset that God will someday exercise His authority to heal or deliver us, when we could walk in His authority today! Both are certainly true—the kingdom of God is now (in part) and not yet (in fullness)—but I think we’d be surprised at how much He’s waiting for us take the authority He has given us.
Although I don’t believe we can necessarily “name and claim” the fullness of the effects of God’s kingdom now (for example, we are not immune from suffering, disease, or death until the resurrection), we should always be reaching! We should be always seeking and praying for it to be “on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10, NIV). Do we always pray for healing? Good, but there’s more. God yearns for us to arise in partnership with Him.
I like the gospels’ account of Jesus multiplying food for a hungry multitude (Mt. 14:13–21; Mk. 6:30–44; Lk. 9:10–17). The disciples told Jesus to send the thousands away to go find something to eat. He replied, “You give them something to eat.” It’s humorous because He fully knew their faith wasn’t there yet. He put their calling right before them nonetheless, as if to say, “You’re not called to just watch me do all the miracles; I actually want you to do them with me!” Similarly, He didn’t say, “You shall ask me to move the mountain, and I will do it,” but, “You can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move” (Mt. 17:20, NIV). And, “In my name they will drive out demons” (Mk. 16:17, NIV), not “They will ask me to cast out demons.” Of course, asking is part of the partnership between Jesus and His people (Mt. 7:7), but it’s not the only part. Sometimes He waits for us to act upon His Word and take the authority He has given us.
So, I have been “practicing” taking that authority because I believe that authority over darkness doesn’t grow out of nowhere. Admittedly, it feels a little awkward at first. Sometimes, for example, when I verbally take authority over sickness in my child’s body and command the body to be healed in Jesus’ name, I feel as though I’m a little bird trying to bark at a dog. But such an inward image just reveals my little faith. A more accurate picture might be of a little bird that has a mighty lion standing behind it, and when the bird speaks in the lion’s name, the lion’s roar puts that scrawny canine to flight! The more I step out, the more my faith grows. God is patient, and, frankly, I think He’s just excited when we start trying to walk in His authority—like the joy my husband and I felt when our babies first started to walk. We saw their courage! They fell a lot as they stepped out on muscles that had hardly been used. But they kept getting up and stepping out, and we celebrated them all along the way. It takes time, and regular use, to build muscles. God knows this. He is rejoicing over us as we grow.
A word of warning: walking in power is no license for sin. And it doesn’t replace intimacy with God. Spiritual authority is supposed to flow out of relationship with God; it is not a thing given to exalt its bearer but to equip him to serve and go low for others’ sake. It’s possible to spend your life doing works that add up to nothing when you stand before Christ, because they didn’t flow from relationship with Him (1 Cor. 3:11–15). It’s even possible for someone to perform miracles in Jesus’ name but be so spiritually hollow on the inside that Christ will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Mt. 7:21–23, NKJV). But this will not happen if our focus is walking with God.
As for me, I am not letting another year of my life go by without learning more about Ephesians 1:3 and “every spiritual blessing in Christ.” I want to walk in His authority, not just so that my comfort level increases, but so that He finds in me a heart that believes His words and impacts others with His presence. May He find us as ones who believe what He said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn. 14:12, NKJV).
Oh, may the eyes of our hearts be enlightened to know what is the greatness of His power towards us who believe (Eph. 1:18–19)!
