We may be weak and full of faults and failings; we may be troubled on every side and encompassed at times by all sorts of evil and contradictions; we might find ourselves pressed down and even crushed by circumstances and perplexities; we might look at ourselves and see nothing but broken and worthless objects, quite unfit for the sacred work of our God.
But here is the amazing wonder, we have the treasure of the eternal light of the God of eternity in our hearts giving to us a knowledge, and an understanding, and a perception that the greatest minds on earth cannot comprehend or qualify. For God who called the light to shine out of darkness at the beginning of time, has shone his glorious light into our lives and hearts to give us a supernatural understanding of the revelation of wonder and glory of God in the person, in the face, of Jesus Christ.
Such knowledge cannot be learned in a university, neither in a church or religious institution, neither through any skill or personal learning or academia. Such knowledge is God-taught, God-inspired, God imparted, and God-decided.
And we have this treasure in imperfect and inadequate lives so that the excellency and glory of the power that we hold in our lives, in our hands, in our voices, in our total assurance, is seen most clearly to be of God, and from God: and most certainly does not come from ourselves in any way whatsoever.
Such knowledge is not proven by any good works we might seek to do, neither by the attempted correctness of the way we live. It is not proven by the songs we sing, nor by the words that we may speak. It is proven by the excellency, the superior, the extraordinary power within us which may be clearly seen to be of God, and not of ourselves.
Our weaknesses and faults, our failings and damaged lives, only serve to destroy any false boasting or vain pride we may hold about the knowledge within us, and return all the honour and praise to what God has done for us and inside us by his divine intervention in our lives. And so all the glory goes to him only, and in this understanding the power of God operates in our lives day by day at a higher level than we might even imagine.
To walk in humbleness of mind and recognise our true natural disposition is to allow God to do whatever he chooses with us, and to reveal his glory to others and to this world through the manifestation of his power in these weak and somewhat useless vessels in which we currently reside.
The great joy is to know that one day we shall be changed to be like him, when our mortal frame shall take on immortality, for we shall be like Jesus, for we shall see him as he truly is.
To walk humbly with our God, knowing what we really are (and what we are not), is the place of power and victory, the place of influence and authority, the place of joy and excellency.
Christ in us, the hope of glory and the manifestation of our God to this world.
Paul said, "For me to live is Christ!" That is the key to walking in true power and full assurance.
