“…and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
—Romans 5:5

Reflection

Throughout Scripture, we see that God’s glory is something His people can actually experience.

When Aaron spoke to the congregation of Israel in the wilderness, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud (Exodus 16:10). Later, when God descended upon Mount Sinai, His glory rested upon the mountain, and to the eyes of the Israelites, it appeared like a consuming fire (Exodus 24:16–17).

When the apostle Paul prayed for believers to be strengthened through the riches of God’s glory in their inner man, he was asking that they would experience the manifest power of God deep inside themselves.

I want you to understand that this is not just a doctrine. It’s not just something we hope for. It’s not just something we wish for. It is a present reality. We can be brought into the very experience of knowing God’s power inside us.

Our Creator, the God of the now, is not just to be studied for what He did in the past. We don’t just relate to our God through what He did for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, Peter, James, and Paul.

And we don’t look to our God just for what He’s going to do when He returns or when we’re in heaven with Him.

Our God is the God of the now, and because of His glory working in the lives of His people, we can experience Him now. He’s not the God of yesteryear, and He’s not just the God of tomorrow. He’s the God of the present. He is the great I Am.

So when Paul prays that God would strengthen us through the riches of His glory in our inner man, Paul is asking that our lives would be changed today.

You may have noticed that the people who are most alive for Christ and excited about Jesus are those who have been marked by a present-day experience with God. Somehow the God of glory has made Himself known to them.

They may not have had an experience like the apostle Paul had on his way to Damascus when he saw a light from heaven flash all around him and heard Yeshua audibly speak to him (Acts 9:1–9). And you may have never seen a vision such as I did in 1978, which resulted in my coming to faith.

But Abba (Father), Jesus, and the Holy Spirit want to teach you how to intuit God’s Spirit on your inside. Father wants us to get in touch with the reality that we have fellowship with Him and that His Spirit is bearing witness with our spirits that He is with us.

The bottom line is that the God who is transcendent and beyond also wants to make Himself present to us.

We can know that He is the God who is here, the God who is now, the God who is with us, and the God who is in us. Knowing this, we will move forward in power.

This is what we can pray for: that as we journey with Him, we would be brought into a deeper and fuller relationship with Him that is not just cognitive but is real, alive, vibrant at times, deeply rooted, and internalized.

Application

• Ask Father to strengthen you through the riches of His glory in your inner man, believing that His power is available to you today.
• Seek a deeper, more personal experience of God’s presence, recognizing that He desires a relationship with you that goes beyond simply knowing about Him.

Prayer

Abba Father, thank You that You are not just the God of the past or the future, but the God of the now. Strengthen me through the riches of Your glory in my inner man. Teach me to recognize Your Spirit within me and to know that You are with me. Bring me into a deeper and fuller relationship with You that is real, alive, and deeply rooted in my heart. Let Your power work in my life today so that I may move forward in You. In Yeshua’s name, amen.