LIVING WATERS from Lightbearers

…that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. Eph 1:12 NKJV

The man of God sat with us three somewhat awestruck teenagers in our apartment in snowy Des Moines IA in the late fall of ‘73 and read to us the first twelve verses of Ephesians. Then he said, almost like he was thinking out loud, “I can see HIM being to the praise of OUR glory, but my heart cannot yet grasp that WE should be to the praise of HIS glory…and yet, that is what it says.” Then he bought us pizza for dinner and we all rejoiced in the Lord. Hearts on fire…my ‘welcome to Ephesians’ moment!

…and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Eph 1:19-23 NKJV

…and what is the exceeding (Grk. HUPERBALLO) greatness (Grk. MEGETHOS) of His power (Grk. DUNAMIS) toward us who believe, according to (Grk. KATA) the working (Grk. ENERGEIA) of His mighty (Grk. ISCHUOS) power (Grk. KRATOS) which He worked (Grk. ENERGEO) in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places… 

I wrote this paragraph last week, but it is still good…

“This is another verse where you say, I must see this in my life! HUPERBALLO is used five times in the Greek NT with five being the number for grace. MEGETHOS is just a really cool word only used once in the Greek NT. There are thirty-six such words in Ephesians. I have a friend who has raised at least ten people from the dead. It started with his daughters dying in the hospital. But he would not, HE COULD NOT let go of God in his demand for their lives, and they came back to life. Love demands the promises of God, and it gets personal when your children are involved. I’m not sure if grace activates love, or love activates grace, but if you want to see HUPERBALLO MEGETHOS, you must have a good dose of both!”

DUNAMIS is the inherent spiritual power in every born again one, the power that created the universe. Do you see why you can do all things through Christ? Do you also see why believers should be wildly optimistic people?

KATA sets a standard for the exceeding greatness of His power. The power that you and I can walk in is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. This is why some of us get frustrated with Americanized Christianity. In Americanized Christianity we rejoice about somebody getting healed of a headache. In Spirit filled un-americanized churches around the world they are rejoicing about how many people got raised from the dead last week! See why we are frustrated? Of course, they pray for hours and we pray for minutes…just saying, don’t cancel me!

ISCHUS is your life force, which comes out of your heart. In its first usage it is translated ‘strength’ (Mk. 12:30). In martial arts we call this ‘chi.’ There are examples out there of women using what we would call ‘super-human’ strength to protect their children, like lifting a car off a stricken child. Where does that strength come from? It is their ISCHUOS. ISCHUOS is exhibited in the morale of an athletic team, or perhaps even of a combat team. Three hundred Spartans held off 100,000 Assyrians until they were betrayed at the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC (broken heart, broken ISCHUOS). The team with the greater ISCHUOS almost always prevails. Who had a greater ISCHUOS, David or Goliath? David took Goliaths heart (1Sam 17:45-47) then he took his head.

KRATOS is power with an impact, like a pebble in a pond or the rocks that struck the moon, causing huge scars in the land called craters. John G Lake tells the story of ministering healing to a man with a huge fever blister on his chest. He stuck his hand on the blister and commanded it to be healed. The man said the impression of Lakes hand – five fingers and a palm – was still on the blister, burning up the infection, hours after Lake left, and it quickly healed. That’s power with an impact!

ENERGEO is the verb form of ENERGEIA. The question is – how is the power of God in you energized? Corinthians gives a clue!

 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works (Grk. ENERGEO) all in all. 1 Cor 12:6-7 NKJV

My friend who has raised ten people from the dead does a forty day fast each year with his large congregation. He also, one year, commanded his congregation to pray in tongues for an hour a day that year. The result of that was at the end of that year a three and a half year healing revival broke out in his church that I participated in. Understand this – it is not just speaking in tongues much, but that combined with sacrificial love (fasting and hours of prayer are sacrifices), and Spirit led moves. There is also an element of human leadership involved. Leadership can quench or release the Spirit. One time we did three days of meetings in a church here in Oregon that just rocked the house – salvations, healings, deliverances – especially the youth group, but the pastor was intimidated and shut the whole thing down. We took no offerings; he had no justification to do that. Sad!

21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet…

What is in a name? A name connects you with a family, or a heritage, a legacy coming out of your past. My family has been American for almost three hundred years, so we take that legacy, that name with humble esteem and thankfulness. Others identify with the Irish, or the Luchiga people, or others, proud names, proud heritages. But the name of God our Father in Christ the Son, the PATER with His PATRIA, overshadows all like the great sun that can swallow up a thousand earths. You are named in His name! UPHOLD THE NAME! Give your all for the Name!

33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 1 Sam 15:33 NKJV

Under His feet – You must love Samuel! The ancient custom was for the defeated king to bow under the feet of the victorious king and seek mercy. Usually, he was executed. But Saul was such a weak king that he didn’t do this to the vicious king Agag the Amalekite, so Samuel the prophet, the man of God, had to come in and clean house for the Lord had declared that the name of the Amalekites was to be washed off the face of the earth (Duet.25:17-19) for what they did to Israel. Sometimes when I cast out demons, I’ll remind them that their day is coming. They never argue.

…and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Eph 1:19-23 NKJV

Deuteronomy promises that if Israel was faithful to the Lord, they would be the head and not the tail. This promise was fulfilled in David’s reign, and Hezekiah’s, and others. Believers today are to be the creditors, the givers and not the debtors. But Christ is the Head over all; all credit, all grace, all wealth, all mercy, all truth and justice resides in Him, and He is the Judge of all, and all will bow at His feet (PHP 2:10). Today we exercise that headship as we walk by the Spirit and impose His will as His agents in the world. I learned to do that thirty years ago, and have taught and lived it since then, and my students have outdone me in signs and wonders, which is as it should be. Elijah had seven miracles, while his protégé Elisha had fourteen…all of Him in all of us!

Next week, Lord willing, we will finish the great prayer in chapter three as a wonderful way to end the year and jump into 2023.

When you receive Ephesians revelation into your spirit you realize that the only thing that can defeat us is ourselves. I heard recently about how after a convention of youth pastors here in the USA, the hotel they met in revealed that there were more ‘hits’ on porn channels on their hotel TV’s then at any other time. We wonder why the Church in America is so weak! Yet Ephesians calls us higher. God is calling you and I higher, to greater levels of purity, of love, of grace and power, of witness and of kingship. I don’t want to miss it! I don’t want to stand before the Lord some day and have Him ask, what did you do with Ephesians? Did you live it in love and grace, or did you squander the glory? (Romans 14:10-12) What will it be dear one? As for me and my house we will live Ephesians. Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…