Week 8, 2002

Last week we examined Ephesians 1:18 where Paul wrote:


I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,


In verse 19 he continues:


and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.


This is another one of those verses that seems worthy of a lifetime of study. Paul is stating the power that is offered to us is no less than the working of the strength of the Lord’s might! The "surpassing greatness" of His power, the One who created all things, is extended to us who believe! Could this be possible? The Lord Jesus Himself stated in Matthew 17:20:


.... for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you."


A mustard seed is not very big. In fact, it is very small. Certainly it would seem that every Christian has that much faith. Every Christian does have deposited within a faith that can do the most extraordinary exploits. Why do we not see this being exhibited?

In truth we have, to a degree. Christians are responsible for the greatest exploits in history. They have moved many mountains, and many more are about to be. Slavery was one of them. Feudalism was another, and the list goes on and on. Even so, the Lord was speaking of faith being able to move literal mountains, which we have not seen yet. We will. However, to do this we must have faith like a seed. A seed is something that we must cultivate, nurture, and protect, until it is mature and bears fruit.

If every Christian was immediately given authority to move mountains the world would certainly be in chaos. The Lord has so instituted the laws of faith to also require maturity, wisdom, and most important of all, obedience to the King. True faith is not a faith in our faith—it is faith in Jesus. Because it is faith in Him, it requires that we look to Him and see Him to believe. As we look to the King and see who He is, our faith will grow and we will also bend our wills to His as we behold His great authority and glory.

True faith is obedience. This is why Paul wrote in Romans 1:5, "through whom we have received apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name’s sake." If even Jesus did not do anything unless He saw the Father do it, how much more should we be under submission to do nothing that He does not show us to do. We may ask, "Can anyone live this way?" Yes, in fact we were created for it, and to walk any other way is contrary to our true nature.

Man was created to have fellowship with God and to walk with Him daily just as Adam did before the fall. Because of this there is a void in our soul that can only be filled by a daily encounter with the Lord. The new creation man is created for something even greater—we are created to actually be the dwelling place of God. He lives in us! The One who created the universe lives in each one of us. As Paul wrote in I Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" If anyone begins to really live by this truth they will be able to easily move mountains and drop them into the sea.

Remember in the previous verse we studied, Ephesians 1:18, Paul prayed for "the eyes of your heart" to be opened. That is the key to miraculous power—seeing what the Lord is doing and becoming one with Him in it.

This does not happen for anyone all at once, as it did not even happen to Paul the apostle that way. He grew in the faith. Again, faith is like a seed that must be planted, cultivated, watered, protected from weeds that would choke it, and then nurtured until it bears fruit. That is why Adam was given the job of cultivating the garden—like walking with God while cultivating what He has planted is a fundamental purpose that we have on this earth. Are you cultivating the seeds that have been planted in your own heart? There is a seed in you that can move mountains. Right now, start cultivating it by moving what obstacles are in your life that are hindering your spiritual walk.

Like the stone that Daniel saw that struck the feet of the statue of man’s kingdoms, but itself grew into a mountain that filled the earth, determine that it will be the first mountain that you move to your own home so that it can bring down any idols that are in it, and grow itself until it fills your whole life. Then we will be a part of it as it fills the earth.