I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
Ephesians 1:13-21
Power Given
We’ve been given assets that match the assigned task that the Father expects us to fulfill. Demonstrations of power are meant to be a portion of what we do, but they’re not the focal point. We have been commissioned and assigned, to express grace through a bold expression of faith. Power is elusive. It’s difficult to hold onto, yet we feel its influence all around us.
Lady In The Sky
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble… I will deliver you.” What an awesome STATEMENT: Double promise for a day of trouble! Trials are opportunities that allow God to prove Himself as faithful and worthy of our faith/trust. ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3) This amazing Prophet of God learned about the knowledge of the Holy One in the crucible of affliction. In the midst of trial, he heard God call on him to call on Him for the invasion of the supernatural: invasion occurs when we learn to depend on God to go beyond our limitations. This is the power of the thief on the cross: he knew he was a sinner: he called out and Jesus guaranteed him paradise (Luke 23:43).
Heavens Deposit/Down payment
Our being sealed with the Spirit’s imprint is our guaranty of our inheritance. Holy Spirit is Heaven’s earnest deposit, a down payment of like kind, until the redemptions of the purchased possession. When I was a kid it was Green Stamps. Now it’s bonus points with reward cards. Collect enough and you get a prize. This is kind of what the sealing is like. Being sealed is only the starting point of potential rewards. Being indwelt by Holy Spirit leads to our transformation by the fruit the spirit produces in us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. He then pours out from heaven as the floodgates open wide the gifts that we need to administrate His Kingdom effectively and courageously, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, healing, praying for and expecting miracles among many good things from above.
Heart Eye Transplant
Modern science allows old lens to be replaced, effectively ending some forms of ocular blindness. When we are filled with Holy Spirit, our old spiritually dead lens’ are replaced with the ability to use our new inner eyes that let us “see” or perceive truth, to touch truth emotionally as we intuitively understand truth, and to enact the truth we are confronted with, leading us into will enablers. Our old cataracts are gone.
Paul calls this new lens the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Does your Bible capitalize the word “Spirit,’ or does it leave it in the small case? Some of the ancient manuscripts capitalize the word for Spirit, while others do not. I think it is supposed to be capitalized, which is consistent with the Spirit working in us, in our hearts to make us wise. Wisdom is the mind of Christ as thought through us by the Spirit. Spirit’s presence lets us see Kingdom reality like, the hope of our calling. Let’s be clear, we are called to be saints. Sainthood is an imparter of hope.
Hope is larger than wishing, longing or an optimistic outlook on life. Hope in the Bible means confident expectations. These expectations are rooted in promises made by the LORD. Hope never exists by itself in the Kingdom. It always springs forward as a response to Jesus’ gracious assurances, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Paul uses the word hope in Ephesians to bring us into relationship with God’s plans for you in Christ. They include knowing Him and all that implies, being overwhelmed by Spirit as He fills us again and again, and to become more and more consistently like Jesus. Jesus loves us as we are, but He will always attempt to push us forward in our relationship with Him, as He deals with our vacillating human nature. Jesus empowers us with a hope that is based on His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us, Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).” Hope isn’t just a gift Jesus gives. Hope is what Jesus is.
Using the eyes that are awakened (enlightened) by the Spirit, we can see real power employed in our ministry spheres, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (Ephesians 1:19-21), as we express the resurrection lifestyles of Kingdom servanthood. Catching the vision of the empty tomb is the key: Jesus came and embodied divinity among us, then He died so that He could return and live through us.
Spirit eyes look backward and sees the past as non-impacting. Spirit eyes see the present as faith infusing objectifying inserters, that allow our natural talents, intellect, insight, and understanding to fall under the influence of Jesus anointing. Our natural mind is then overcome by the Spirit’s presence, letting us see reality differently. This is the essence of discernment, seeing the facts as Jesus sees them, not as the natural world sees them. One other look at this concept of eyes. Paul uses a term that the NKJV translates as eyes of understanding. In the Greek it literally says, “eyes of your hearts (kardia).” Be heart healthy: the Bible speaks of the heart as the seat of the soul, which contains intellect, emotions and will. In other words, the entirety of our inner being.
ENACTING HOLY SPIRIT’S MINISTRY
It is the Holy Spirit’s desire to replicate the same purpose of life as Jesus demonstrated, as we open ourselves up to His ministry as generational SUBSTITUTES. Substitution follows the work of submission: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Holy Spirit desires to work the same traits of godliness that Jesus enacted into us. They’re designed to convince people of His reality and of His love for them. Some people are victims of incomplete teaching and never realize their place in the Kingdom: representatives of Jesus. Others have been victimized by an over-reliance on their giftings minus understanding. Being gifted and educated are necessary in advancing the Kingdom correctly.
When we fail to acknowledge the Spirit’s place in our lives, we become religious and controlling people. The sign of religion is when we have clamped down on what we will let God do in us and through us. With our being inundated in his presence, we are enabled to become bold believers. Learning this aspect of the faith life allows us to not only see life through the lens of hope, it allows us to become communicators of hope. When we live our hope, we become attractive, contagious people to a ugly world that is filled with hopeless people who are thrashing about with uncertainty. It is our great privilege to share with others our “reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15).”
Submitted Lifestyles
The essence of the spirit of substitution is Mark 16:15, which states that we are to: “Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
From Bland to Bold
This means that you are to SURRENDER to the Lord’s purpose in your life
This means that we have to come to terms with Jesus desires and concerns for people who do not know him. People really do need to hear about the greatness of God as we live our lives completely before them evangelistically. Lifestyle evangelism requires commitment and submission to a quality of life that defies logic. Surrender means our lives have to be broken open, emptied of the junk inside and then filled with His glory.
Salvations Power Extended
Death is Non-Natural State of Being, it isn’t a Natural Phenomena. Death is punishment for Sin by God.
Redemption changes the dynamic. When a Christian dies sins power is completely extinguished.
Resurrection Experience: Unlimited & Indestructible Life
Romans 8:23 We Have Holy Spirit as a Deposit (Aparche: Seed/First fruits), Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body
Eternity has Begun Within Us
I Peter 1:23 We Have a New Seed Within Us (Greek: Spora). having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever
This Truth Culminates in the Millennium
II Corinthians 3:18 “From Glory to Glory” Now, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord
Conclusion
1) At times, most if not all of us wonder about God’s intervention on our behalf
2) Are you being pressed by circumstances or needs beyond your control?
3) Do what Jerry did: call out to Him for your need today