"And . . . the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe." (Ephesians 1:19)

The power of the triune Creator, as displayed in the resurrection of Christ, is directed toward us! We can be certain that we will never fully comprehend that, but the Scriptures provide several clear statements that will help us get some usable grasp on this resource:

1) We receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit indwells every believer (John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19) and is therefore readily accessible to all believers (Ephesians 3:20).

2) We use the power of God every time we preach the gospel (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18), whether to one person or to thousands.

3) We learn of the power of God through "great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:3-4). Indeed, those promises involve "all things that pertain to life and godliness."

4) We see the results of the power of God in our lives when our characters reflect "all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11).

The Lord desires "that |we| might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19) and "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" (v. 16). The purpose of this empowering is to be "rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith" (Colossians 2:7), "able to comprehend . . . the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

"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, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (vv. 20-21). HMM III