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Power That Raises – Love Beyond Measure · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here, a quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 19 through 23.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: What is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: according to that working of the strength of His might,
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead,
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Power is often imagined as something dramatic.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: We associate it with control,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: visibility, success, confidence, or the ability to command attention.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Even in spiritual settings,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: power can become connected with charisma,
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: emotional intensity, certainty, or extraordinary experiences.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: The small ruler says, My life can change only through the strength I can produce.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Paul points to a different kind of power.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: The power of God is revealed in resurrection.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: It does not dominate life in order to prove its strength.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: It brings life where death appeared to have the final word.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Paul describes the immeasurable greatness of God's power toward us who believe.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The direction matters.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: God's power is moving toward us,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: toward the fearful places,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: toward the resigned places,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: toward the parts of life where we have stopped expecting change,
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: toward memories that still shape us,
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: relationships that feel beyond repair, and identities built around what went wrong.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: This power is not reserved for unusually spiritual people.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a reward for those who have mastered the right techniques or developed
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: a commanding personality.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Resurrection power may not feel spectacular.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: It may appear as courage to tell the truth after years of hiding.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: It may be strength to forgive, the ability to receive love without resisting it.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Or compassion growing in a heart that had learned to remain guarded.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: It may look like freedom from an old identity,
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: hope returning after resignation,
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: or one faithful step taken after months of feeling stuck.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: The pressures of the world can crowd out the quiet voice of God.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: When that happens, we may believe we need to become stronger, more forceful, more disciplined.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: We may try to manufacture spiritual power through effort.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: But resurrection life is not something you generate.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Paul later describes human beings as fragile jars carrying a treasure that comes from God.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Our limitations do not disqualify us from resurrection power.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: They may become the very places where its true source is most clearly seen.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: You do not have to conceal your weakness in order for God to work.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: You do not have to become impressive enough to carry divine life.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: The power belongs to God, and grace places the treasure within ordinary humanity.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: This protects resurrection power from becoming self-improvement.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is more than trying harder with spiritual language.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: It also protects power from becoming control.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: God's life within you does not make you more commanding, superior, or invulnerable.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: It makes you more alive,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: more able to love,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: more willing to tell the truth,
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: more free to receive mercy,
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: more courageous in the presence of fear,
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: more available to the person in front of you.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: God's power may be quieter than control and gentler than force,
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yet it is strong enough to awaken hope,
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: loosen shame, create courage, and bring life out of what seemed finished.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You do not have to make power happen.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can become attentive to the resurrection life already moving toward you.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: God of Resurrection, I have often mistaken power for control.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: I
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: release the pressure to manufacture what only you can give.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Move toward the fearful and resigned places within me.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let me recognize your quiet power awakening hope, courage, compassion in the next faithful step.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: As you re-enter the conversations and decisions ahead, carry this prayer with you.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I release my own strength.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Resurrection life moves in me.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I release my own strength.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Resurrection life moves in me.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I release my own strength.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Resurrection life moves in me.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.