Ephesians 1:18
". . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling . . ."
When we come to Christ as our Savior, He takes up residence within us. Our body becomes His temple. Our life becomes the place where His life is expressed. When we surrender to Him, His faith becomes our faith, His strength becomes our strength, and His Spirit becomes the power within us.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one. And this One God now dwells in us through His Spirit. This is a magnificent truth to pause and consider.
So much of life is busy and loud that we often forget the Holy Spirit is even there. I lived many years like this. It is painful to look back and realize how often I ignored Him. But I am not ignoring Him anymore. I am learning to stay aware of His presence, moment by moment. And I am amazed to see that He was active in my life even when I wasn’t paying attention.
Yesterday I learned something that shook me:
The conscience can only alert you — it cannot give details. Yet I have been receiving details with my conscience alerts for years. I always assumed it was just my conscience. It made me cry to realize I have been hearing the Holy Spirit all along and didn’t know it was Him. I have so much to learn. Chambers is teaching me deeply; he is so astute in the Word.
Chambers says I was saved so that Jesus could be manifested in my body. That may not be the only reason I was saved, but it is the central purpose of salvation — that Christ’s life becomes visible in my life. Recently we learned that adversity is one of the primary places where the Spirit comes to the forefront and Christ is manifested when we obey and let Him orchestrate the outcome.
Chambers says to rise to every occasion of difficulty. God has already done a work in you. He has already saved you, sanctified you, and placed His strength within you. So we do not wait for strength. We do not shrink in fear. Instead, we rise to the occasion with what God has already done in us. And when we obey in surrender, Christ comes to the forefront and delivers us in the crisis.
We exhibit the salvation of God, the trust we have in Him, and the fortitude He has already provided. We step out in faith and reveal Jesus to the world through our speech and actions. If there is a reason for the Spirit to come forward in you, He will. Stand on His promises. Step out in faith. Hold yourself together with the faith of Christ within you. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.
We stand tall for Jesus Christ, no matter what befalls us. We take the first step. He will not fail us.
Consider Daniel in the lions’ den. He did not rise to the occasion because he was fearless — he rose because he was faithful. Daniel stood firm in obedience when the world expected him to bow. He prayed as he always had, trusting God with the consequences. And when he was thrown into the lions’ den, God shut the mouths of the lions. Daniel stood in God’s strength, not his own, and God made His power visible in the darkest place. Adversity became the stage where God’s faithfulness shone.
Elijah gives us another picture of this same courage on Mount Carmel, standing against the prophets of Baal. They cried out to their false god all day, but nothing happened. Then Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord, dug a trench around it, drenched the sacrifice with water, and prayed. And God sent fire from heaven that consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water in the trench. God showed Himself mighty. Elijah was bold — and God was faithful. We should be so bold.
Chambers says adversity is a training ground.
"God allows adversities to see if we can jump over them properly."
This is not punishment. It is strengthening.
Adversity trains, shapes, reveals, refines, and proves Christ’s life in us.
"By my God I can leap over a wall" (Psalm 18:29) means:
You can do what you could never do without Him.
Chambers tells us:
"Rise to the occasion — do what the trial demands of you."
Don’t resist the trial.
Don’t complain.
Don’t collapse.
Don’t ask God to remove it.
Don’t treat it as strange or unfair.
Instead ask:
What does obedience look like in this moment?
The pain doesn’t matter.
The discomfort doesn’t matter.
The inconvenience doesn’t matter.
What matters is this:
Does this adversity give Jesus a place to shine through me?
"May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality."
This is the transformation:
complaining → readiness
self‑pity → spiritual vitality
demanding → submitting
resisting → rising
Chambers is saying:
Stop telling God what you want.
Stop dictating how life should go.
Stop insisting on your way.
Jesus never dictated to His Father.
He obeyed.
So must we.
"He will make us broken bread and poured‑out wine."
This is the final picture:
Broken bread — your life given for others.
Poured‑out wine — your obedience nourishing someone else.
Your adversity becomes someone else’s encouragement.
Your surrender becomes someone else’s strength.
This is the highest calling:
To be used by God to feed others with the life of Christ in you.
Rise to every trial with obedience, not complaint, so that Christ — not you — may be seen.
Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart.
Teach me to live with a steady awareness of Your presence.
When adversity comes, let Christ's life be seen in me.
Make me faithful like Daniel, bold like Elijah, and surrendered like Jesus.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Scripture References
1. Christ dwelling in us / His life manifested in our bodyEphesians 1:18 — “That you may know what is the hope of His calling…”
2 Corinthians 4:10 — “…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 — “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…”
Galatians 2:20 — “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Colossians 1:27 — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
2. The Holy Spirit guiding, speaking, and giving the details
John 16:13 — “He will guide you into all truth…”
Romans 9:1 — “My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit…”
Isaiah 30:21 — “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way…’”
3. Rising to adversity with God’s strength
Psalm 18:29 — “By my God I can leap over a wall.”
Isaiah 41:10 — “I will strengthen you… I will uphold you…”
2 Corinthians 12:9 — “My grace is sufficient for you…”
Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
4. Daniel in the lions’ den
Daniel 6:10 — Daniel prayed as he always had.
Daniel 6:22 — “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths…”
5. Elijah on Mount Carmel
1 Kings 18:36–39 — God answers Elijah with fire from heaven.
6. Obedience, surrender, and not dictating to God
Ephesians 4:30 — “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit…”
James 1:22 — “Be doers of the word…”
John 14:21 — “He who has My commandments and keeps them… I will manifest Myself to him.”
Luke 22:42 — “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
7. God supplying everything needed in adversity
Philippians 4:19 — “My God shall supply all your need…”
Psalm 46:1 — “A very present help in trouble.”
Hebrews 13:5–6 — “The Lord is my helper…”
8. Transformation through adversity
Romans 5:3–4 — “Tribulation produces perseverance…”
James 1:2–4 — “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials…”
1 Peter 1:6–7 — Trials refine your faith like gold.
9. Broken bread and poured‑out wine
John 12:24 — “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies…”
2 Timothy 4:6 — “I am already being poured out as a drink offering…”
Mark 14:22–24 — Jesus as broken bread and poured‑out wine.
10. God’s sovereignty in adversity
Romans 8:28 — “All things work together for good…”
Psalm 37:23–24 — “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…”
Proverbs 3:5–6 — “He shall direct your paths.”
Comments
Post a Comment