Knowing Your Identity in Christ: I am Strong in God's Power (Ephesians 6:10)

Are you exhausted from trying to hold everything together yourself?

On this episode of 7 Minute Devotions for Busy Parents, host Christen Clark invites you into an encouraging look at Ephesians 6, exploring how busy parents can cultivate faith at home and model true dependence on the Lord’s power. Get ready for practical inspiration, a quirky dose of honesty about the challenges of family life, and simple discipleship rhythms to help you and your kids grow in faith and purpose together.

• [00:02:10] The real source of strength for raising Christian kids 
• [00:04:03] Practical encouragement on moving from self-reliance to Holy Spirit-powered faith

Resources:

• Instagram: @7minutedevotions, @christenclark
• Family Podcast: @collidekidspodcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello and welcome to Seven Minute Devotions for Busy Parents. I'm Kristen Clark, and I am so glad you're here. I am a mom, a speaker, a ministry leader, a host of two podcasts, and someone who's just trying to faithfully follow Jesus and raise my family in the middle of all this crazy life. Speaking of podcasts, if you haven't checked out my other podcasts, I have a show called the Collide Kids Podcast. It's a show for families to listen to together, and we've got some great conversations and interviews that help kids and parents grow in faith and discover they were created for a purpose. Well, today we are stepping into the final chapter of Ephesians. And honestly, I can't believe we're almost at the end of this series. We have two more episodes after this one before we take a little break for the summer. So I am excited about all the things that we've learned so far, and I hope that this has been an encouragement to you. Today's identity statement is a little different because this verse in Ephesians is actually more of an instruction than a declaration of identity. Paul says in Ephesians 6 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. But I think if we truly live this out, if we actually obey what Paul is teaching us here, then it can become part of our identity. So today's truth is this: I am strong in God's power. The word finally begins this verse. And here it's important because Paul is wrapping up his letter to the Ephesians. We're at the end. So the first half of Ephesians, like we said before, was focused on who we are in Christ, chosen, adopted, redeemed, brought near, made alive. And then the second half has been all about how we live from that identity in our homes, our churches, and our communities. So last week we talked about husbands and wives and Christ's love for the church. And chapter six continues into relationships between parents and children and employers and employees. And now Paul shifts into preparing believers for spiritual battle because there was darkness in Paul's day. There was an evil that they were having to fight against. And I think we can relate with that because today there is darkness in our world too. Before Paul begins talking about armor and standing firm against the enemy, he starts here. He says, Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. I have to be honest with you, I don't always feel strong. Sometimes I feel weak, unqualified. I feel overwhelmed a lot. I feel like an imposter. Sometimes I look around and I think there are so many more gifted or capable or spiritually mature people than I am. But this verse does not tell me to be strong in myself. It tells me to be strong in the Lord. And so that changes everything because this strength isn't dependent on my personality or my abilities or my knowledge or accomplishments. It depends on God. When I was studying for this passage, I was reading a commentary and it talked about the differences between might, strength, and power. And this was really helpful for me. So maybe it'll be helpful for you. So it described might as a reservoir of strength, the deep source holding everything together. And then power is the action or exercising of that might. I always thought those words were just basically synonyms, but seeing them work together gave me a whole new perspective on this verse. God's might is the endless reservoir. His power is that strength actively working. And I am invited to rely on both, not my own strength, but his. Remember when Jesus is about to ascend into heaven after being resurrected, Acts chapter one, you can read the story. And he tells his followers that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. You know, we talk a lot in church about grace and love and forgiveness and sin, and rightly so, but we always don't talk about the power of God working through his people. I think sometimes we struggle because we're trying to operate spiritually in our own strength instead of relying on his. I love this quote by David Guzik. It says, it is not I do everything and God does nothing. It is also not I do nothing and God does everything. And it's not, I do all I can do and God helps me with what I can't. Each of these approaches fall short. The key is for me by faith to rely on his might and rely on it more and more and then do the work. I love the balance of that because faith is not passive. We still obey, we still step forward, we still do the work that God is calling us to do, but we do it while relying on his strength. And honestly, learning to rely on God's strength is something that grows over time. It takes practice, day by day dependence, moment by moment surrender. You're not going to snap your fingers and have it automatically. It's something you have to work at. But God is faithful and he will be there to help you. And if there's one area of life that constantly reminds me that I need God's strength, well, it's parenting. Hello. Parenting will humble you so fast. It will expose your weaknesses, it will show your impatience, it will highlight your fears, and it will showcase your limitations. I saw a quote on social media a long time ago that I still think about. It says, before I had kids, I said I would never. And now here I am, nevering like I never nevered before. Can you relate to that? Because I definitely can't. Parenting has a way of showing us we are not as strong or capable as we thought we were. And honestly, that's not always a bad thing because it drives us back to dependence on God. We need his wisdom, his patience, his endurance, his power. Not just for the big moments, but for the everyday ones too. And when our children see us relying on God instead of pretending that we have it all together, we are teaching them something incredibly important. Strength comes from God alone. Well, before we pray, we're gonna go over our identity rhythm. This is something we're doing in every episode of this season. So I'm gonna say these three short statements: who we are in Christ, why it's true, and how we live from it. I'll say them once through, and then I want you to repeat the identity statement at the end with me so you can carry it with you this week. So our identity statement for today is I am strong in God's power. God's strength and power are available to me through the Holy Spirit as I rely on Him. Because I'm strong in God's power, I will depend on His strength instead of trying to carry everything on my own. Let's say the identity statement one more time together. I am strong in God's power. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for your reservoir of strength. Thank you for the power that we have access to, that we take for granted that we don't always look to you for that strength. We try to do everything on our own and we are exhausted and we are overwhelmed. And Lord, we just need more of you. We need more of your strength. God, help us to rely on you, to look to you when we feel weak or overwhelmed. Help us to lean on you and your faithfulness and your love for us. Thank you, God, that you have been so good to us and that even when we keep trying to do everything in our own strength, you're always there. You're always calling us back to you. God, I pray that you would help us to parent in a way that shows our children that we can trust in you and that they can trust in you too. In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, friend, thank you so much for listening to these episodes each week. I'm honestly amazed at how God continues to use this little podcast. And I'm so grateful you're here. We only have two episodes left in this Ephesians series before we take a break for the summer. So I hope you'll come back and finish this journey with me as we close out the book of Ephesians. I think it's been so incredible. And this week, when you feel weak or overwhelmed, remember you don't have to rely on your own strength or have everything together. Just be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Thanks for listening today. Remember who you are and who you belong to.