God Is Able
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” —Ephesians 3:20-21
In the closing doxology of this chapter, Paul expressly states that believers will face powers that are completely overwhelming, even as we look to the finished work of Christ. We will face an array of forces beyond our scope or imagination; whether we have just begun our Christian journey or if we have been a Christian for most of our lives, there will be powers greater than us that will do their best to stop us. Satan designs that which will come against us to cause all sorts of problems, with the sole purpose of forcing our faith to be shaken or for us to quit altogether.
THE POWER THAT WORKS AGAINST US
Understand that Satan will attack us on two fronts—on a personal level and in our walk with the Lord. When we say that Satan will attack us personally, this is self-explanatory. However, to clarify, he will level his attack on us in this area to steal what God has given us. The inheritance that covers so much ground is quite significant, from the spiritual to the financial, physical, and even over into the domestic. In other words, this inheritance given to us by our heavenly Father touches every aspect of our lives. And yet Satan will do everything to steal that from us.
Satan will try and rob us of our victory, steal our joy, cause sickness to come upon us, or even drive our family away from God. He will stop at nothing to take from us, for the Bible calls him a thief, which is precisely what he is. Satan is a master of deception and fear-mongering, and he will plant things in our minds to persuade us that it is all over or that he will ultimately have the final say in our lives. He is often successful because of a lack of understanding of the cross regarding our everyday life and living. He will wreak havoc on our minds to get us to believe that things are worse off than they are. As a result, he steals land, so to speak, that does not belong to him. Remember the old saying, give him an inch and he’ll take a mile? That is precisely what Satan will do if we let him. Let me encourage you not to let the enemy steal what God has given you.
Second, Satan also attacks us on a spiritual level, referring to our walk with the Lord. Satan does not want us to progress in our spiritual walk, so he will create obstacles and bring about hindrances in our path to stop our progress. He does not want us to move forward; instead, he wants us to quit and return to our old way of life. He will never give up on getting us to give up; he will bring discouragement every chance he gets, hoping we will surrender. Understand that Satan ever attempts to redirect our walk, our lives, away from the Spirit and toward something else entirely different, which, if we allow him the latitude to do that, will lead to ruin. The enemy knows that if we continue to live and walk after the Holy Spirit, victory will be ours, and he does not want that to happen. So, he will redirect our attention to walking after the flesh, which is, as we have stated before, our strengths and abilities. Now, the responsibility of this is on us, the believers, and we have the choice to say yes to the Spirit, which is to say no to the flesh. But by not understanding the how-to, so many Christians fail.
WHAT IS WALKING AFTER THE SPIRIT?
Walking after the Spirit simply means governing our lives after the inward leading of the Holy Spirit. One does this by placing his faith in Christ and the cross, which allows the Holy Spirit to produce what is needed, which is the secret of all victory over sin. This is the how-to that so many Christians are missing. I will not go into much detail regarding what this is, for we have brought this out any number of times. However, I want to point out that the very moment the believer places his faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit will then take up residence in his life to minister to the spiritual needs of said believer. It is the same for our everyday walk, for as we continue to look to the finished work of Christ, the Holy Spirit will continue to lead us and guide us into all truth (John 14:16), and as such, our inner man is now under the auspices of the Holy Spirit. As we have stated, walking after the Spirit means looking to the cross of Christ for all things; this engages the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we fail to understand this, then, like so many have, we will continue to fail in our walk with the Lord. But take heart, dear Christian, for it is not God’s will for us to live in a state of constant failure. He desires that we live in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, and we can do so at this present juncture in life. No matter how bad or how often we fail, He has promised us more abundant life (John 10:10) for those who trust Him.
THE POWER OF GOD
Even though we will experience the powers of darkness, we have a greater power working for us based on the authority of the Word of God: God Himself! God is the source of all power and is greater than any other power on the face of the earth.
This article will continue in the next issue of The Evangelist.
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