Daily Bread Ephesians 3
Daily Bread Ephesians 3
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Observation:
Today we get a glimpse into Paul’s prayer life. In this prayer we see a glimpse of his heart for the church and also we see the depth of his understanding of how God’s power and love work. Paul realizes that for the Church in Ephesus (or any church for that reason) to be effective, they will have to tap into an understanding of both God’s love and power.
As some have said, “it’s an inside job”. We see Paul saying that God may strengthen you in your “inner being”, and “may Christ dwell in your hearts”, and finally that you ‘may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Last chapter Paul focuses on receiving God’s grace, which is a free gift. And then in this chapter he focuses in on how once we have received God’s gift of grace, how that unleashes God’s power and help us to fathom how deep God’s love is in Christ. As this happens we are transformed and can be used by God for His purposes as the church.
Application:
We will never be able to do anything for God, until we experience His love and power. You can’t transmit what you haven’t got. God has made plain His mysteries through Christ, and as we experience that mystery, we are called make His plan known through the Church. But that starts with a personal experience of God’s love.
That experience of God’s love in Christ started for me as a freshman in high school, as someone shared God’s love for me in Christ with me. As I trusted in that love in faith, God’s Spirit came into my inner being. The rest of my life has been spent trying to understand and grasp just how deep and wide and long and deep that love is, and then doing my best to share it with others.
It is easy to get away from these basics and get distracted by many other things. What made Paul so effective as a minister of the Gospel, was that he experienced God’s grace in a powerful way and then kept that as the “main thing”. He didn’t get distracted by many other things. He kept focused on the main thing and did his best to keep the churches focused on it as well.
Have you been able to grasp how much God loves you? Have you accepted His love for you in Christ? God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine if we allow His love and power to dwell in us!
Prayer: God we thank you for all you have done to make clear the mystery of your purposes for us in Christ. Help us as the church to make known your mystery as you work through us in ways we could never ask or imagine! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Observation:
Today we get a glimpse into Paul’s prayer life. In this prayer we see a glimpse of his heart for the church and also we see the depth of his understanding of how God’s power and love work. Paul realizes that for the Church in Ephesus (or any church for that reason) to be effective, they will have to tap into an understanding of both God’s love and power.
As some have said, “it’s an inside job”. We see Paul saying that God may strengthen you in your “inner being”, and “may Christ dwell in your hearts”, and finally that you ‘may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Last chapter Paul focuses on receiving God’s grace, which is a free gift. And then in this chapter he focuses in on how once we have received God’s gift of grace, how that unleashes God’s power and help us to fathom how deep God’s love is in Christ. As this happens we are transformed and can be used by God for His purposes as the church.
Application:
We will never be able to do anything for God, until we experience His love and power. You can’t transmit what you haven’t got. God has made plain His mysteries through Christ, and as we experience that mystery, we are called make His plan known through the Church. But that starts with a personal experience of God’s love.
That experience of God’s love in Christ started for me as a freshman in high school, as someone shared God’s love for me in Christ with me. As I trusted in that love in faith, God’s Spirit came into my inner being. The rest of my life has been spent trying to understand and grasp just how deep and wide and long and deep that love is, and then doing my best to share it with others.
It is easy to get away from these basics and get distracted by many other things. What made Paul so effective as a minister of the Gospel, was that he experienced God’s grace in a powerful way and then kept that as the “main thing”. He didn’t get distracted by many other things. He kept focused on the main thing and did his best to keep the churches focused on it as well.
Have you been able to grasp how much God loves you? Have you accepted His love for you in Christ? God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine if we allow His love and power to dwell in us!
Prayer: God we thank you for all you have done to make clear the mystery of your purposes for us in Christ. Help us as the church to make known your mystery as you work through us in ways we could never ask or imagine! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment