"You Got a Lot of Potential" - Crosswalk the Devotional - Sept. 9, 2011

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September 9, 2011

You Got a Lot of Potential
Laura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. ~ Ephesians 1:18-19, NIV

Just this past week I was reading an article on Crosswalk.com (I know … go figure!), and I was encouraged by this thought:

God has a way of raising our level of potential, until we’re shocked by our own accomplishments.

So, have you ever been shocked by what God has done through your accomplishments? I’ve seen God do this personally in my life time and again. When there have been circumstances in my life where I didn’t know how something was going to get done or when or why or how, I remember consciously praying, “Lord, you’re going to have to show me how to do this, because I have no idea how it’s going to happen.”

He has shown me that when I trust him and his timing and follow his direction (even if I don’t understand it), that he will get things done. Amazing are thethings he will get done! So amazing, in fact, that I know that there is no way I could have accomplished what he has done on my own.

I shouldn’t be surprised really, because I know that in Christ “we are more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). Yet, as believers who are still being sanctified, we may still doubt what God can do through us. But like Vivian Ward says to Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman (and I’m not endorsing this movie, so please don’t send me hate mail), “You got a lot of potential.”

It’s true! We all have a lot of potential. Unlimited, in fact. But instead of believing who God says that we are in him and all that he can do through us, we choose to believe the lies of the culture. And when we limit ourselves to what humans say we can or can’t or should or shouldn’t do, then we will never realize our full potential in Christ who transcends anyone or anything in this world.

For he has saved us …

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).

He has changed us …

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17).

He has adopted us …

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Gal. 3:26-27).

He has given us an inheritance …

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession (Eph. 1:13-14).

He has empowered us …

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17).

So, my friend, the next time you think you don’t have a lot of potential, just stop. Remember who you are in Christ and remember that the Creator of the universe is living inside of you by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And then prepare to be shocked. Because in Christ, we can do everything through him who gives us strength (Phil 4:13).

Intersecting Faith & Life:

Do you believe that God created you to work in and through your life? Don’t compare your potential to that of others. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. When you surrender your life and your expectations to God, you will be shocked to see what he will accomplish through the power of his Holy Spirit in you.

Further Reading:

Isaiah 40:26, NIV
Haggai 2:4, NIV
Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV

How Do You Let God Work in Your Life?