The Power Available to Every Believer

"And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power" - Ephesians 1:19 (NKJV)

When God answers this prayer for spiritual wisdom, spiritual sight, and experiential knowledge, what happens? Paul describes the "victorious power" that becomes available. In verse nineteen, he speaks of "the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power."

Paul uses four different Greek words that all relate to power, building them on top of one another to help us grasp what's available to us. He mentions "power" (dunamis, from which we get "dynamite"), "working" (energia, from which we get "energy"), "mighty" (kratos, meaning the ability to conquer), and "power" again (ischus, referring to physical strength). These are four different expressions of power, superlative upon superlative, helping us understand what God has made available to us.

Children of God don't have to live power-depleted lives. The same God Who saves us by grace through faith wants to live His life through us. Often, we get the mistaken idea that we give our lives to Jesus because of what He did on the cross, and then spend the rest of our lives trying to obey biblical commands in our own strength, doing the best we can.
But God is trying to teach us something different. It's not what we're doing for Him - t's what He wants to do through us.

At a world's fair in 1924, crowds gathered around a fascinating display. A man was furiously pumping water from what appeared to be a well. The water gushed forth powerfully, and the man pumped steadily for minutes without showing any signs of fatigue. Spectators were amazed at his stamina and work ethic.

As people moved closer to get a better look, they made an astonishing discovery. The "man" was actually a wooden figure with hinges at the joints. It wasn't a person at all, but a carefully crafted dummy. And here's the amazing part: the figure wasn't pumping the water - the water was pumping the figure!

It was an artesian well, with natural pressure forcing water to the surface. The water pressure was so strong that it moved the wooden arms up and down, creating the illusion that the figure was doing all the work. What appeared to be incredible human effort was actually the power of the water source doing everything.

This illustrates the Christian life. In John 7:37-39, Jesus declared, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." He was describing the Holy Spirit's work in our lives if we would tap into it.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with us, in us, and wants to be active in our lives. We need to allow Him to do His work through us - not through our own effort, but by yielding to His power working through us. The Christian life is not one of works, but of grace.

In John 15, Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches." He desires that we be fruitful believers, but it's not the branch's job to stress about producing fruit. The branch's job is to stay connected to the vine, to remain connected to the life source. In the same way, our responsibility is to stay connected to Jesus, to stay close to Him, and then allow Him to express His life through us. We become fruitful Christians not by the sweat of our brow, but by the power of God at work in our lives.

Zechariah 4:6 captures this truth: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts."

Too often, we exhaust ourselves trying to pump spiritual water - working up love, forcing patience, manufacturing joy, striving to be good Christians through sheer willpower. But God wants us to discover the artesian well of His Spirit's power that flows through us naturally when we're properly connected to the Source.

Reflection Question: In what areas of your Christian life are you exhausting yourself "pumping water" instead of letting God's power flow naturally through you?

Heavenly Father, I confess that I often try to live the Christian life in my own strength, pumping up spiritual qualities through willpower and effort. Help me discover the artesian well of Your Spirit's power within me. Teach me to stop striving and start flowing, letting Your exceeding power work through me naturally as I stay connected to You. Let rivers of living water flow from my heart. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Check out: "Seeing With the Eyes of the Heart" (Ephesians 1:15-19): https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/td3gnp7/6-seeing-with-the-eyes-of-the-heart-eph-1-15-19