WHAT IS GOD ABLE TO DO IN YOU?

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

This great text is the text for this Sunday's morning service. What is God able to do in you? More than you think. Certainly the Apostle Paul's experience speaks to the truth of this passage. That God could transform "a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor" (1 Tim. 1:13) and make him into that great theologian and missionary--that was, by God's ability, exceeding abundantly beyond what anyone would have asked or thought.

I love the story of the prodigal son. He had taken his share of his inheritance and "squandered his estate on loose living" (Luke 15:13). He was destitute to the extent that he was "longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating" (Luke 15:16). But he came to his senses and returned to his father, thinking that perhaps his father would make him as one of his hired men (Luke 15:19). But his father did more than that. When he returned he "embraced him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). He put his best robe on him and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. He killed the fattened calf and arranged for a feast to celebrate his son's return (Luke 15:23-25). Certainly this was all exceeding abundantly beyond all that he thought!

What about you? You've trusted in Christ. God has begun a good work in you. What does He have planned for you? What is God able to do in your life? God's plans for us are exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Say a prayer. Think a thought. God's plans for you are greater. "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9).

How is all of this possible? Because HE IS ABLE. God is glorified in the transformation of His children. It is a work that God alone can do. It happens by His grace and is to the praise of the glory of His grace. So Paul declared, inspired as he was, "to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Eph. 3:21)."

Pastor Jerry