THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING

Ephesians 1:16,17,18

I pray to You, God of my Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Glory, that You would grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into mysteries and secrets, in the deep and intimate knowledge of You.

Here in verse 16 we are asking our Father to show us Himself, to give us wisdom and understanding of His nature, of His Kingdom.  He is the One with insights into the mysteries and secrets of His realm.  As we seek Him daily and spend time in His Word, we come to know Him and His ways and learn how to walk in those ways ourselves.

The eyes of my understanding being enlightened, of my heart being flooded with light—–

So that—–

I may know and understand—–

(1)  What is the hope of Your calling

(2)  What is the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in me, your set-apart one

(3)  What is the exceeding, unlimited, immeasurable, surpassing greatness of your dunamis, resurrection power toward me, in me and for me who believes.

God demonstrated the greatness of His marvelous power when He raised Christ Jesus from the dead.  That same power is in you and me right now if we are born again, if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior.  Interestingly enough, that power will lie there dormant until we learn about it and how to allow the Spirit of God to operate in our lives.  The power is there in us.  That is the hope of His calling.  He is calling you and me to a higher ground than we have ever attained before in our lives.

IT’S A HOLY CALLING

Every person on the face of this earth was born to a destiny laid out for them by God Almighty.  It is a holy calling because it is God’s calling.  You are born for a purpose.  Yes, you!  Regardless of who you are or where you are right now, you were born to fulfill the plan of God for your life.  A calling is a plan.  It is God’s plan for you.  If you do not know what that plan is, ask Him.  He will tell you.  It will be made clear to you.  How will He tell you?  It may not be a loud voice saying:  Thus saith the Lord……  It may as simple as this:  I really like to do ________.  That is more than likely your calling.

People have gotten confused with the word “calling” thinking that it means someone who is called to a pulpit ministry.  No, no!  Your calling is what God has purposed for you and you alone to do.  It is the place where you find the most joy and peace.  There are people who are born, live and die and never fulfill what God has called them to do because they are afraid to step out in what they sense they enjoy doing.  God will make the way clear for you.  Whatever He calls you to do, He already has the provision to fulfill that plan.

2 Timothy 1:9,10 (Personalized)

It is God Who has saved me and called me with an holy calling, not according to my works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given me in Christ Jesus before the world began.  It is now made manifest by the appearing of my Savior Jesus Christ, Who has abolished death (made it of no effect) and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (Personalized)

God, I pray that You would count me worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of Your goodness and the work of faith with power.

Yes, it is God Who has called you according to His own purpose.  He gives you His grace to fulfill that calling.

EXPECTATION

Expect:  To look, that is, to reach forward, or to fix the eyes

I once heard a minister say that he expects to receive from God all the time.  That sentence has been in the front of my spirit ever since I heard it.  God expects us to receive what He gives to us.  He has so many gifts for us of health and prosperity and peace and joy and gentleness and faith.  I could extend the list but you get the idea.  How can we get something which we are not expecting?  I think that God has compassion on us and because of His great and awesome love for us, He simply has to do something to spill over on us.  That’s commendable, but wouldn’t it be better to receive from Him on a daily basis and give Him great pleasure.

Say this with me:

I expect to receive from God all the time.

I believe I receive.  I take it now.

You might want to make a list of the things you see in the Bible and that God tells you to expect and keep them before you and speak out what you are expecting.  It is time to expect and receive.  Do you know that the best time to get your “expecter” out there is when everything seems to be going the opposite direction of what you need or want!  When all looks bleak and dismal and there doesn’t seem to be anything good happening in your life, deliberately, on purpose, stand still wherever you are and expect something good to happen to you.

Have you been released from your job?  Expect a better one.  Have you lost money in your retirement account?  Expect more money than what you lost.  Have your children gone out and done things contrary to the way they were raised?  Expect them to come into the fullness of what God has for them.  Has your spouse told you that he/she wants out of the relationship?  Expect God to supply the emotional needs of your soul.  I think you get the picture.  You might say that I am expecting the impossible!  Yes, that is it!  We serve a God whose power is greater than the impossible.  All things are possible with Him.

Here are a few scriptures to help you on expectation.  Think on them.  Ponder them.  Speak them.  Believe them.

Proverbs 23:18, Amplified Bible

For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:14, Amplified Bible

So shall you know skillful and godly Wisdom to be thus to your life; if you find it, then shall there be a future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

What have you got to lose?  Expecting something and getting all of it or part of it is better than not expecting anything and not getting anything.  I know what you are thinking.  If I don’t expect anything, I won’t be disappointed.  Really!  You are disappointed and discouraged already if that is where you are (and all of us have been there on more than one occasion).

EXPECT!  GOD HAS GREAT THINGS FOR YOU!

AUTHORITY AND POWER, PART 7

So far we have learned that Jesus came and destroyed the works of the devil for us and he rendered satan entirely useless.  Today we will see what he did to the principalities and powers and the law of sin and death.

Colossians 2:14,15, Amplified Bible

Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us).  This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.

[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it, [the cross].

God through Jesus personally cancelled the handwriting of the note that was written against us.  He completely blotted it out and wiped it away.  It was a legal demand which had been decreed against us.  It was in place and stood against us, condemning us and accusing us.  It was hostile to us.  What was that note?  It was the law of sin and death that had been instituted by Adam’s yielding to satan.  Satan has only one thing—-death, which results from sin and fear because he is fear personified.  We see in Romans 8:2 that the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.  Jesus nailed that note to the cross when he was nailed to the cross because He Who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus—-that we may be made right with God and enjoy His rights bestowed on us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Then, in addition to dealing with the law of sin and death, God through Jesus dealt a blow to satan’s kingdom by spoiling or disarming and stripping every one of satan’s demonic forces of their authority over us as God’s children.  He triumphed over them in the cross.  The cross is where the tide was turned for you and me.  We are on the other side of the cross.  We are on the victory side.  Since Jesus came to this earth and completed His assignment, we are forever free from all the dominion of the satanic realm.  We must exercise the authority we have been given over this realm in order to walk free ourselves.

We are free people!  Believe it and receive it!  Take hold of the truth of who you are in Christ Jesus!