Beyond, Beyond

I had a wonderful experience at the Deeper Still Conference a couple of weekends ago! I haven’t blogged too much about it because it was a LOT of information to take in and it has taken me a while to process it all and really make it real in my heart and mind. Of course there are still times when I hear or see something and think “oh yea, ____ (Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer or Beth Moore) said at the conference…” I think that might go on for a while!

One of the thing I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and praying about and processing is the information that Priscilla Shirer shared in her hour and a half “talk” on 2 verses. Yup, she spent an hour and a half on 2 verses! She was amazing (they all were) and here is some of what I learned.

If you’ve spend any time in the Word, or on history of those who wrote the Word, then you’re familiar with Paul. I love the Books that Paul has written and I think it's so wonderful that he was not a Jew, but a convert and so his heart was for the Gentiles (which would be me!). But I never felt like I had much in common with Paul. He was so well spoken, so unafraid, so godly, so learned, so much “bigger than life” that I felt like I couldn’t find a personal connection with him. You know what I mean? Look at Peter, Jesus’ disciple – now Peter I had an instant connection with. He was known for acting out his emotions, speaking without thinking and doing (over and over again) what he knew he should not do! Oh yeah, that I understand! Instant feelings of kinship with Peter! But Paul has always been a different story. I even tried to do (a couple of times actually) a Beth Moore Bible study on Paul. I’ve never been able to get through it. Paul “got” things right away and from the time of his conversion he did what God asked him to. Now, I know he wasn’t perfect, but he was an amazing apostle and I felt like we just didn’t have much in common. Let me show you what Paul wrote that changed that for me – just a bit.

Ephesians 3:20 & 21: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever! Amen.

At first glance these verses (although awesome) don’t seem any different than any of the other things that Paul wrote… but if you look at and really dig into the word immeasurably you would find that in the original language this word was more than one word. The word immeasurably is what English teachers call a super superlative. In the original language this word, this one word means –”exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond.” So when Paul used the word immeasurably he used it because he had a hard time picking one word to convey his thought! He had to use more than one word – he couldn’t find the right word. There – that’s it! That’s what made me feel like I knew Paul a bit better! The fact that he couldn’t find the right word – so he used more than one word (in the original language) put me a bit more at ease because that’s the kind of thing I do all the time. I don’t have the exact right word, so I end up using more than one to get my point across. So did Paul in this verse. He was overwhlemed by God's ability that he has to use several words to make his point.

But less the point be lost (because I talk too much) – read those verses again and see what Paul is saying…

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably (exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond) MORE than we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generation for ever and ever! Amen”

After that super superlative Paul uses the word MORE! God can do all those things and MORE than we ask or imagine. WOW! I mean really, cause I can imagine a LOT?!?! When I really think about that and the wording and what it means, it is so amazing to me that I’ve spent nearly 2 weeks thinking about it.

Then when I think about what I’ve asked God for in my life, and what I’ve seen him do for me, and for those around me…

My niece born very premature

And Reagan now

...I get a small glimpse of what this verse means. I realize that God has done above and beyond – even beyond, beyond (“you with me ladies?!?!”) in my life in the past and he can and will do it again! All I need to do is ask. And when He does, the praise will be His forever and ever!!

What can God do beyond, beyond for you?