Being firmly convinced that marriage restoration is not very likely without unshakeable faith and confidence that God CAN and WILL restore our marriages, I often find myself asking the Lord to help me better understand why some men and women just can’t get to that point; no matter how much they want to and no matter how hard they try. The obvious answer is a lack of faith, which means it’s possible somehow to believe that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and that He rose again, without really fully understanding the AWESOME power of God. So perhaps those who tend to be double minded, in which case James 1:6-8 says we can’t expect to receive anything from God, need to focus more on understanding, believing and receiving His power. And we know how important that is, based on what Jesus said in Matthew 22:29, which says Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. And we obviously have to know and understand the power of God to believe the awesome promise in 1 Corinthians 6:14, which says By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Surely it isn’t easier to believe that God can raise the dead than it is to believe that He can bring life to what appears to be dead marriages!

Without understanding and believing in the awesome, omnipotent power of God, it isn’t possible to KNOW and BELIEVE that He has the ability to back up the promises in Romans 8:28-32, which says:
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
And we see that at work in the following verses:

2 Chronicles 20:4-6
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard and said: “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.

Psalm 66:3
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.

Job 12:13
“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

Psalm 68:34
Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies.

Psalm 68:35
You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Psalm 77:14
You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

Jeremiah 10:12
But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

Daniel 2:23
I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

When we truly understand and rely on the power of God for EVERYTHING we want or need, it DRASTICALLY changes us. For instance, it frees us from the stress and pressure worry and fretting cause, because we finally understand that there’s NOTHING we can do to make or keep something from happening, and we have to trust and rely on God to do it. And we’re no longer under the control of the defense mechanisms we use to protect our pride, which naturally tells us not to let someone walk on us “like a doormat.” It’s ONLY through the power of the Lord that we can be freed from our old nature and transformed into the likeness of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says, Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. When we study the personality and character of Jesus, which is the ONLY way to be transformed to His likeness, there’s no mistaking His meekness, humility, and servant’s heart, which is truly AMAZING in light of His AWESOME power, as we see in John 13:3-5, which says Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Since it’s obviously so important, the following verses should help us better understand the nature and character of God’s power, and it’s significance in our lives as Christians:

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:3-5
I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Ephesians 3:7
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.

1 Peter 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

2 Thessalonians 1:11
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Jude 1:25
to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more! Amen.

Revelation 4:11
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

And finally, as Romans 15:13 says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Posted Wednesday, May 31st, 2006 at 5:29 pm in Seeds Of Faith.