HE WHO IS ABLE

Ephesians 3:20 (NIV 1984) "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

If you told me three years ago I would write devotions for a weekly blog, I would have laughed and questioned your knowledge of even knowing me. I didn't know what a blog is. I mean, what kind of word is that anyway? I didn't even have a cell phone three years ago and, I can hardly figure out our remote control or microwave! For me to navigate anything technological is like asking a five year old to drive a car.

If you told me three years ago I would have articles published in magazine and be a contributing author to a book I would have wanted to believe it, without really thinking it would come to fruition. Because truthfully, fear of the unknown kept me withdrawing from this venture. That is, until the Spirit convicted me right out of my nice little cozy comfort zone. Then, He demanded an expression of active faith, without knowing how things would come to pass.

Here we are friends. By "we" I mean God and I: Two years ago on April 23rd, God launched "Hester's Heart". My awareness of His mighty power humbles me. 100 devotions later, I stand back, no . . . I kneel, in contrite reverence of God's work in my life. It's any wonder God would even use me; a fallible, fearful, failure.

Ephesians 3:20 rings loud and clear in my sometimes deaf and confused mind. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." The more I learn about God's power available to me and the more I trust Him, He continues to do more in my life than I can conceive or imagine.

In essence, Paul tells us in this verse that He who is able, will enable the unable. Christ's power within us exceeds the measurable and imaginable. How? According to His power, which is in accordance to who Christ is.

The word for power is "dunamis." It is the same root word we get the English word for dynamite. It means strength, power, or ability residing in a thing by virtue of its nature (studylight.org). God humbles me often. I fail miserably when I strive to accomplish tasks in the strength of myself. When I relinquish my tendency to do things on my own, His power enables me to fulfill the unexpected.

For example, He unfolds the next leg of my journey in completing a Bible study He asked me to write awhile back. Again, I am forced to choose to trust in me or trust in Him, despite my lack of seeing the details fit together. Trusting self proves futile every time, so I take one step each day in the direction I believe He is leading.

If you told me three years ago I would fly overseas to share the Gospel well, you know. . . When this post is published, I will be in Port au' Prince, Haiti ministering with Mercy League International by speaking at the Haitian Christian Women's Conference. This opportunity is stretching me to express obedience to His lead. I worked through my initial fears and am excited to witness God's work in a new cultural setting. May the women hear my heart for the Lord and be challenged in their faith. Would you pray for this too?

I'm passionate about what God is doing and I'm compelled to testify to His mighty work. His power is available to all who believe. Corinthians tells us God gives us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19-20); to lead others to His truth. How this looks in our respective lives may be different, but we're all given the charge to do so.

God expects us to step out beyond the comfortable. It is only when we are at the end of ourselves, that His power is truly made evident in us. This is when our faith moves beyond lip service to actual life service. Only He can accomplish God sized tasks. Read the stories of Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Daniel, David, and Paul. They too, were ordinary people accomplishing the extraordinary because of their King!

I've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and am being led by the Great Shepherd's graceful hand. I'm just an ordinary girl striving to please my extraordinary King! "Not to me, O Lord, not to me, but to Your Name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." Psalm. 115:1

He, Who is able . . . will enable . . . the unable.

Heart Work:

Memorize Ephesians 3:20 this week. Let this truth soak into the core of your soul.

Heart Exam:

What holds you back from following God's lead in your life?

What God sized task seems impossible to you?

Do you really believe that He who is able, will enable the unable? Why or why not?

Heart Changing Word:

Zechariah 4:6 (NIV 1984) "So he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians 12:9a "But he said to me, 'My grace in sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' "

Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Colossians 1:10-11 "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience."

Copyright 2012 by Hester Christensen. All rights reserved.

A HOPEFUL FUTURE

Hello Friends! I'm excited to introduce my friend, Samantha Reed, as a guest blogger today. You are sure to be blessed as you receive a sample of her obvious giftedness. Her writing is poignant, refreshing and relevant.

Sam warmly welcomed me three years ago at the She Speaks Conference. We became instant friends and continue to encourage each other in ministry. Sam is very loving and genuine. Not only is Sam an executive assistant for Proverbs 31 Ministries, she is also an extremely gifted writer. Pop over to her website and enjoy even more of the work God is doing through her.

"Then Job replied to the Lord: 'I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.' . . . My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." Job 42:12, 5 (NIV 1984)

Sometimes I don't fully trust God has prepared good things. For me, for family, for friends, for others.

This past year was riddled with home foreclosures, loss of businesses, empty cupboards and gas tanks for those I love. They've faced suicide attempts, drug overdoses, passing of loved ones.

Family and friends alike have endured marital affairs, children sentenced to jail, a second year of unemployment, cars breaking down, churches falling apart and the list goes on.

I'm not sure He can redeem the pain, recover what's lost, heal all that's broken. Can He truly fit the pieces of this past year into a hopeful future?

Right now, circumstances suggest otherwise. And if I rely on what circumstances currently imply, I'm apt to believe the answer is no, the Lord is not able.

But circumstances tell tales that are prone to change in a moment.

And the truth of the matter is: God never changes. His power to give a future and hope never change. His Word never changes. So when life weaves stories of doubt and hopelessness in God's authority over circumstances, I reread accounts of His faithfulness and redemption. I refer back to the Truth...

All the while Job's family, home, crops and health demolished...God was preparing to give him double of what was killed, stolen, lost and damaged.

The time Joseph was a slave and prisoner...God was planning for him to be second in command over Egypt.

When Ruth was a homeless, barren widow...God was creating a home in Boaz's heart for her to be a wife, and mother, and great, great, great-grandmother to His Son.

As Lazarus was bound in grave clothes...God was forming the breath that'd give him new life.

The moment David laid down in adultery...God was laying the groundwork for him to rise up in repentance.

Every time Saul crucified Christians...God saw Paul preaching the crucified Christ.

With each strike that Sarai beat Hagar with...God saw Sarah beating her jealousy, pride and doubt with the birth of Isaac.

When Esther was an orphaned girl shaking in fear for her life...God made a way for His daughter to shake a kingdom and save His people.

As Rahab welcomed men into the shelter of her bed...God saw her sheltering the spies on her roof.

When Peter lost faith and denied Christ...God saw him bringing many to faith as he proclaimed Christ.

As Moses killed an Egyptian with his hands...God saw him chiseling the Ten Commandments with those same hands.

At the time Mary saw Jesus die...God saw Jesus resurrected and seated on His heavenly throne!
No matter what the dire, dreary circumstances, God turned each into a hopeful future.

Our key verse assures us, none of His plans can be thwarted. Despite what is happening in life, these stories of redemption and hope speak the truth. God can and will reverse, restore, revive and renew. He sees beyond the present troubles and is sparking a fire to light up the future with hope.

Let’s be on the lookout for His plans to come to pass. And trust Him that He can take any circumstance and use it for our good and His glory.

Dear Lord, I'm so grateful You not only see my future, but You've planned it. Thank You for Your faithfulness last year. And for recording these stories of lives You turned dreary pasts into hopeful futures. I ask that You do the same for my circumstances this New Year please. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Genesis 50:19b-20a, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." (NIV)

Psalm 40:5, "Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare." (NIV)

DYING TO LIVE

Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV 1984) "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Jesus is in the business of bringing death to life. He does it physically; He does it spiritually. He did it with Lazarus (John 11:25). He did it with Saul (Acts 9). He can do it with you.

Last Sunday, we celebrated Easter, and rightly so, because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But, we shouldn't fail to remember the resurrected life Jesus gives us. As Christians, we have been freed from sin and death to experience true and abundant life. Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10b).

Jesus brings life--eternal life. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10a). Because Christ is risen we have the same resurrection hope and power. We celebrate Easter because of the reality of Christ's triumph over death. Christ's victory becomes ours through faith. By faith, the reality of Easter is our reality. Therefore, we are freed to live the resurrected life.

Romans 6:12 teaches we are to count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. A resurrected life buries the desires of self and crucifies the flesh in order to proclaim this new life that Christ offers. This life is Spirit-led, victorious, obedient, hope-filled, faithful, and loves sacrificially. This is the resurrected life!

Romans 6:13 further instructs us to offer ourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of our body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

Living a resurrected life is a testimony to the risen Lord and a witness to the world. Like Paul, we should honestly be able to say, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20). Just as Christ overcame death, we too can overcome by dying to self in order to live for Him. We die so we can live!

To become like Him in His death is to lay down our life in order to experience the full significance and breadth of a resurrected life. This is the goal and prize Paul was reaching for in Philippians 3:10-14. He wanted to know Christ and the power of his resurrection; to become like Him in His death, and to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus resurrects my life. As I continue to grow in my faith this truth revolutionizes the way I approach each day. I can see how God has saved me from the clutches of death and continues to restore my life, abundant life. Here are a few examples:

• He brought victory to my life by delivering me from severe bondage to two eating disorders.
• He embraced my insecure heart as a young wife and mother and filled in the gaps with His security and significance.
• He brought healing to brokenness from childhood wounds.
• He gave me strength to walk with hope and comfort when my mother died.
• He replaces my fears and concerns with trust in His sovereign will.
• He brings me joy despite frustrating circumstances.
• He calms my irritations.
• He enables me to love and respect my husband.
• He provides wisdom and patience as I strive to nurture my children.

Do I get it right every time? No. But, I believe the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, is also in me. When I choose to operate in His power and not my own strength, my response to life is beyond my own ability. This is the power to live a victorious, resurrected Christian life!

My pastor says, this is not the "demo or lite" power version. The same power that raised Christ Jesus resides in us. Because this is true, then His power can restore broken marriages, heal friction within family, rearrange our mood, enable us to love the difficult and discipline us to die to our ever present flesh.

Are you dying to live?

Heart Work:

My heart and mind cannot help but wonder at my Savior's sacrifice this day almost 2,000 years ago. The most significant event in history changed everything. How has Christ's victory changed you?

We live in a culture that glosses over this holiday with bunnies, eggs, chocolate and peeps. Spend time reflecting on what Easter means to you and celebrate everyday accordingly. He is risen!

Embrace the truth that the reality of Easter is our reality. We can live resurrected lives.

Don't forget, when we die to self it offers hope and life to others.

Heart Exam:

In what ways has God given you victory and new life? Have you died to self and been made alive in Christ?

How can your life better display the power of the resurrection of Christ?

Heart Changing Word:

John 11:25-26 (NIV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Romans 6:4-5 "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live new life."

1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Cor. 4:10-12 "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."

2 Cor. 5:17 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

1 Peter 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Copyright 2012 by Hester Christensen. All rights reserved.

NO GREATER LOVE

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)

Though treated like an infidel, the I AM was innocent.

Though manhandled like a murderer, the Messiah offered mercy.

Though ridiculed like a rebel, the Righteous One redeemed our rebellion.

Though treated unjustly, Jesus delivered justification.

Though accused a liar, the Lord manifested love.

Though suffered for the guilty, the Son rescued sinners.

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)

Christ received the affliction our iniquity deserves.

Christ substituted His crown for crucifixion.

Christ denied wealth to impart to us true riches.

Christ submitted to death that we might surrender to Him.

Christ forsook fame to bestow on us His fortune.

Christ overcame death to give us life.

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst."

1 Timothy 1:15 (NIV)

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13 (ESV)

Christ forsook glory to grant us grace.

Christ paid our debt to give our life purpose.

Christ exchanged forgiveness for our filthy rags.

Christ traded humiliation to extend us hope.

Christ gave up paradise to experience persecution.

"Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:6-8 (ESV)

His misery was His ministry.

His rejection is our reconciliation.

His injury is our invitation.

His reckoning is our ransom.

His death is our deliverance.

His righteousness is our reward.

His sacrifice is our salvation.

His resurrection is our redemption.

"For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." 1 Corinthians 15:16-17 (ESV)

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us."

1 John 3:16 (NIV)

"But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. " Isaiah 53:5-6 (ESV)

Copyright 2012 by Hester Christensen. All rights reserved.