Ephesians 1:18-20
One of the reasons why you need your eyes to be enlightened is for you to know the potency of what you have. You need to have a thorough working functional knowledge of what is available to you. What we have is in two dimensions:
1. What is available in you
2. What is available towards you
From the scripture text Ephesians 1:18-20, Paul did not leave us in doubt to have an idea of the potency of this power. He quickly made it known to us that the power he is referring to that works in us and towards us is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
THREE THINGS TO NOTE IN THE SCRIPTURE TEXT
1. The hope of his calling: You need to have a thorough understanding of your eyes being opened to know the hope of your calling.
2. What the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints: Having an understanding of what is available for us as an inheritance as saints in Christ
3. The exceeding greatness of his power: This power referred here is working. This same power is the one He wrought in Christ. This power is superior to powers.
All of this is made available for us the church, that is You. You need to depend on God for all that is available. You need to depend on the power of God on your inside and the power of God that is towards you.
The power of God on your inside is what you use to function in your role and carry out your responsibility and assignment in God while the power of God towards you is the one He will use to decorate your life, it is possible for a man to be anointed and it is not reflecting in his life. It is one thing to carry power and it is another thing to see power around you. This power has dual functions;
1. PERFORMANCE
2. PROMINENCE
The word, “Hope of his calling” has nothing to do with ministry functions. It has to do with the fact that we are called into Christ. It is an invitation to life, to partake of the blessings of God. The hope we have in Christ is double hope. We have hope in this world and in the world to come
We have hope that when people come to God he will save them. He saves, delivers, blesses, lifts and he makes people whole.
He brings salvation to people, he blessed people with peace of men. This is the hope we have in him, so when we ask people to receive Jesus, primarily speaking it is for the world to come, for their soul, for eternal salvation.That their eternity will be secured in God, that is the primary purpose
We don’t come to Christ and our lives become very miserable. If it is only Just for us to make heaven or to be in paradise is the only reason for salvation then Christianity is not worth it.
We have Christ, we have hope that when he comes we will be with him, that hope is sure, there is also hope that while we are here on earth, Christ heals, saves, delivers,sets free, bless, raises, and uplifts.
Don’t be too christosentic to come to a pool where you don’t believe in the goodness of Jesus even in this side of eternity. Don’t come to a point where you won’t believe that the same Jesus that saved you from sin is also the one that heals sickness.
Apostle Paul said that he wants our eyes of understanding to be enlightened to know that this salvation, that we come into Christ is something that is worth it, something to celebrate, to rejoice about. The hope of his calling, the glorious call, he did not just call us to make a mockery of our life. We have not accepted Jesus to be living in penury or lack .
In as much as we know that that is not the only reason why we have come to accept Jesus, it is for our eternal salvation, but before he comes we have life to do here. We have a life to live here.
2) The Riches of the glory of his inheritance
When we need to come to a point where we also have a clear understanding, not just of the glory of his inheritance but of how rich his inheritance is. We can actually say the glory of his inheritance, it is permitted but the holy ghost permitted them to put the riches so we need to also have a clear understanding not just about the glory of his inheritance but how rich that inheritance is. The glory of his inheritance means the splendor of what the father has done for us in Christ Jesus.
He also wants us to understand not just inheritance as it were but to know that the inheritance is rich. The riches connote the wealth of the kingdom which believers are meant to walk in.
Our inheritance in Christ is not physical. It is forgiveness, justified, accepted, loved, blessed, sanctified etc. these things are very rich.
3) The Exceeding greatness of his power: is talking about God’s extraordinary ability to accomplish great things. An Example of what he has accomplished through and with that power is that he raised Jesus from the dead. And if he raises Jesus from the dead, there is nothing around our life that is more complex than that.
So if anything around our life is dead/not working, it can be raised. So Paul said believers don’t know what is available in them and towards them. So Paul was asking the father to open their eyes and let their eyes be able to know the exceeding greatness of his power.
Situation or Circumstances sometimes won’t make us come into the reality of what God can do. If they will hype you on anything, nobody should hype you about the power of God. God wants us to have a clear understanding of what is available in us and what is available towards us.
All of this power is put together for us. Ephesians 1:22
The theme of this scripture is that Paul wants you to come to a place where you have a clear, thorough, understanding of what the exceeding greatness of his power can accomplish and that this power is working in you.
We are the body of Christ. We are the church. You need to understand what is available towards you and in you. The Holy Ghost is in you and you carry the power of God.
Believers are not meant to pray for more power, but for boldness to give expression to the power of God. The power of God does not grow in you. We have a way of praying out of lack of knowledge and scriptural ignorance.
What actually determines how a person functions is not the size of power on the inside but the supernatural boldness to give expression to the power that you carry.
The disciples went somewhere to preach and they were restricted, so they went into their company, lifted up their voices and they prayed. The prayer they prayed was not for increase in power, but increase in boldness. The way one person gives expression to power may be different from the way another gives expression to power, that is why it may seem like one is more anointed than the other, but this is not true. We are anointed equally because the measure of our anointing is not a thing but a person. This will shock you. Papa Adeboye is not more anointed than you, he just has a better walk with God. Over time he has grown in boldness, to give expression to the same power that is on your inside. He has boldness in the power of God by reason of use.
We don’t fast to increase power nor go to the mountains. That is only done from a place of ignorance. We have the power of God.
This year you have to be daring with the power of God, to rebuke sickness, the wind. The Father anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost, and you are also anointed with the Holy Ghost. You are not less anointed.
Jesus did not die for a feeble church, he died for a triumphant church. Your finances, health, have ears, just the same way the wind that Jesus spoke to had ears to hear the word.
There was a prophet who died in debt. Debtors came to trouble his wife and sons.
2 Kings 4:2-3
And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
Elisha did not do anything special. He used what is in the widow’s house. Her husband died as a debtor as creditors kept troubling her and her sons.
Elisha asked what they had in the house. They did not understand what was in the house. This is in the same way Paul prayed concerning the eyes of understanding being enlightened. Many people do not know that is why they are struggling. They do not know what is inside of them. They do not have the oil.
The woman said to him “….and the debtors came
…”Elisha asked what she asked but she said nothing except. The man had it before he died.
The companion of the oil is the Holy Ghost in the believer. He is our teacher. He is our deliverer. The woman had it but they did not know what to do with it.
No believer has a better Holy Spirit. It is wrong information that makes a believer run to man for help, despite the solution is inside of them.This is why a believer should stand up in his authority in the face of a nightmare. The church is meant to teach us a believer.This is why a believer should not be underfed or being fed inaccurately in the word. We must learn and act to stand in God’s authority to rebuke sickness, diseases and the unexpected.
This is why God’s power is not limited to do the impossible. The pastor of our local church is laced with the assignment to help our faith. He /she is trained in the word to build our faith- knowing God ourselves.
A pastor is not special if his members sit and still wait on him after the sermon begging for his hand to be laid upon them.
However, a believer can ask his pastor to be joined in prayer for something.
Jesus has done all He has to do for us via salvation. This is why concerning the authority we have through salvation in His name we can stand and rebuke anything contrary to His name.
He has given power and authority to us. He does not need the power. He has given us all things. We cast devils and demons in His name.
Until we stand in our rightful place and give account of the power of God things we We can rebuke sickness and rebuke contrary wind. We can speak to our ministry, family and career.
The Holy Ghost on our inside is to bring us to the place of maturity and stability. He will bring us to the place where we will not suffer reproach. He will bring us to a place where we cannot suffer defeat.
He is the power of God on the inside of every believer. He will bring us to the place where we will depend on the power of God to do exceedingly abundantly all that we ask, think or imagine, according to the power of God in us.
We are the taught of God. He died for us. We are kept and preserved by the power of God. The believer is not the same again. We must know what is available to us. We must know the power at work in us towards our ministry, career and family. The anointing which the Father has given to us is the Holy Ghost to be empowered.