A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Isa 32:2 NKJV

What does it mean to ‘stand’ for God? Isaiah here is so clear, so encouraging as to the effects of what occurs when a man or woman stands for God, what they become for God’s people, and indeed for all men, even the unsaved. I have a dear friend that I call The Rock, because he is exactly that for myself and many others. I know for a fact that he saved a dying congregation, just by being the Rock, and what he has meant to me, and our ministry, and the many families and children that he and his wife have ministered to over many years. Thanks, Rock!

I recently read the book UNITED STATES OF SOCIALISM by our brother in Christ Dinesh D’Souza. He calls out all the bad actors advancing socialism in America, and their hypocrisy, demonstrates empirically how socialism destroys civilizations while capitalism uplifts freedom, and ends with this solution for all freedom loving people – stand!

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:13 NKJV

Some days I don’t feel like standing. I am much more inclined to run away. I guess some days you are the rock, and somedays you are standing in its shadow…and sometimes you are not even there, but out in the dry, weary land! So, where does the strength to stand for God come from? Let’s dive into one of the great verses in Ephesians!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to (Grk. KATA) the power that works in us… Eph 3:20 NKJV

‘All that we can ask or think’ is governed by the promises of God given to us in Scripture and by revelation. For instance, God promises to supply all of our needs. Now, needs can be very basic and filled on a very low level. But God, in His extravagant love, is so willing and able to do more than just the ’bare minimum.’ He goes exceedingly abundantly above! I have a friend who has taken over fifty plane flights and never paid for a ticket. That’s exceedingly abundantly above!

The Lord assures us of equality of access but not equality of results. Each one can have great results, and as a body we can have massive results, but results are individually nuanced because of the words ‘according to.’ KATA tells us that the ‘exceedingly abundantly above’ will correspond with the ‘power that works in us.’ If you work the power, you’ll see the ‘exceedingly abundantly above.’

A minister friend of mine shared a story of another evangelist who had had incredible miracles in his ministry, but in recent years the miracles, signs and wonders had evidently decreased severely. My friend asked him, “Why?” The man indicated that he felt he longer desired to pay the price necessary to see those kinds of miracles sustained. Hello! ‘The power that works in you’ corresponds with the ‘exceedingly abundantly above.’ Do you see it?

In any life that is influential there has to be a passion for something. Lives get old quickly, even from a very early age, without passion. You see people without passion, and they are the true examples of the ‘walking dead.’ This is why God commands us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Think about that! We NEED that passion, which is why in His love for us, He commands that of us. Do you see that? That passion enables us to justify the sacrifices necessary to pursue excellence in that for which we are passionate. Incredible ability, like having Christ in you, can be wasted without the passion to turn that potential into manifested power.

We have to link passion to what it means to stand for God, His truth filled Word and His people.

In discipleship the great goal is to be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph.3:19). A disciple is a student, and as my friend Tim pointed out, the goal of every disciple in biblical times was to ‘become’ their teacher, to so drink of his knowledge and ways that one becomes a mirror of that teacher. The passion of the teacher is imparted to their disciples. As you become your teacher then you stand for what they stand for, because you have embraced their ways. Having done all as a disciple, a student, then stand as your teacher stood!

Let’s get into another great verse in Ephesians…

Finally, my brethren, be strong (Grk. ENDUNAMOO) in the Lord and in the power of His might. Eph 6:10 NKJV

ENDUNAMOO is one of the great words in the Greek New Testament. Its used seven times in the GNT, and always in the middle or passive voice, and here in the imperative mood, meaning verse ten is a command. Our western thinking tendency is to view all commands as oppressive but, as we saw above in the first and great commandment, it is given entirely for our blessing. Ephesians six tells us, “Hey! We are in a war. If you don’t want to be a casualty of that war, or maybe you want to help win it, you had better do what this says.”

My standard advice for anyone in crisis is to take three days to seek the Lord without distraction. That advice is based upon verse ten. ENDUNAMOO here is in the middle voice, where you as the subject allow yourself to be passively strengthened in the Lord. I do this all the time! Lightbearers has ten different major things that we are doing, and sometimes things get hairy! When they do I will take a whole day to get away from everything and position myself in the Lord. Then the good ship Lightbearers doesn’t capsize from being out of balance…

There are two things we must know, we have to be settled on, if we are going to stand for God. We must know WHAT we believe, and we have to know WHY we believe it. You have to sit down and think about it. What do I truly believe, and why do I believe it? No one can answer those questions for you. Get your questions answered, get your gaps filled, get your confidence and assurance set. Detach from the routine, the mundane, and the pull of a ‘me-first’ oriented lifestyle and plug into your Creator, your Master, your Teacher and find all that your heart ever longed for. Leave the walking dead behind and walk into the passion of the greatest life conceivable – Stand! Love you!

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