Reflections on Ephesians 1:19 — God’s Power Is in Me?

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might.” — Ephesians 1:19 (RSV)

I confess. Bible verses that begin mid-sentence often confuse me. This is reason #24,722 why I am leery of the too-common modern practice of memorizing, quoting, and even meditating upon a single verse without considering its context.

As God intends, I contemplate this awesome verse in its full context today.

Paul writes, “16 I do not cease to give thanks for you (meaning his friends in Ephesius, but also you and me, despite our sinful nature), remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, 22 and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but in that which is to come;”

When I contemplate all of that, the real power of verse 19 clobbers me silly. There is no way I can have a bad day now:

What Jesus did for me (and all of us) upon the Cross on that fateful day on Calvary Hill was the mightiest of might. And it was that same might by which Paul himself (and Stephen and Peter and even the orange-clad men beheaded in Libyia in 2015 and so many others) so eagerly died.

That might — that trust, that faith, that promise! —  exists in me (and you)!

Of course it does! How else can I explain the all those breaths I haven’t deserved to take as I typed this.

Yep — as tired and annoyed as I may be about it all — getting through all this “work” God has put before me today is going to be both a breeze and a blessing. So long as I remember Paul’s blessed prayers (which he was saying for me 2,000 years before my first breath).

Lord, may I (and we) always remember — and use — Your power.