According to…

Andy once preached on Philippians 4:19 which says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” He made this point…

If a millionaire told you they wanted to give you a gift, would you be disappointed if they gave you $20? Of course you would! They didn’t give “according to” what they had. They gave chump change. If they’d given “according to” their riches, you would have been given thousands of dollars.  God owns it all. So when He gives according to his riches, He GIVES ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES!!

So take that same phrase, from the same Greek word “kata,” (according to) and look at Ephesians 3:20 with me. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work within us.”  God wants to do more than we can imagine!!  But it’s ACCORDING TO His power that is at work within us. What is that power? It’s His dynamite power—explosive power, power to work miracles! But is it effectively at work in you? 

How does that work?

1. We must believe we have this power living in us. This power is the inherent power of the Spirit and it moved in when we invited Christ into our lives.  

2. We have to be walking in faith—believing God for what He’s said. It’s hearing and believing the Word of God. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17. It’s standing on truth, believing the truth, speaking the truth, walking in truth, and acting on truth!

3. It’s giving up our power. “Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6. We begin to think that what we can do is pretty good! And sometimes we CAN do some pretty profound things all on our own. But the question is, will we settle for what we can do?

4. We release the power of God which resides in us by faith. 

     a. We ask God if we’re agreeing with Him. Are  

         we walking in truth? Any sin to be confessed?

         Sin shuts down the power of God. 

     b. We purpose to do nothing on our own. We don’t 

         take a step without Him. We don’t use our power. 

     c. We listen and wait.  

     d. We obey what God tells us to do. 

Many times we miss the spectacular because we choose to work according to our power—which is finite and limited. If we’re walking with and obeying God, explosive, miraculous power could happen instantaneously. Many times though, God waits…waits to see if we’ll wait on Him. The point is, God WANTS to release His power through us!  He WANTS to do miracles. And He WANTS us to be the funnel through which His miracles flow! If we release His power that is in us through faith, He will blow our minds! We will be walking in the miraculous…all ACCORDING TO the power that is at work in us.