FORTIFIED FROM WITHIN

Ephesians 3:14-19
14 I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established inlove, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled tothe measure of all the fullness of God.

A "bathysphere" is a miniature submarine used to explore the oceanin places so deep that the water pressure would crush a conventional submarine as if it were an aluminum can. Bathyspheres compensate with plate steel several inches thick, which keeps the pressure at bay.

In verses 16 and 17 of Ephesians 3, Paul's words help the believer to compensate for life's pressures, not by outside means but by biblical confidence found within. The power to live with genuine confidence does not flow from the outside in, but from the inside out. Here's the process: God, out of His glorious riches (grace), through the Holy Spirit, strengthens us with power in our inner being. We must live from the inside out because our bodies are dying daily, but our inner life is renewed by the Holy Spirit and God's Word.

An affirmation appears in 2 Corinthians 4:16 where we read, "We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." Genuine confidence is not based on outward appearance, financial stability, intellectual acumen; it comes from renewing, training, cleansing, and feeding my inner being, so that Jesus can feel at home in my heart.

In verses 17-19, Paul gave us a grasp on how much God loves us.Genuine confidence comes from knowing this. Many believers have confidence crises because they have not spent time experiencing and enjoying God's love. Paul reminded us that God doesn't accept us based on our ability to make good decisions or to be good people; He accepts us based on His immeasurable love for us.

What is eating away at your confidence these days? Have you allowed a comfortable lifestyle, money, external security, and morality to boost your confidence? Have you allowed bad decisions, illness, loneliness, and sinful choices to eat away at your confidence? Let God fortify you from within. --Marvin Williams

DESTINATION POINTS

* How will I renew, exercise, cleanse, and feed my inner being this week?
* How can I live from the inside out today?
* How have I seen the details of God's love for me lately, and how have those details given me confidence?

LINKS:
How Deep Can They Go?
http://www.seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/beebe.html

The Bathysphere Adventures
http://hometown.aol.com/chines6930/mw1/sphere.htm

bottom line: God's power within > any pressure without.

soul journey