How hard is it to allow God to be God?

This is the very question that keeps cropping up in my mind and heart as God intersects my life with His sovereignty. He keeps Shining the light on my weakness and lack of trust in Who He is.  I realize that in some areas I have “right” thinking about my great God, but in others I lack truth and understanding. This has played itself out with a few courses in the school of God’s discipline, whereby I learn who God is and What He is capable of, and What He is about; conversely, exposing who I am, what I am about, and what a necessity it is for me to fully abide and participate with God’s Holy Spirit that dwells within me..  I don’t know about you, but as a sheep, I find that I cruise along in life a lot in what I call grazing mode. That is the place where I just exist, eating and digesting whatever I come upon. The problem with that type of existence is that not everything that I take in on my digestive journey is necessarily good for me or nourishing, or for that matter, digestible. I am stopped in my grazing tracks when I  swallow a stick that gets lodged in my little sheep esophagus, causing me extreme discomfort and pain. This is where I have found myself lately; swallowing a lot of sticks!  The sticks of my life presently are the ideas and untruths about God’s control and dominion in my life. But, thanks be to God that I am forced to stop and allow the Great Shepherd to dislodge the indigestible irritant. For example, recently I began a journey with God on a road that revealed a vision that He had placed on my heart, but somewhere along the way, the darn sticks  got in the way; I began to act on my own, not waiting and trusting in God; even violating His word in some circumstances. Wow! How do I seem to end up here? One word: Sheep! I am so thankful for God’s loving shepherding with me, and how He leads me and keeps me, how bout you? 

The latest greatest heresy: Rob Bell on Hell

Nowadays, heretics are coming out of the woodwork. The accursed Gospel that they preach is a spine shivering example of how our flesh loves to distort the truth. Heresy is in our genetic material: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:….factions” (heresies in the Greek translation) Galatians 5:19,20; It is the default button on our souls without the Spirits guidance into truth.

Rob Bell is one among many.

Rob’s latest and greatest Heresy is found in his new book titled: “Love Wins”.  This book is just an extension of the already marked departure from the gospel that he has already propagated.  It’s the message of Timothy coming true “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse” (2 timothy 3:13); just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, BAM! Just as in Christ Jesus the godly go from glory to glory, those who are ungodly increase in wickedness.  We know that many will follow and depart from the truth adhering to lies: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” (2 timothy 4:3-4) Followers of Rob Bell are waiting, not with baited breath, but baited ears! Why? Because they are following their own desires and understanding.  As Timothy put, they are “always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Their worldly knowledge is their truth, and these truths they ascribe to are figments of their own passions and desires; I cannot accept that God would allow anyone to go to hell, so I will create my own reality and my own truth.  They negate the sovereignty of God to make God into a being that has the same affections, thoughts, and understanding as they; they exchange the truth for a lie.  Rob Bell has become a master procurer of this; a spiritual herald of all those who would follow after falsehood.  He is rightly called in 2 Peter 2:17: “Springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”

It’s funny that just recently I had a conversation with a lovely young woman that had abandon Christ for this same ideology.  In her view, Hell was a mythical place that the Catholic church had made up in order to win converts. Her thoughts spoken into words spilled forth out of the beat of her own truths:  “this place is the closest to Hell that we are ever going to get”. How sad, that so many are buying this false sense of peace.  Hell is as real as this world.  It is spoken of over and over in the new testament, Jesus himself spoke of it often:

Matthew 5:22: “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, “Raca” shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, “You fool”, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Matthew 5:29: ” And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body will perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Matthew 7:13: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction (in the Greek: the second death, perdition separation from God eternally) , and many are those who enter by it.”

Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who can kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.”

I could continue, that is only a few of the many verses unveiled in the Gospels. Unless God Himself grants Rob Bell repentance unto salvation, it will be a place that will hit Rob Bell and all who deny the truth of Jesus Christ upside the head. All those enemies of the Cross bent for destruction: Hell awaits! God is forgiving, repent and believe the truth, salvation awaits!

If you want to see for yourself the unsound doctrine that Rob Bell is adhering to you can see his latest add for the book at this link: \”no hell\”

Are The End Times Upon Us?

I have been following the current state of affairs in our World today, and was drawn into Matthew 24:7 “For Nation will rise against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom” NASB. Nations…what are nations, but groups of people, races and cultures that live together in one place… and what are kingdoms but rules established over those nations of men to regulate those races, and nations for order.  In this scripture both shall rise up! This is what I am seeing today. We have states battling against rule by Unions in an attempt to balance budgets.  In the Middle East, Nations and Kingdoms are in uprise- Arabs against Jews, and Muslims verses other religions.  Egyptian rule has been overthrown, and Libya is in turmoil.

What is it to rise up? In the Greek it means to rear up, stand up, revolt; this is just what is happening around the globe.  How can we ignore that we are in perilous times? We cannot!

This uprising I believe is happening within all the authority structures that God has instituted.  Even at the smallest level, the family, Luke 21:16 shows this to be true: “But you (believers) will be delivered up even by parents and brothers, and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death and you will be hated by all on account of my name.” and again in Matthew 10:21 “And brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name..” Here is the exact same wording. The uprising within the family has begun. Do you see it? I sure do.  This uprising that is taking place is in form a rebellion to God’s instituted authorities; in these scriptures it is in the authority structure of the family. Today, Rebellion in children is in the air so to speak; it is and has become a spiritual state of the Union. Rebellion is as lawlessness and it is this very lawlessness that seeks to throw the yoke of God’s authority off; in order to claim “freedom” from His laws; to usurp those institutions that have been placed for our security and safety; for our good, so that wickedness is unrestrained.

The final act of  defiance to God’s instituted authority structures is in 2 Thessalonian s 2:7: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” The mystery at work.., This means that lawlessness is expanding secretly, could it be possibly without even the believer’s knowledge?.. and he who restrains will be removed at some point; that is the authority over lawlessness- Who is he? and in verse 6 says: “and you know what restrains him (the antichrist) now , so that in his time he may be revealed.” The restraining force is defined as: what and he. So what is the “what”, and what is the “he”? It is clear something and someone is doing the restraining.

The commentaries that I have read all say that the restraining force is “The Holy Spirit”, but with qualification to it; I am questioning whether  that is true, and wondering if that restraining force is more the structure of authority that has been instituted by God from the beginning of time.  This authority structure exists within systems established, or the “what”, and those systems are enacted and rule is brought forth through  the “he” of God’s chosen people; believers who are filled by God’s Holy Spirit.  The battle that is going on is being waged by the principalities and authorities, those forces that are against these institutions and those who would follow them, in order to subvert the established systems that God set in motion in order to care, secure and protect us from rule by systems of ungodliness.

I believe that what we are seeing is a preparation for the “man of lawlessness” by a reconstruction of authority.  Jesus The authority from God, came and was heralded in by John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord. The preparation for the messiah was to bring repentance from sin; a turning from our own sinful ways (violation of God’s person hood and authority) back toward subjection to God; His authority and person.  John was a “Baptiser” or one who heralds the way to Christ as Subjection to God through Christ (our only atonement) in the form of self-denial, in order that Christ may reign in us; death to the flesh, life to the Spirit!

“Prepare the way” – the path or road or means. Make the road ready, that which God uses or travels upon to intersect our lives.  What is that path? The statement “prepare the way” is a command for the future that is based upon a simple act. This new testament scripture is referring to the old testament prophecy in Isaiah 40:3 that says: “Clear the way ….make smooth… let the rough ground become a plain.. and the rugged terrain a broad valley, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together.” the preparation of the “what” brings about the coming of the “who”.  Preparing the way for the who was the what.  All the avenues and means that God previously used in order to institute His ways and presence would morph into the person of Jesus Christ; the ultimate living “way” or example of Godly submission to God’s authority.

The road Christ walked in which we too walk, is the road of submission to God’s authority in our lives. The difference is now we don’t submit to the letter of the law, but to the Spirit who dwells in us. “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death” Romans 8:2. We submit to the Spirit of Christ in us as  James 4:6,7 proclaims: “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The road to God is paved with submission to His authority- those instituted for Him and by Him from the beginning of time.  Those same structures  are undergoing attack and decay this very moment: The marriage-Man’s authority over woman given by God; the family-parents authority over children given by God; The Church- God’s authority over believers by believers.  All these institutions are being risen up against so that the anti-christ’ way is prepared, just as was our Lord’s, so that lawlessness (or department from the authorities of God’s law; without law) can abound.  Law comes by rule of authority-a supreme authority, the supreme authority.  this very authority stands in opposition to Chaos and anarchy; being able to do whatever we chose, being self-governed instead of God governed.  We are on a divine collision course headed in this very direction; one appointed by God so that He may come again to forever abolish it’s subversion and rebellion to His rule.

Another sign that I see in God’s word that shows this removal of God’s authority is stated in 2 Thessalonian s 2:3 : “Let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come (the day of the Lord) unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed…who opposes and exalts himself…displaying himself as being God.”  Apostasy in this sense means a departure from the truth. The opposite would be maintaining to the truth’s of God; His rule and sovereignty that works through the current system of authority that He has set in place in specific units: Man/woman/family/church/government.

I believe it remains to be seen then,  that in the end times we will see  abandonment  of Godly authorities and structures those institutions amidst people that administer His authority, in order to set up an ungodly system of self-authority, in which people will decide for themselves how they are governed and ruled; there will be homosexual marriage, anarchy, chaos and moral deprivation/deviance.  It will truly be as the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

I believe that this is the very thing that Ephesians is speaking of in chapter 6 when Paul is saying that our battle is not against “flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” That battle is taking place on every front now! How do we stand in this day?  I believe that the antidote is given to us in 2 Thessalonian s 2:10 “but we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” We must be set apart for the truth, we must love the truth, adhering to the Godly structures and authorities that He has instituted for our good. This is further echoed in the words of Paul addressing the Ephesians in chapter 6 again when he says: “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth.” Believe me brethren, this chapter is giving us explicit instructions for those days as he states when he speaks in verse 13 of the “evil day”.

As those who are unaware go from bad to worse, we should cling to the truth, obeying and upholding it.  As the day gets darker, we shall get brighter!

Suffering as a Parent

What is the thing that I most suffer in? I believe to answer that question honestly it would mean to have to expose the one area of my life that I feel most inept at; Parenting. Who tugs at our hearts more than our kids, I think that is why we find it so appalling when Mothers kill their kids, or neglect and desert them, its almost hard to imagine.  Though, I cannot say that I have abandoned my kids, or hurt them physically, I can say that it is daily that I fail them.  It is at that point that I am plunged to bottom of the deepest sea, being pummeled by the wind and waves.  I know that anyone with kids knows what I mean.  Those times when you know how you failed them, and are clutching for dear life to a Sovereign Lord for help.  If it were left up to us, we deserve to have ungodly kids, we have all failed to do the right thing for them; harsh words, uncaring glances, to busy to help them or notice their sufferings, etc. If I were to bring all my motives and actions before God today, I would get a “F” for a report.  So here I am again, asking for Mercy instead.  I want to love them better, I do, but I constantly have to face my shortcomings and mistakes.  I am so glad that God is abundantly forgiving.

If having kids that love God and walk with him was up to my performance, I would be out of the running.  I am trusting that His grace is sufficient enough for me today and always.  Repentance is always on my mind, it is my strength to get through the day, and the trials.  Lord forgive me for the times I have selfishly parented my children, when I have neglected to teach them your ways because I was too busy, or too tired, or just failed to see their value.  Lord, please help me to change course now, to give them the prayer, encouragement, love, and attention that you desire. Help me to get out of the way when you need to get into their lives and hearts, and help me to get in the way when they are about to step into death and destruction; to be willing to sacrifice myself for their good.  I know the things that I ask are too huge for a mere man to accomplish, or think, so Lord, now I acknowledge your might, your power, and your sovereignty.  I ask that you do more than I could think or ask; that you establish all their ways, that when they depart you bring them back.  Teach me Lord, so that I may teach them.  Shepherd me Lord, that I may shepherd them.  I acknowledge that only you have the ability to soften mens hearts, that only you can make lasting change in a person, and without it we are doomed.  I acknowledge that only you have the right path laid out for them, and only you can cause them to walk in it, and not depart.  Lord, only you can raise for yourself Godly offspring; keep me humble and repentant, so that all your ways will be evident.  Thank you for these beautiful treasures of yours, let me not disappoint you Lord!

New Years Resolutions

Here we are again standing at the threshold of a brand new year!  I will admit that I hate being in this place; as it  is generally a time for people to assess where they have come from and where they are going.  My antipathy is set in my worldly remembrances of all the previous New Years past. The ones where I have looked upon my failures and successes and set a new course toward bigger and better things for the upcoming year, only to fall miserably short of my lofty goals and desires.  So how do I go about this process of looking back and forward with the eyes of the Spirit as a new creation in Christ Jesus, standing upon the threshold of the old and New Year wondering what to do…

The Words of the Apostle Paul ring in my ears in Philippians 3:

“but whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus .  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”

Wow, let that sink in this year! Is this how we look back to measure our Year? Did your year prove to be full of the value of knowing Christ Jesus by suffering the loss of all things?  Do we equate our success with the Worlds view of Success?  I am hoping to obtain the view that Paul had in this letter to the Philippians. I desire to look at all my accomplishments in the world as loss, if they failed to bring me closer to the Lord, and I desire to look at all my heavenly successes as for His glory and success.  I stand in a place where I am called to look back, but with forward thinking. Yes!  I am called to give an account of my faith, am I growing in the knowledge of Christ? Am I spreading abroad His fragrance? But, also, I am called to forget those accomplishments, and continue to strain with my heart to know more and more of my Savior! Straining ahead, looking forward to seeing Him greater and greater!

Brethren, each year gives us opportunity to examine what fruit he has been growing in us; is it the lasting fruit of righteousness, that is, His righteousness, if so, then it is with wonder that we set our feet forward with necks outstretched to see what lies ahead in the coming year in Christ for us.

What is it I see when I look at my life in light of this scripture? Here’s a rundown as I see it:

I lost my job…..rubbish… having found life and peace in trusting Him for all provision

I lost my home….rubbish…it pulled me away from God; I had a divided heart, “You cannot serve both God and mammon”

I lost my sons….to gain them back from the dead; a spiritual deadness that they were pulled into by my disobedience.

 

I see that I have disobeyed, rebelled and suffered; that to my loss, but in the midst of it, I found true life, Christ.  He caused me to suffer and to repent, so that I could have His life, and be reconciled to Him at the cross.  So as I look back it is bittersweet.  I would, if I could change my stubborn rebellious actions and heart, but still, there is a mystery that I would not know except now in retrospect; so it is with anticipation for the next year that I stretch out my wooly neck knowing fully that He alone can keep me by His blessed resurrection power, and that He, my precious Lord, will undertake for me; the beautiful Heart of flesh that he will continue to pursue in me in exchange for my heart of stone.  So this year I will say with Joy: “Thank you Lord Jesus, for the enlightenment of my heart so that I now know: “what is the hope of my calling, what are the riches of your glory in the Saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of Your power for those who believe” (paraphrase and emphasis mine Ephesians 1:18-19)

 

A very well written expose on the Emergent church and it’s philosophies

Here is a set of 5 parts that expose Doublespeak; a concept that began in the social and political arena and now has found it’s way into the Emerging Church and Progressive Christianity.  See what you think…go to the web address below I will put it under blog roll links as well.

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/mwest/100209

What is Christmas to you?

Do you have a view of Christmas as did Scrooge? He lived stuck in the present. The three ghosts came to show him how the past, present and future all were important.  okay, it’s not real christian to think about Ghosts influencing us is it… or is it? I challenge you to go to Hebrews 11 and read about our Ghosts.. that is the great fathers of the faith, they are just like the ghosts that came to Scrooge to spur him on, but it isn’t a ghostly apparition that we see, but it is the witness of their lives played out in the pages of scripture.

 

This Christmas my question for you to think about is: Are you living in the past, present, or the future? Don’t know what I am talking about? Well, let me explain; At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our saviour, Jesus Christ! When we do that, do we do it in the past, present or future tense? Do we look back on a day long ago when we put our hope in Christ as if it was then…a time long past that has been buried quite some time ago, and live strangely without hope and without Christ in our daily lives? Always talking about what Jesus did then, because He is strangely silent now? Racing too and fro, going to Christmas parties, putting up the tree and shopping, even attending Christmas services, then go home to despair; asking ourselves Is this life really worth living?

Or, do we live like Scrooge, who being captive by life in the present; was robbed of joy and of any future hope. Are we living like today is all there is? Have we got caught up in just surviving?Have we lost our hope to sight? Are we living out just what we see, afraid to hope in what is to come?

Or, maybe you are living in the future only; grasping at what is to come? the next great plan, business venture, or other far out there hope. Do you find yourself saying: “When …. then I will…..”

As you can see living in any one of these places alone is fruitless.  Why? In order to accurately live a life that reflects our calling i challenge that we must live in all three places simultaneously.   In Hebrews, the writer speaks of the great men of faith, having gained approval (this in the greek means having borne accurate witness of Christ by their lives), but still not receiving what was promised to them; they lived by faith, in hope.  In other words, they looked ahead to the promises that were given in the past, in order to live a life worthy in the present! They had to use all three mannerisms of time. We are God’s witnesses, on his timeline, attesting to Christ in all tenses; to come, existing, and to come again. To present Him any one way just is incomplete; because He exists outside of time and is relevant and necessary in all places.  God said that Jesus made his entrance “at the fullness of time”. What does that mean? God determines when to intersect time, and it is perfect.  It doesn’t matter what place you are at on that timeline, what matters is that Christ is our Hope, he has come, is present, and is coming again! Brothers and sisters, this Christmas, live in all three places; Look to what Christ has done for you, to what He is doing, and to what is yet to come!

 

Let us live as it says in Revelations 1:8 “I am the alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!”

 

My Passion

Welcome to my site!  I want to open this blog with a little note that tells you why I started it, and what I hope that it will accomplish.

About six months ago, I began having a desire to study about false teachings.  I realized by reading God’s Word that I had, myself, swallowed some off teachings, and had to re-assess what God had to say on a few things.  I found myself looking with a discerning eye at all kinds of books that were written for Christian women and as I did so, I began to see some glaring problems with some of the basic tenets that were set up in these books.  The books that I chose to read, were written by prominent Christian authors, and I was aghast at some of the grave doctrinal errors that I found.  I used the word of God to hold up to the things that were written in these books, and it was clear that there were some gross misuse of scripture, as well as a whole lot of worldly psychology as the main framework for their writings.  I attended some groups that discussed one book in particular, and found that the women there were thrilled at the teaching, and how they in their experience had had many “new” revelations of God.  They didn’t want to talk about how it was not scripturally based or what it’s framework was built upon, some even got slightly angry by my questions.  I found this to be an enigma, how wonderful Christian women could overlook the word of God in exchange for heartfelt experiences.  This is a dangerously invasive disease that is spreading like the flu within the walls of the church.

Shortly after this,  I stumbled upon the whole “contemplative” movement, and the burgeoning influence of Eastern mystical practices in the Christian church.  My Christian backround is in the Spirit filled church; which I am not speaking against directly, but it is seems that some of these eastern mystical practices are using this avenue to filter in.  I began to see that some in the church were beginning to look to experience to determine their doctrine; and, frankly, it really shook me.  I began to research the contemplative practices, thinking that it surely should be a small percentage of people who have bought into this movement, but alas, I was saddened to see that it was much more widespread than I had originally thought; practices not only are being done by believers that I know, but Pastors as well.  I know with all certainty that God equipped me for the challenge that I would face when my son, who is a youth leader at a local church, came home from summer camp and began to tell me about this neat new way to hear God.  My spiritual ears flew up, and after some conversation with him, I realized that he had been taught about contemplative prayer.  Wow, it has even reached into my home.  It wasn’t long after that that a friend called me and told me that a Christian man within their small home group was talking about a strange book, which she gave the authors name and some details.  Yep, it was another contemplative author, and the book was another book that was heralding it’s tenets.  I was able to give her information on this and direct her to a book that was very helpful in exposing this practice. It was through the course of all this coming about, that I realized that these Heresies were running rampant in the church, and people were being picked off and swallowed by them.  It is my hope that I will be able to shed light upon these falsities and herald the truth.  The only true antidote for false teachings is given in 2 thessalonians 10, where Paul speaks of false prophets and deception, and clearly states that people will be decieved because they failed to love the truth!  Truth is not the antidote in itself, but a love of that truth!

Do you love Jesus; His teachings and words more than you love your Pastor, or your own feelings, or even your own experience?  Are you in His Word daily, searching out Who and what He is about? The only offensive weapon that we have against lies is the “sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God!  Even Jesus led by example on this subject when being tempted by Satan in the desert; He used the “whole” word of God! I say “whole” because I see that so many don’t look to the whole Word to establish their doctrine, but pick out some verses to detemine what is right. This is exactly what Satan tried to do with Jesus, but you cannot pull the wool over his eyes! Today, I see that exegisis has been traded out in sermons for superficial topical teachings that fail to take into account the whole Word of God to expose what is really being said, so that hearers of these sermons may not be offended or provoked; handing out culturally relevant scraps.

I write this blog with the understanding that I too am a sheep, prone to wandering in my flesh, but thank God that He reveals truth to our Spirit so that we may not believe the lie and perish.  So, it is with humility and prayer that I write these columns, and it is with grace and mercy that I come before you with the things that I will expose; hoping that if any of you be held captive by hollow and deceptive teachings that you will be set free!

So, it is this reality that leads me to go on in my quest to herald the truth; I pray in the same manner that Paul did for the church in Ephesians 1:18-19; “That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” Amen.