“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NASB).
A Vessel to Contain? Or Carry!
It is deep in the heart of every believer to see their loved ones come to Christ. How often we earnestly desire to see those we encounter who are struggling to find deeply needed intervention from God. How many times do we offer words of encouragement or comfort that are at best impotent and relinquish ourselves to a mode of hit-and-miss prayer for them while having the conviction that there must be something more?
Where is This Surpassing Greatness of Power?
There is no power within ourselves except that which flows from God’s Spirit within. Yet, where is that power that surpasses greatness in our effort to extend God’s grace to those our lives touch? Peter told the lame man at the temple gate called Beautiful, “such as I have, give I to thee…” (Acts 3:6 KJV). Peter was not speaking in generalities, but absolute specifics! Peter had in his possession something that was allocated solely for the lame man he encountered at the gate! He didn’t present a revelation of a powerful doctrine, nor did he offer some sort of extraordinary word of comfort. Peter delivered the release of something that well surpassed the greatness of what we consider powerful. Jesus called it virtue or power (see Luke 8:46). The Greeks called it dunamis. This power has all the potential of its source. Dynamo comes into view here. And the source of this power does not come from natural man, but from God found in the repository of His Spirit abiding within our earthly vessels. This dunamis or power has all the potential of its source: “With GOD, all things are possible” in whatever He wills to do(see Matthew 19:26 emphasis mine)!
As sons and daughters of God, you and I carry the presence of the Holy God within our vessels – within our hearts. Within us dwells the abiding presence of the Holy One, Creator of all, and having all authority and power in Heaven and Creation. Think about it!
Yet the general rule is that the best we present to others is a word, doctrine, or prayer that falls well below what is even inadequate!
The Conundrum
So, what is the conundrum then? We have this treasure. In this treasure is surpassingly great power that alone comes from God. Yet the best we can do is offer faith-like words and pray while settling into the posture of merely hoping for the best.
The early church did not function this way, and Paul did not minister in this impotent fashion. Regarding healings or situations needing intervention, the power of God encountered the need. Grace prevailed. Regarding salvation, victory wasn’t obtained through debate or wise words but in the demonstration of the power of God—the demonstration of the power of God!
Herein lies the conundrum. We are the vessels that hold the repository of the divine presence within our earthly vessels. Similar to the Ark of the Covenant, we are containers of the very treasure of Heaven Himself! Yet we have been called to carry His presence, not contain Him.
A Treasure Not To Be Contained
Beloved, we have been called to carry the treasure of Heaven. It is God’s purpose that others behold this Treasure. Remember what Jesus said. We are the light of the world, and the Light isn’t supposed to be contained—hidden! We are the salt of the earth, and the earth is to realize the strength of this salt! In the Parable of the Talents, the wicked steward did not lose the treasure given to him but hid it in the earth! Jesus said signs would follow believers in His name—these are attesting miracles and wonders. We comfort others in their troubles with the same comfort God comforted us (see 2 Corinthians 1:4). See it this way: We comfort others in their troubles or distress with the very Comforter who comforted us!
We are carriers, what we have should impact others and be tangible. The kingdom of heaven is compared to leaven by Jesus (see Matthew 13:3). Like leaven it spreads and invades. We are carriers, ordained to infect the sick with wholeness, the troubled with peace, the lost with salvation, the hurt with healing, the oppressed with deliverance, the hopeless with hope, and this list could go on! Are we carriers? Or are we sealed containers?
Containing and Managing God
There is a propensity among today’s Christians to try to take God with us where we go. Our desires, often mistaken to somehow come from God, draw us away from His destiny rather than leading us deeper within God’s abiding presence in our lives. Yet we feel righteous and confident in how we are. We have acquiesced to accepting our hit-and-usually-miss Christianity to be the norm whether it be victory in our own lives, or effectually ministering to others and the lost. We not only contain and maintain the degree of His working in our lives, but we maintain the very level of God we will keep in our hearts!
This propensity is the antithesis of what God has ordained for us! We are carriers and are to be directed by the very abiding Treasure of Heaven Himself in the same capacity that the Levites carried the Ark following the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night.
We are not led because we are self-initiated. We are void of the surpassingly great power of God because we work and pray according to our will. We are comfortable in our impotence. We are content to be powerful weaklings. Because we have contained God, the inner voice we heed is our own above the muffled utterances of the voice of God within our inner man.
We manage the amount of God in our lives, giving priority to the daily demands of this life and this world. Containing and limiting God, we oppose God grieving and quenching His Spirit in our lives. Then we wonder or rationalize why God is an ever-present help in times of trouble is merely a pleasant doctrine or comforting thought rather than a trouble-shattering reality in our lives and the lives of those to whom we try to minister! Beloved, hear the call of God’s Spirit: We must let God outgrow and out-fill us! We must stop containing Him within the boundaries of what is self-convenient, self-comfortable, and self-expedient!
Death and the Manifestation of the Life and Power of Jesus In Us
If there will be the liberty for God to flow from this earthen vessel of ours, if the power of His grace is to be delivered to the recipients we encounter, we must “always carry about in our body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4:10 NASB). Herein, His life within us becomes our life—the life we live daily and moment by moment! He now initiates our steps, defines our plans, and determines our dreams. Furthermore, as we deliver self and the self-life we seek to preserve “over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh” we can now affect those who are not whole with the infection of wholeness from the Kingdom of God as “death works in us, but life in [others]!” (2 Corinthians 4:11,12 NASB emphasis mine).
If the life of Jesus will be manifested in us and demonstrated in the power of God to others, we must die to ourselves. For it is the power of the self-life that not only maintains God but prohibits and prevents His from our lives and the lives of others.
Beloved, let us quit resisting, striving, yes even warring against the Spirit of God. Let us repent of governing the Kingdom of God Himself who dwells within our hearts, renounce our propensity to manage, maintain, and contain His influence and direction in our lives, and crucify our determination to limit and maintain the amount of God we let into our hearts, lives, and daily routines! This should begin today, for “now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2d).Be encouraged in this “daily, while it is still called “Today,” so that none of you is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13 NASB). For you carry this Treasure in your earthly vessel; take the lid off and do not contain it! Let the surpassing greatness of His power be manifest freely unto others!
Father, forgive me for maintaining and containing the Treasure of Your life and presence within me. I repent of governing You and Your expansion in my heart and daily life. I commit myself to forsaking the self-life and taking up the eternal life of Jesus that it may be manifested in me and the power of Your grace be delivered to others. In Jesus’ name, I pray and repent. I will seek you until my repentance brings forth the fruit of change. Amen.
Hal Garms eWord Messages 