The trail begins in Ephesians 3:20 - "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." we all quote this verse on a regular basis, but there's more to it and it's powerful. I love this verse for a couple of reasons, but the biggest one is because back in April of 2009 it was given to me by Dick Mills and he told me to "make my list big" and that "God will give you much more." with more underlined. What amazing word to receive over 10 years ago! It's been soooo true too! I had it written out on the note that he gave me, but it was in the NKJV so I decided to look it up in my NLT Jack Hayford Study Bible. That is where my trail took off. In my study Bible there is a "Kingdom Dynamics" explanation of some things that had happened in history because of this scripture passage (if you have this Bible look it up and read it! It' sooo sooo cool!!) and then gave some other scriptures that had to do with this idea of God doing more in our life. The first reference I look up was Zechariah 8:18-23 [18 Here is another message that came to me from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.19 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter[a] are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace.
20 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. 21 The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.
23 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”. ]This passage talks about how the Israelites had been fasting and praying and "suffering" if you will...and God told them to stop. Not only that God told them to change the festivals of fasting and tradition into festivals of joy and celebration. This spoke to me and confirmed so much in me. I have felt all year that each time I've committed to studying God's word it had been such a fulfilling feast of joy and celebration. Granted it's a choice for me to enter into that, but when I do choose to enter into that joy it's endless. There was another "Kingdom Dynamic" study here and it talked about 4 key ingredients of any prayer movement. It was also very fascinating. If you have one of these Bibles I'm talking about I encourage you to get it out and follow this trail (we aren't done just yet so stay with me for now).
Next, the trail leads to 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 "Finally, dear brothers and sisters,[a] we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. 2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.[b] 4 And we are confident[ww] in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ."
This passage talks mostly about prayer and how to pray. It ties into what I'm studying because when I ask for things I'm asking for them in prayer. These are some examples of prayer that I could pray, but my prayers are useless unless I understand that God loves me and hears my prayers which are explained in other verses throughout scripture. This is a whole concept that is immesly rewarding to dig into, but I won't today.
The other Scripture that Dick Mills gave me was 2 Chronicles 25:9b "The LORD is able to give you much more than this!" So many thoughts go whirling through my head when I read this. 1. The story that goes with this quote is pretty fun to read. 2. God will give me more! MORE 3. If all my needs are met why would I need more? 4. God wants to give us more so we can be a blessing of joy and peace for all. A.L.L. I'll say that one again because it's THAT good God wants you and me to be a blessing to ALL. Christians, Sinners, Religous leaders, Drug lords, Potheads, Law enforcement and the list could go on for miles. Every one is worthy of God's love and I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO SHARE! This concept brings tears to my eyes because I wonder why in the world I hold onto it? There's an infinite amount of it and God's word is abundantly clear about this. Yet I'm terrified that I'll give it away in a way that won't be received and then it will be wasted. (as if that's actually possible) I'm always kind to everyone, but I regularly shy away from talking about the abundance of God's love and what that had unlocked in my life. It has unlocked so much more than I would have ever wildly imagined. What I love most is that it hasn't been wild travel and exotic places like I imagine it could be in Bible School. I'm back in my hometown as a youth pastor's wife. I would have NEVER in my wildest dreams thought this would be where God would send us. To most, it seems small, but God knows and I know the number of people that travel through our city from all over the world. I know better than to sit back and say "oh, this isn't what God has called me to yet so I'm not going to do anything." There's no such thing as that. God calls you each step of your journey. Each step is important. Each person is important to the Kingdom of God.
I hope you've enjoyed this post. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on what God showed you while following "the trail" If you'd like to study in my study Bible I'd love to share it! I won't let someone take it home, but you're more than welcome to flip through the pages or come study it at my house.
I shared a quote from it below.
[WordWealth - Confident - peitho (pie-tho); Strongs #3982: As an intransitive verb, the word means to be convinced, be confident, have inward certainty, trust (Rom 2:19; 2 Cor 2:3 ["Surely Know"]). In its transitive use, it means to win over, prevail upon, persuade, induce a change of mind by the use of arguments (Acts 18:4; 19:8, 26; 2 Cor 5:11). ]
