“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,
according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”
Ephesians 1:19-21
The immeasurable greatness of the power of God—the One who created and sustains all things, the One who gives power to the volcanoes, the winds, the oceans, and the stars—is within us and working for us. It is this power, according to His great might which raised our Savior and Redeemer from the dead, that renews us day by day.
I think at times we forget this great power at work within us. The very Spirit of God is cleansing us and empowering us to be holy, as He is holy. We are not who we once were. Sometimes I recall the person I used to be, the sin that was an almost inescapable pattern, and fear and shame enter in. I begin to doubt myself and wonder if I’ll become that person again. If, given the right circumstances, I’ll fall back into that pattern. I question whether or not I’ve really changed.
Reality is, apart from the transforming power and grace of God, I would fall again. I cannot break that pattern on my own. Those chains would still bind me, I would still be stuck in that sin. But for the grace and unmatched power of God. He changes everything. He is the key. It isn’t about me. It is all about Him. The immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe—this is the power that we stand on, the power in which we walk. On our own, we will fall. On our own, we will not stand against temptation, but will walk resolutely down that destructive path.
In those moments of doubting myself, the needed response is looking again to my Savior. Asking my God to speak resounding truth to my heart about who He is and who He has declared me to be. Because I am His, and His Spirit is renewing me each day. I am being changed to my very core, a child of Light, one who no longer lives and walks in darkness. I need to trust my God enough to believe that He has bought me with a very costly price, and He will be faithful to complete the work He has begun in me. He will not overlook one stain on my heart, but has covered it all in His grace and righteousness and is carefully, flawlessly, cleansing each dark crevice within me. Moment by moment, day by day, crevice by crevice, reaching every part of my soul with His glorious, purifying light.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). This is who I am. In Christ, this is who you are—or who you can be, if you have not yet accepted Him. Called out of darkness into His marvelous light. A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession.
Our Lord knows those who are His, because He has called each of us with intentionality and steadfast love. He will not fail to complete His work of salvation and righteousness in every one of His children. “The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (Isaiah 62:2-3).
In Pleasant Places 