19th September 2021
Text: Ephesians 1:16-22
Minister: Pastor Bola Bello
No sane person does anything without a specific expectation. Likewise, God has a hope for calling us unto Himself and we must understand that conversion is just an introduction into the real calling. The hope is beyond waiting to have a resurrected body or living eternally in heaven. There is more to the hope that we must enjoy while we exist here on earth. Hence, we must consider what the ‘hope’ really is.
Not lying, not committing fornication or adultery, not stealing, etc. that many people attach so much importance to are not the climax of our struggles, since a natural man can be moral enough to not do those things. As much as we need to work on them, we should not put all our attention on them, because the struggles go beyond these. We have been privileged to be called and we must strive to lay hold of this hope (Ephesians 1:16-17).
We have been called to partake of the riches of God’s inheritance and exceeding greatness (Ephesians 1:18). Christ Jesus dropped His glory that we may inherit it. This is the reason Satan will never rest; he will always seek to distract us from inheriting that which Christ has called us to inherit-The hope of His glory which is a summon to do greater works than Christ did. We have been called into greatness, not just one that exceeds that of the world but one that exceeds what Jesus did during His earthly work. Unfortunately, we are not paying attention to this and so we limit ourselves.
We have been called into rest in times of crisis and this will be enjoyed if we believe in the One who has called us that He can settle us. We have been called to show forth the glory of God (Ephesians 1:22). To show forth the glory, we must learn to stand in the place of authority because that is part of what was given to us. We must learn to walk in the reality of that which has been spoken about us; we must learn to speak not from the standpoint of defeat but of authority and we must confess with a good understanding of the Scripture. We must come into the knowledge that nothing is too hard for God to do. When we understand these things, it will be easier to believe everything he says and take actions where necessary.
Believing and trusting God will cause us to walk in the power that has been given unto us. When we recognise the potency of the power in us, we will begin to walk in the reality of that power. Recognition of this power is the first step to activating a consciousness of authority. When this consciousness is activated, it will enable us to place a demand on our divine inheritance.
We must stop seeing ourselves in the flesh but as people of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 5:16). Seeing ourselves in the flesh as ordinary people will always limit our potency because the flesh is limited. All that Christ has given to us is to be used while we are here on earth. As such, we must seek to activate all He has freely given to us. In our daily living, we must deliberately activate the God-given power in us. We have to intentionally build that consciousness and speak it into reality.