November 18th
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God Fulfilling the Work of Faith with Power
Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)
These verses provide another opportunity to reflect upon the central point in our last sequence of devotions (from Hebrews). Therein, we examined the extensive consequences of walking by faith (and thereby drawing upon the effective grace of God). The good things that appeared in these lives was the result of God fulfilling the work of faith with power.
The opening words remind us of the appropriateness of intercessory prayer for one another. "Therefore we also pray always for you." The following terms remind us of what to pray about: "that our God would count you worthy of this calling." God counts us worthy to be His children and His servants on the basis of faith, not performance: "not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9). The following words from our present text also indicate that true faith in the Lord results in proper performance: "and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power." God wants to fully develop in our lives the good things that His own goodness causes Him to desire for us. Of course, He desires godliness for us. He accomplishes this by "the work of faith with power."
When we trust in the Lord, the glorious works of God are manifested in and through our lives "with power." The power involved in this process is His power. "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us... To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily" (Ephesians 3:20 and Colossians 1:29). This is the process that is vividly portrayed in the lives we have looked at in Hebrews. They trusted in God: "By faith Noah... By faith Abraham... By faith Sarah " (Hebrews 11:7, 8, 11). The God upon whom they relied worked mightily in them, by means of His great grace: "according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." Our God wants to fulfil the work of faith with power in our lives — "according to the grace of our God." This is what brings glory to the Lord on earth, while reminding us that we will enter into His glory some day in heaven: "that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him."
Lord God of great power, please fulfill in me the work of faith with power. As I look to You for the grace that is needed for godly living, glorify Your name through my life. I eagerly await dwelling forever with You in the glories of heaven above, Amen.