0:00

so when I hear those words, that

0:02

he's a big God, that he's able to

0:04

do so much more than I can

0:06

even imagine, that

0:08

just wows my mind.

0:11

You know, there's just such a

0:13

wonder in his creative ability. And

0:15

he wants to bring that to

0:17

life in and through us for other

0:19

people. Hi

0:24

everyone, come on in here, have a

0:26

seat right here on the pink couch

0:28

with Erin and me because it is

0:30

time for some talk it out small

0:32

talk. This is when we pick a

0:34

scripture and we really let this one

0:36

scripture or maybe a passage just kind

0:38

of inspire us to dig deeper into

0:41

it and to see how it impacts

0:43

our life. And it just takes a

0:45

little bit of our time but it

0:47

is some of the most valuable time

0:49

of the day. It is. That's amazing.

0:51

What can you get out of one

0:53

passage of scripture? That's right. That's right.

0:55

Yeah. So today we are

0:57

talking about Ephesians chapter 3

0:59

verse 20. Here it is.

1:01

It says, now to him

1:03

who was able to do

1:05

immeasurably more than all we

1:07

can ask or imagine according

1:09

to his power that is

1:12

in work within us, that

1:14

is at work within us. So we're going

1:16

to be talking about how that's such a

1:18

big thought. And that's one of those

1:20

scriptures that just screams out the

1:22

power of God and what he can

1:25

do. But it's really easy to

1:27

gloss over it and to not really

1:29

think about what it means in

1:31

application for our lives. Because there's a

1:33

lot of words in there, especially

1:35

if you read it in the amplified

1:37

version. There are more words than the

1:40

amplified version verse. Yeah, every verse. Once you start

1:42

reading and then you forget where you started. That's

1:45

true. That is true. So

1:48

we're going to begin with Joyce

1:50

talking a little bit about the fact

1:52

that, you know, maybe we all wonder

1:54

sometimes if God really can do more

1:56

than we can ask or imagine, or,

1:58

you know, is that just kind of

2:00

pie in the sky? Christian talk. Maybe that's

2:02

not who God really is. So let's

2:04

see what she has to say, and then

2:06

we'll have some small talk about this

2:09

verse. In Ephesians 3

2:11

.20, it says that

2:13

God is able to do exceedingly,

2:15

abundantly, above and beyond all that

2:17

we could ever dare to hope,

2:19

ask, or think. Then

2:22

it ends with, according to the

2:24

power that worketh in you. And

2:28

I don't think I ever really

2:30

fully understood that because

2:32

we'd all like for God to

2:34

just do it all. But

2:37

you see, he works

2:39

through us. He doesn't

2:41

do everything for us, but

2:44

he does things through us. He

2:47

gives it to you, then

2:49

he wants it to go

2:51

through you to other people. So

2:54

God gives us peace and he

2:56

wants us to receive it, be

2:58

at peace with ourself and then

3:00

let it go through us to

3:02

other people. He

3:04

gives us love. He wants us

3:06

to receive that and even learn

3:08

how to love ourselves in a

3:10

balanced way, not a selfish, self

3:12

-centered way, but you need to

3:14

love the you that God has

3:16

created that you're becoming. Amen.

3:20

You know, we're all in the process of

3:22

becoming. It's

3:24

like, We have an image

3:27

inside of us. We're being transformed

3:29

into the image of Christ, so

3:32

we're becoming what we already

3:34

are. And you

3:36

have to understand the word

3:38

for that to make any sense,

3:40

but the Holy Spirit is

3:42

helping us day after day after

3:45

day be transformed into the

3:47

image of Jesus Christ. Okay,

3:49

when we hear this verse, I think

3:51

it's really easy, first of all, for

3:53

us to think it almost sounds selfish

3:55

to ask God for big things. Like

3:58

he can do more than you asked for, more

4:00

than you imagined. And yet we

4:02

feel like, well, God is already so

4:04

good. Or I haven't seen God

4:06

do it yet. Will he really do

4:08

it? And so it feels almost selfish

4:10

to ask for those things. And

4:12

yet, God does those things so

4:15

that we can help other

4:17

people and do things for them

4:19

as well. So it's really not

4:21

a selfish thing. I

4:23

think I wrote on the words

4:25

that this verse is like a

4:27

life raft. If you're in the

4:29

middle of something really difficult, it's

4:31

something to cling to that exactly

4:34

what you're saying. Like he can

4:36

do and it's not selfish to

4:38

ask him to do. Far

4:40

more than we could ever even

4:42

imagine and then if you're in a

4:44

season of things being really great

4:46

It's evidence of what and who he

4:48

is. Yeah, so To me it's

4:50

one of those verses that just kind

4:52

of you can cling to mm -hmm

4:54

You need to cling to something

4:56

definitely. Yeah, I find it really helpful

4:58

too many times But especially in

5:00

this verse to look what it's saying

5:02

around it. So yeah just before

5:04

it just after it starting in verse

5:06

17. It says, and

5:08

I pray that you being rooted

5:10

and established in love may have

5:13

the power together with all the

5:15

Lord's holy people to grasp how

5:17

wide and how long and high

5:19

and deep is the love of

5:21

Christ. And to know this

5:23

love that surpasses knowledge that you may

5:25

be filled to the measure of all

5:27

the fullness of God. So it

5:30

begins with understanding how much

5:32

God truly adores us, how he cherishes

5:34

us and desires to be with

5:36

us, how much he loves us. Because

5:38

then when you go on to

5:40

read to say, he is able to

5:42

do it measurably more than we

5:45

could ask or think. And

5:47

according to the power at

5:49

work in us, his power is

5:51

at work in us because

5:53

of his love. And I think

5:55

that says so much more. When

5:58

you take things out of context, it's

6:00

like, God is powerful and He's working powerfully

6:02

in me. Well,

6:04

okay. That sounds like a good

6:06

too. Right. But, you know, it's not

6:08

about a prideful thing. It's not

6:11

about because we're so great. It's about

6:13

how much He loves us and

6:15

how much we can trust Him to

6:17

do more. I think the

6:19

context part's really important too, because

6:21

when you read all of Ephesians

6:23

3, There's a lot of

6:25

that like this is how big God

6:27

is and his love for us. Yeah, how

6:29

wonderful he is and then you go

6:31

to Chapter four and it's about now. What

6:33

do you do with that? So he

6:35

gives you his love. He gives you his

6:37

power. He's gonna take care of you

6:40

now. He says go and Go out and

6:42

live in peace and do something with

6:44

what I've given you. So it's not like

6:46

he's just a Measurably more than we

6:48

can think and ask and hope and dream

6:50

and all those big words And

6:52

then we just sit here and say, cool. We

6:55

have to do something with that,

6:57

you know? Right, right. We have

6:59

to, like Joy said, let it

7:01

flow through us and his love

7:03

to go out to others. You

7:06

know, I love

7:08

the thought of God is the

7:10

creator of all things. He

7:12

is the most creative force on

7:14

the planet. And so

7:16

when I hear those words, that he's

7:18

a big God, that he's able to

7:20

do so much more than I can

7:23

even imagine, that just

7:25

wows my mind. You know,

7:27

there's just such a

7:29

wonder in his creative ability.

7:31

And he wants to bring that to

7:33

life in and through us for

7:36

other people. And so if I limit

7:38

God, which we can all so

7:40

easily do, We think we

7:42

can understand God or we think we

7:44

can see a solution. And so

7:46

that must be how God's gonna work, but God

7:48

can work in so many other ways. I

7:50

don't want to limit the creativity

7:52

of the God of all creation

7:54

by my limited understanding of what

7:56

I he might do or might

7:58

be able to do. If we

8:01

can take off those limits, then

8:03

it's like, wow, he can blow

8:05

our minds. I wrote that, we're

8:07

down to creativity, that he just,

8:09

where did I put that? He

8:11

says, where did I write that down? made

8:13

such an lasting impact to me, but yeah,

8:15

he's beyond my wildest dreams, creative in his

8:18

response, and then the comforter while I wait.

8:20

But I love that creativity. Yeah,

8:22

yeah. And I think with that love

8:24

that it's talking about in the

8:26

beginning too, this is about

8:28

a father who loves us

8:31

in that way. So

8:33

it's not just a big God who looks

8:35

down and sees Everything is

8:37

a blur. He looks down

8:39

and sees you. He looks down

8:41

and sees Aaron. He looks down

8:43

and sees me in specific, creative,

8:45

loving ways. And that's why he

8:47

can do so much more than

8:50

we can ever imagine because he

8:52

sees so much more than we

8:54

can ever see. I'm

8:56

gonna give you a hot take in a

8:58

short amount of time. Okay. Because it'd

9:00

be small talks. Okay. I'm gonna keep it

9:02

short. But I was walking this morning

9:04

and praying about this and I thought, Or

9:06

sometimes this verse just feels like a

9:08

bunch of words because sometimes it doesn't feel

9:10

like you want to do a measurably

9:12

more than I can think and ask. And

9:14

it feels like just a really great

9:16

verse Christians like to say to make us

9:18

feel good. Even though I know

9:20

it's in the word, I know what he

9:22

says is true. But sometimes it feels like that.

9:25

And so then I had this thought, probably

9:28

with a creativity idea, what

9:30

if what I'm asking him

9:32

to do creatively He's

9:34

answering in ways that are not what

9:36

I'm looking for. Like maybe

9:38

it's, what is he gonna do when

9:40

I get to heaven? And what are

9:43

the things that are so beyond my

9:45

wildest dreams that I won't be able

9:47

to see them here on earth because

9:49

there's so much more that he has.

9:51

Maybe it just looks so different than

9:53

I've thought of. And so me putting

9:55

him in that box puts boundaries on

9:57

what I expect him to do when

9:59

he wants to do so much more

10:01

than I'm allowing. or looking for,

10:03

I should say. I just wonder if

10:05

I'm the one that's limiting my view of him.

10:07

I think that's what all this is about. And

10:09

I think that's why God is telling us this.

10:12

It's like, I love you so much.

10:14

I can do all things. Let

10:17

me out of the box so that I can do

10:19

it. It's

10:21

simple. It's an easy way

10:23

to look at this. you

10:25

know, God is so much bigger than

10:27

I can ever put into my

10:29

own simple words, but for me to

10:31

truly understand it in a way

10:33

of how I can limit him, if

10:35

I don't really wrap my mind

10:37

around this, then I think God

10:39

is saying, yeah, you know, you've got

10:41

something now. This is what I'm trying

10:44

to tell you, let me do it

10:46

for you. It's so true. Even when

10:48

you, you know, you pray for healing

10:50

and you don't get the pre -answered

10:52

in the way that you want it

10:54

to be. done. But then years

10:56

forward, you can look back and see

10:58

how God was so intricately involved in the

11:00

details. And while the circumstance didn't turn

11:02

out the way you exactly wanted it to,

11:05

there's no way you could have written that

11:07

story to be what it has beautifully become. And

11:10

so he's so much more creative. than

11:12

we can imagine. Yeah, and here's a

11:14

couple of social media comments of people saying

11:17

that very thing. One says, I used

11:19

to pray for God to change my situation.

11:21

Then I realized he wanted to change

11:23

me first. When I stepped out

11:25

in faith, he moved in ways I never

11:27

expected. That's that, all

11:29

I can see is if God would change

11:31

my situation, it would be better. But God is

11:33

saying, no, I've got something even bigger than

11:35

that. I'm gonna do more than that. And I'm

11:37

gonna change you in the process. Another

11:40

one says, letting go and trusting God

11:42

with my adult children has been one of

11:44

the hardest things I've ever done. But

11:46

I've seen him move in ways I never

11:48

imagined, healing, restoring and leading them back

11:50

to him in his perfect timing. Wow,

11:53

how much I want God just to work

11:55

in my timing and do what I want

11:57

him to do. And if instead we can

11:59

say, God, we trust you, you can do

12:01

more than I could ever ask or imagine, please

12:04

do, please move in that way.

12:07

And we're amaze sometimes. It's

12:10

sort of like living just with your

12:12

hands like this. Yeah, exactly. I trust

12:14

you. Yeah. trust what you're telling me,

12:16

so. Absolutely. Do it.

12:18

Absolutely. Yeah. All right, just a little nugget

12:20

for you to think about a little

12:22

bit of small talk and we hope

12:24

that as you go throughout the day, you

12:27

just continue to think about this verse,

12:29

okay? Just ask God to open your vision

12:31

to who he is, to what he

12:33

can do, to open your imagination for his

12:35

creativity to flow and make sure and

12:37

let us know what happens as we

12:39

continue to study some of those things together.

12:41

Yeah, it'll be encouraging to see how

12:44

God talks to you guys and what he

12:46

shows you and how he works creatively.

12:48

Yeah. Don't forget to go to

12:50

joismire .org slash talk it out, watch

12:52

some of our previous episodes, find out

12:54

more about podcasts, share it with your

12:56

friends, and especially these little nuggets of

12:58

truth as God is working in your

13:00

life. It's not just for you, it's

13:02

to flow through you and out to

13:05

other people, so share it with them

13:07

too. We love y 'all, bye -bye. Men,

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