Blessing of Power
Stephen Whitney
Ephesians 3:20-21
Harold Kushner is a prominent American rabbi. He is best known for his books titled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People and Overcoming Life's Disappointments. He wrote these books to try and explain the troubles we have in life because he doesn't believe that God is omnipotent, and therefore he is not to blame for the problems and suffering which we face.
In his book, Who Needs God, he wrote, "The next time you go to the zoo, notice where the lines are longest and people take the most time in front of the cage. We tend to walk briskly past the deer and the antelope, with only a passing glance at their graceful beauty.
If we have children, we may pause to enjoy the antics of the seals and the monkeys. But we find ourselves irresistibly drawn to the lions, the tigers, the elephants, the gorillas.
Why? I suspect that without realizing or understanding it, we are strangely reassured at seeing creatures bigger or stronger than ourselves. It gives us the message, at once humbling and comforting, that we are not the ultimate power.
Our souls are so starved for that sense of awe, that encounter
with grandeur which helps to remind us of our real place in the universe, that if we can't get it in the church, we will search
for it and find it someplace else."
Prayer
Paul closes his prayer for the believers that they would grow in their faith and understand the love of God in their lives with a beautiful doxology about how with God's power working in our lives he can do more for us than we can even imagine.
Theologian Charles Hodge (d. 1878) wrote, "Paul's prayer had apparently reached a height beyond which neither faith, nor hope, nor even imagination could go and yet he was not satisfied.
God was able to do not only what he had asked, but infinitely
more than he knew how to either ask or think."
MAGNIFICENT POWER OF GOD :20
Beyond our understanding
The power of God is so ...
Stephen Whitney
Ephesians 3:20-21
Harold Kushner is a prominent American rabbi. He is best known for his books titled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People and Overcoming Life's Disappointments. He wrote these books to try and explain the troubles we have in life because he doesn't believe that God is omnipotent, and therefore he is not to blame for the problems and suffering which we face.
In his book, Who Needs God, he wrote, "The next time you go to the zoo, notice where the lines are longest and people take the most time in front of the cage. We tend to walk briskly past the deer and the antelope, with only a passing glance at their graceful beauty.
If we have children, we may pause to enjoy the antics of the seals and the monkeys. But we find ourselves irresistibly drawn to the lions, the tigers, the elephants, the gorillas.
Why? I suspect that without realizing or understanding it, we are strangely reassured at seeing creatures bigger or stronger than ourselves. It gives us the message, at once humbling and comforting, that we are not the ultimate power.
Our souls are so starved for that sense of awe, that encounter
with grandeur which helps to remind us of our real place in the universe, that if we can't get it in the church, we will search
for it and find it someplace else."
Prayer
Paul closes his prayer for the believers that they would grow in their faith and understand the love of God in their lives with a beautiful doxology about how with God's power working in our lives he can do more for us than we can even imagine.
Theologian Charles Hodge (d. 1878) wrote, "Paul's prayer had apparently reached a height beyond which neither faith, nor hope, nor even imagination could go and yet he was not satisfied.
God was able to do not only what he had asked, but infinitely
more than he knew how to either ask or think."
MAGNIFICENT POWER OF GOD :20
Beyond our understanding
The power of God is so ...
There are 11023 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
