By Who's Power?

I was reading in Ephesians 1 this morning and specifically the following verses 19-23: "I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ who fills everything everywhere with his presence."

Now when I read this I couldn't help but think about how this played out on my trip to Africa this past February. It totally amazed me how a group of 15 people who didn't know each other came together for about 10 days in a foreign country to do the work of God to design a 30,000 student university in the middle of a far away continent in a hot, dusty, lacking vegetation 1000 acre site. We all came in with our own ideas, our own agendas, and our own "power". But God had different plans. Christ brought all of our work, all of our time, and all of our strength under his authority. And we finished the work, which would normally take 2-3 weeks, in a time frame of 5-6 days. That's amazing! The amount of work and energy we spent was not in our own power, but that of Jesus Christ.

This was super natural power that kept us going. How do I know this? I was able to stay up for 3 nights in a row late and survive on 3-4 hours of sleep anight. I was totally focused on my work and had a clear mind. I was able to take time out and interact with the 450+ children presnt at the school too. And as I was totally wiped out physically and emotionally for almost 2 weeks when I got back to Sioux City. And in God's super natural plan, he allowed me to rest before the on slot of work that he has currently blessed me with.

So ask yourself (as I am), "Who's power am I under today? My own feable power or God's mighty power who raised Christ from the dead? When the task seems insurmountable, who do I lean on for strength and power to go forward? I can only go so far on my own".

Maybe it's time we all surrended to the power of Christ, since it is available for us to tap into for all those who believe in him. This is my prayer for myself, for you reading this and the church. It's time for us to plug in. The time is now.

Win4him!
Karl