EASTER: EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY IS GOD’S PROMISE TO US

J. Grant Swank, Jr.


"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. . ." Ephesians 3:20


Sometimes Satan would have us doubt the ". . .exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. . ." of God's promise power.


We know that Satan is the father of lies. But such is never more evident than when he whispers his untruths concerning this particular promise.


All the believer needs to do is push back the demonic lie to two thousand years ago at Golgotha. The ". . .exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. . ." has already occurred. This promise has already been set. It is there in historical record. Further, it is has been personally experienced by the thousands upon thousands.


God has already--past tense--seen through his ". . .exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. . ." when He brought His Son back from the dead! That settles it right there. No other event is planetary history can equal that.


Therefore, beginning with that resurrection premise, one can reach the logical conclusion that anything after the risen Christ happening is possible. Consequently, God can do whatever is maximum in your life and mine to shore up His promise strength as has already been evidenced in the resurrection of Christ.


All promise power flows from that empty tomb.


The next time you come up against the impossible, ask yourself if it can match or top the risen Carpenter who walked out of Joseph of Arimathea's tomb. If not, then toss that impossible into the divine ". . .exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. . ." and leave it there.


In the divine calendar, you will find in your own life the resurrection power set loose. It is the ". . .power that worketh in us." What is that power? The Spirit of the living God who brought Jesus out of the grave.


Therefore, you have all of heaven's might on your side to win all of life's battles. The strength is already within you as a cross carrier for the risen Christ walks alongside your cross. In that stride is your overcoming.


Recapping for your hope: nothing in your biography can slush under God's promise. Calvary's death and tomb's empty shelf already promise you the divine ingenuity available to overwhelm any planetary difficulty. Therefore, rest assured that the same Spirit strength that worked back then is now working in you to prove the integrity of the holy name of God.


Therefore, ". . .I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . ." Ephesians 3:l4


One's entire life as a disciple is to be bowing the knees.


Since one cannot literally see through that oblation, one can spiritually see through that oblation.
And that is the crux of the cross life.


Continually Jesus, within His consciousness, bowed His knees before Father. It was the Father's will that He lived for.


Jesus calls us to live for Him. He lived for Father. Therefore, living for Jesus the Son is to live for God the Father. Jesus now lives on our behalf at the right hand of the Father's throne.


When we then pray, the Spirit of Jesus receives our voice, delivers our concern to the Son who presents it to the Father. In that, the entire godhead is crucially involved in our lives.


How complete is Scripture in its scope of all matters!


Therefore, the cross bearer continues the rightful stance of Jesus. The disciple maintains a lowly estate before Father's throne.


When one begins to grow cold in heart, it is because one has forgotten to "bend the knees." When that occurs, self-absorption returns. With that comes the loss of soul vibrancy, the increase of interior confusion and eventually the grieving of the Spirit.


The more one disciplines the interior to remain "bowing the knees", the more one comes into the intimacy offered each child of grace.


It is Jesus in everything. He is our pivot. He, the second person of the trinity, thereby becomes our go-between to Father and Holy Ghost. When one then maintains constant yoke-fellowship with Jesus, one maintains the blessing with Father and Holy Ghost.


There is no greater privilege on earth than that of "bowing the knees." It is sheer liberty into the joy unspeakable. It is the openness to the foretaste of heaven. It is hope realized. Further, it is making glad the heart of God.


All outward circumstances become subservient to the interior when one focuses on "bending the knees."


Continually coming to the divine throne throughout the day is what keeps the disciple's life
extremely simple. In this simplicity is that hoped-for release from worry, fear and the overindulgence in worldly cares.


Jesus walked through this world with His mind concentrating on Father all the time. He was with the mobs, but He wasn't. He was walking the Israeli trails, but He wasn't. He was in the world, but not of the world; therefore, His invitation stands for His own children.


Put your thoughts upon the Father's throne, "bowing the knees," and you will be blessed beyond measure—“exceeding abundantly”. It is that gift from above which sustains the soul in the most difficult times.


Only a few consecrated, abandoned souls experience such bliss.