Living Powerfully: You Are, You Have, You Can Do

Hey, everyone! For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome! We're so glad you're here. We meet in homes just like believers did in the book of Acts, and we love studying God's Word together in a relaxed, family atmosphere.

Tonight, let’s study some Word. Living Powerfully. Yes? I want to share something with you that can change how you see yourself and how you walk each day. Here's the main point I want you to remember:

When you know who you are, what you have, and what you can do according to God's Word, you can walk powerfully in your relationship with Him.

That's it. Simple. But so powerful when we really believe it. 

We're going to look at three things tonight: 

• who you ARE, 

• what you HAVE, and 

• what you CAN DO. 

And then we're going to look at a couple of Greek words from the original text that will show you just how much God wants to bless you.

If you have a Bible, feel free to turn to the verses as we go. If not, no worries - just listen and enjoy. We’re going to start at 1 John 3. 

So, we’re going to learn 3 parts: who you are, what you have, and what you can do. 

PART 1: WHO YOU ARE

Let's start with who you are. How does God see you?

Turn with me to 1 John chapter 3, verse 2: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God…"

Did you catch that word? NOW. Not someday when you're older. Not someday when you’re more spiritual, or when you've cleaned up your life.

NOW you are a daughter or son of God.

How did this happen? How did I NOW become a child of God? 

Romans 10:9 tells us: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

It's that simple. When you confess Jesus as lord and believe God raised him from the dead, you become God's child. And when that happens, everything changes.

• You become complete in Christ - nothing missing (Colossians 2:9-10). You are complete. Nothing is missing. You lack nothing. 

• You become loved by God - and nothing can separate you from that love (Romans 8:38-39). And that’s agape love, unconditional love. 

• You become blessed with ALL spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). 

You are what God's Word says you are. Complete, loved, and blessed. You’re NOT what you feel on a bad day. You’re NOT what others might say about you. You ARE what God says, God says, you are.

Please turn to 2 Corinthians 9. So, that’s Part 1 “who you are.” 

PART 2: WHAT YOU HAVE

What do you have because you're God's child?

Who can read for us 2 Corinthians 9:8? It says you have all sufficiency in all things. That means God has given you what you need. You have everything you need in life. That’s what you have. 

Who can read for us Romans 5:1? It says you have peace with God. You're not at odds with Him. You're not in trouble with God. This isn’t a battle. You have peace. That’s what you have, because of who you are.

Who can read for us Psalm 107:20? It says you have God's healing Word. His Word brings healing to your life.

The more we know about what we have, the more we can give to others. You can't give what you don't know you have!

Let’s turn to Ephesians 6. So, that’s Part 1 “who you are (complete, loved, blessed). And Part 2 “what you have” (everything, peace, and healing).

PART 3: WHAT YOU CAN DO

Here's where it gets exciting. When you “know who you are” (complete, loved, blessed), and you know “what you have” (everything, peace, and healing), you're equipped for action.

Who can read for us Ephesians 6:10-11? It says you can be strong in the Lord. You can walk with the power of God and reach out to help others.

You can put God's love in action wherever you are - at work, at home, in your neighborhood.

Who can read for us Philippians 2:16? It says you can "hold forth the word of life." That just means you can share what you know. You can help others discover what you're learning.

So, that’s Part 1 “who you are. Part 2 “what you have.” And Part 3 “what you can do.” 

GREEK WORD STUDY

Now let's look at something that will really encourage you. And don't worry if you've never studied Greek before - I'll make this simple and fun.

Turn with me to Ephesians 3:20. This is one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible.

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

I want to show you two Greek words in this verse. The New Testament was originally written in Greek (Old Testament in Hebrew). Sometimes when we look at the original language, we discover things that are just amazing.

The first phrase is "exceeding abundantly." In the original Greek text, this is one word: huper-ek-perissos. It’s a translation of a single, compound Greek word. 

Now, I know that sounds complicated, but watch what happens when I break it down using the blueletterbible app at https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/eph/3/20/ss1/s_1100020.

This rare adverb (huper-ek-perissos) is formed by combining the Greek words huper (above, beyond), ek (out of, from), and perissou (abundantly, exceedingly) to create an intensified superlative of "superabundantly". 

So, what does all that REALLY mean? 

God literally stacked three words together to describe how much He wants to bless you! 

It's like He's saying, "I want to do SUPER-OUT OF-ABUNDANT things for you!"

God isn't holding back. He's not giving you just barely enough to get by. He's going over the top, beyond what you can even imagine. That's how much God loves you!

Now look at the second part of the verse. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

That word "power" in Greek is dunamis. You might recognize it - it's where we get our word "dynamite." This is explosive power. This is real, active, working power.

And where is this power? Look at the verse: "IN US." 

It's NOT out there somewhere in the sky. 

It's NOT something you have to go searching for. 

It’s NOT from a stone wall Jerusalem or a big building in Rome. 

If you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, this power is already in you right now.

God isn't asking you to do things with your own strength. He's already given you His power to do what He's called you to do.

So, that’s some cool research we do here in this ministry. Please turn to John 14. 

CONNECTING IT TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

So how do we live this out? How do we walk in this power every day?

Jesus Christ showed us the way. He had an amazing relationship with his heavenly Father, and John 14:12 tells us what? Alicia taught us this verse a couple fellowships ago. Let’s read John 14:12, and it says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” 

We can do the same works Jesus did. And even greater works, we can do also. How? 

Let's follow Jesus as an example.

First, Jesus studied God's Word. In Luke 2:46-47 (you don’t have to turn there), we see that even at twelve years old, Jesus was in the temple listening to the teachers and asking questions. He took time to know his Father through the Scriptures. We can do the same thing. Set aside time to read our Bible. That's how we get to know God personally.

Second, Jesus kept his heart open and willing to obey. We’re in John. Let’s turn to John 8:29 where it says, "I do always those things that please him." Jesus chose to please God. Not out of fear or obligation, but out of love. We can do that too. We don’t fear God, our Heavenly Father. We love God. When situations come up during our day, just ask ourselves, "What does God's Word say about this situation?" Then do it.

Third, Jesus spent time talking with his Father in prayer. Let’s turn to and read Mark 1:35, where it says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” 

He talked to God throughout the day. He went to God first with everything, not as a last resort. We can do the same. Just talk to God like you'd talk to a loving father. Pour your heart out to Him. Keep Him involved in everything.

CONCLUSION

Let me leave you with the main point one more time:

When you know who you ARE, what you HAVE, and what you can DO according to God's Word, you can walk powerfully in your relationship with Him.

You ARE a child of God. You HAVE all spiritual blessings. You CAN do what the Word says you can do, because the power of God is working IN you - that super-out of-abundant power we talked about.

So this week, remember who you are. 

• Remember what you have. 

• And walk in what you can do. 

• Read God's Word. 

• Keep your heart open and willing to obey. 

• Talk to God throughout your day.

God loves you, and He wants you to walk powerfully. Thanks for being here tonight.

You are the best.

Amen?