• Pray: “Lord, I know I need feedback in order to become the person You’ve called me to be. So, I trust You to lead me to that person/those people who can do that. I ask You for a tender heart and tough hide so that I can receive difficult words without being devastated. As I start this process I ask Your protection and forgiveness when I stumble and do it wrong and for courage to do keep trying until I do it right. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
• After praying something like the prayer above, step out in faith that God has heard your prayer and will answer it. The proof of our trust in God is that we talk to Him and then believe He loves us so much that He hears and responds. So, that means you look for that person but before you ask for feedback from them ask God in a quick, microwave prayer: “Lord, if my choice is right let them say ‘yes’ and if I’m wrong let them say ‘no.’”
• Once the person is selected, confirmed by God, and agrees, then start utilizing the gift by lowering your defenses, hearing what’s said and acting on the things that come up.
• Remember, we are asking that person to judge us. That’s fine! That’s what feedback is. What you don’t need is someone condemning you. If that happens, try to give them feedback about what you’re looking for/not looking for. If they “get it” then you’re on your way. If they continue to condemn then just thank them for trying and say something like, “I’m not ready for this. I thought I was. Thank you for trying.”

Paul is writing to the Christians in the 1st Century church of Ephesus. That’s in present day Turkey. What he writes to those Christians is something that we desperately need to hear in the 21st Century:

God put you on earth to do a certain work that only you can do. Paul says in this passage in Ephesians that God made us to do good works and that He planned in advance what we would live our lives doing. However, He didn’t plan for us to do that work alone. We need people to work with us.

When you start doing the work He’s created for you to do but you do it disconnected from others you get exhausted and burned out. Why? Because you’re trying to do your work alone and God never meant for you to do that. 

Here’s God prescription for getting life done well: Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together.” When you work as a team, you get so much more done. Plus, having good teammates alongside you is a whole lot more fun and less tiring.

A single snowflake makes no difference because it is so fragile. However, when one fragile snowflake sticks together with a lot of other fragile snowflakes, they can alter the timetable of air traffic, shut a city down and serve as the future water source for tens of thousands of people. Like snowflakes, we can make a big difference if we work together, each one of us doing only our small part.

As you walk through life, remember that you’re not supposed to do everything on your own. You need other people towalk alongside you, but you also need other people to work alongside you. As you share the load of your work with fellow Christians, you’ll find that you actually accomplish more for the glory of God.

Blessings,
Karl

PROMISE 1: The first promise I want you to discover is actually the core Bible verse for the new seriesBEYOND: Making The Most Of What God’s Given You, that we started yesterday. It is found in Ephesians 3:20, “Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by His power at work within us.” (CEB)

The promise? In this verse God promises to do “far beyond all that we could ask or imagine” with the goals and schedules and dreams of our lives. The premise? “His power at work within us.” In other words, I have to have God’s power within me in order that He can do far beyond what I can ask or imagine. This promise is about God’s power that is made available to your life. But the “far beyond” isn’t going to magically happen without you “faith-ing” (another one of my words – you won’t find it in the dictionary) that God plans for it to happen. This is the trust-builder part of the promise. Faith is required for the power to be activated. Faith changes us and faith changes circumstances. God has decided to work in our lives through our faith/trust in Him. So, you must have faith that God will take your goals and dreams and, even your schedule, and go much further than you can imagine.

The phrase “far beyond” is from a Greek word meaning “abundantly more.” But that was insufficient to answer the question, “How much more?” and so the Apostle Paul added a prefix that makes it mean, “super-abundantly more.” But that didn’t really get the picture across so he added another prefix which makes it mean, “exceedingly, super-abundantly more.”

This promise is saying, “Expect God to do great things – far beyond what you can ask or imagine – in your life, day in and day out, if you have His power at work in you.” How do you get His power at work in you? Receive Jesus as your Savior (the One who saves you from the consequences of your sin) and Lord (the One who calls the shots in your life; gives the direction to your life). If you’ve already done that, His power is at work in you – so this promise is calling on you to EXPECT God to do far beyond what your goals are. Now, that may mean God says, “No” to your ideas for goals or schedule or dreams. But if He does say “No” it’s because His plan is to say an “exceedingly super-abundantly” greater “Yes.”

If you haven’t yet received Christ as your Savior and Lord then this promise doesn’t apply to you…unless you receive Him. You can talk to God in this very moment and say, “Dear God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for Jesus dying for my sin and for His resurrection. Today, I accept Him as my personal Savior and Lord. I want to grow each day in obeying Him. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” If you prayed that prayer, believing, then the first promise for you is, that AS OF THIS MOMENT, you are promised and guaranteed forgiveness of all your sins, purpose for today and a home with God in Heaven for eternity. Please let me know if you’ve made that decision today. I’d love to celebrate with you!

I end today’s class with a word from the Bible about all the promises of God: “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for His glory.” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NLT)

APPLICATION: Pray and say, “Yes” to what God wants to do in you and through you today. Present your plans and goals and dreams for today to Him and tell Him “Yes” to whatever way He wants to go “far beyond” in fulfilling His promise.

I’d love to hear from you as you claim God’s promises regarding how He does far beyond what you can ask or imagine.

Blessings,

Karl