Strengthened With All Power

"...So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ...." Colossians 1:10-11 TNIV

We are in the middle of this long sentence, but  I want us to be able to glean at least a small portion of the riches that are here. Paul is so caught up in the glories of all the Lord has provided for us, that he just goes on and on. Praise God he did. Now we can begin to allow all these jewels to unfold in us. They are not just words, but concepts and goodness that the Lord has purchased and provided for us all.

This is still a part of Paul's prayer for these Christians. You will remember (previous posts) he is praying for people he has never met. He is not praying for them to have what they already possess and live in. He is praying for them things he knows are available in Jesus that are accessible to all who claim Him as Lord. Yet, these are not automatic things like redemption, forgiveness etc... so he is praying for them to enter into the riches of the Father.

In living this life in the Lord Jesus, we have here strength. He prays, "...being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might..." As we grow in this full-experiential knowledge of the Lord through His word and through our lives being lived in His heart, we are given strength - he says "all power according to His glorious might..."  There are actually three words here in the Greek that designate strength or power. The one translated "strengthened" is a form of the same word translated "power." That one is the one we are most familiar with "dunamis." It means power, might, strength. It means inherent power - the power of begin able to reproduce itself. So this kind of strength goes from strength to strength in an unending flow.

The second word translated "might" (as His glorious might) is "kratros." It is also strength and might, but has the added meaning of power being exerted effectively. So as we trust Him and lean into all He has provided for us, we, in the full-knowledge of our God, are able to continually increase in strength, and power that is effective in the Kingdom.

There is a lot of work we do, which is not done in His strength and we run out of both strength and power. However, when He becomes the author of our strength - we can go just as long as He does and it is effective in the Kingdom - not just "busy-work." This kind of energy and strength is not produced through programs, nor adrenaline, both of which are often mistaken for moves of God.

The Lord can use and does use all things, but there is no substitute for this involvement in us of the full-experiential knowledge of Him as we move and do what is before us. In the Spirit, life cannot be faked. We might be able to work for a little while on our charisma, or knowledge, or adrenaline rush. But eventually we will come up empty. The answer is here. I encourage you to join me in reading this entire prayer as we ponder these wonders.