Do you believe in the power of God? Do you believe that he is as powerful today as he was when he raised Jesus from the dead? As you consider this question I encourage you to be honest with yourself. Every so often, I believe that it does us well to evaluate our faith level. And if our faith is lacking, we may need to remind ourselves of who God is. We may need to remind ourselves of what he has promised. Paul encourages the Ephesians with these words in chapter 1, verses 18 through 20, which says:
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,”
Have you been enlightened? Do you know the hope to which God has called you? If you do, your faith should reflect it. Paul reminded the Ephesians of their inheritance in the saints and the power for those who believe. He reminded them that this is the same power exerted to raise Christ from the dead. Besides the creation account outlined in Genesis, I can’t think of a greater example of God’s power. This same power is alive and well today. We may not experience it every day. Many of us may have never experienced it. But it is real, and Paul reminds us of that. If you haven’t experienced it, that is okay. I confess that I’ve never witnessed someone rise from death to life with my own eyes, and I suspect you haven’t either. But that doesn’t make his power any less real. I encourage you to know that God has the power to raise the dead today, because as Paul says, “[God’s] power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead”.
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Though I have not witnessed someone rise from the dead, I have experienced the power of God firsthand. I saw a woman miraculously and completely healed from a stroke in a fifth-world country after she was prayed for. I witnessed the miraculous multiplication of food at a feeding for hungry Haitian children that had more than doubled. I’ve seen several instances of miraculously answered prayer come directly on the heals of the prayer. I know the same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work today. Do you? If not, like Paul, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe”.