Winning in Marriage Part Six

Fresh Manna 2007© by Pastor Tim Burt
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/

Eph. 3:20 (NIV) “Now to Him (God) who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…”

Have you ever had anyone surprise you and do something extraordinarily nice for you –something that was unexpected and beyond what you would have ever expected if you had expected it?

This past weekend, I was up in Toronto, Canada to do some church consulting and minister at a church there. I’ve been there before and over the years I have developed great friendships with a few people up there. I love them dearly. Being asked to come up there was a treat for me because it gave me the opportunity to spend a little time with them.

After two very long and tiring work days, one of my friends asked if I wanted to go out to dinner?” I was glad to go because this was mostly a working trip and we hadn’t had much time to catch up and talk. I was hoping our other friends could come but they weren’t able to – or so I thought. My friend picked me up. I didn’t ask him were we were going to dinner because he always picks a great place. He told me our other friends were coming and I was pleasantly surprised that they had changed their mind. We were all in the car chatting on what I thought was the way to the restaurant. Suddenly we pull into a parking lot with huge tents in it. I didn’t know what was going on. As it turned out, my friend surprised me by purchasing tickets and taking us all to “Cirque du Soleil” – a modern circus with incredible talent. This was something I had watched on television and greatly desired to see for years. The tickets are very expensive which added to my absolute shock. I was as excited as a little boy. This was truly far beyond what I could have ever asked or thought. God blessed me through my friend.

Having said all that, God by His nature seldom does or works things out in what we might call, a conventional way. He answers prayer in such a greater way that we could ask or think when we trust and believe in His promises knowing that He delights in helping and blessing us. Knowing and believing this becomes His power working in us. Eph. 3:20 (NIV) says, “Now to Him (God) who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…”

So much about what people – couples or not – get anxious over is what they need or over what they don’t have. God wants to help us with what we need and what we don’t have. It’s just that too many people don’t really know God that way or believe in faith that God would care to help them that personally in their life. The fact is; He is willing to. And as you just read in this verse, “He is able to do …immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” But, He also reveals that this is a result of “…His power that is at work within us…” And get this point! It isn’t enough to know that God is able. You much believe that He is willing and desirous to help you! You must have faith in that. It is the key to “…His power at work within us…”

This is the kind of faith Abraham pleased God with. God called him the Father of our faith because of His belief. Let’s read about it.

Romans 4:16-22 “So that’s why faith is the key! God’s promise is given to us as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it…if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” When God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, Abraham believed him. God had also said, “Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars,” even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible! And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though he knew that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything He promised…” Over time God fulfilled every promise to Abraham. It is our faith in God’s promises that honors God. It is the power of God working in us.

God is not a “genie” in a bottle. God blesses out of a heart of love to those that love Him and have faith in Him. If you truly love Him and live for Him, then let that kind of faith in what He promises to you, develops into His power working in you.

Renee and I have always built ongoing lists regarding everything we need. We’ve kept those needs before the Lord. We ask Him for them and from that point on we thank Him that the need is met and that He is working in our behalf despite what any circumstances may look like. We know that our dependency on Him and not ourselves honors Him. All scripture bears that truth out. It has helped us keep from putting pressure on each other. Pressures of life come, but we keep them before the Lord, knowing it’s His delight not only to help us, but to do amazing things in the process – “immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.” It helps keep us in unity in prayer rather than fighting and schism over what we don’t have and can’t fix ourselves. I should have asked him about Cirque du Soleil a long time ago!

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/