WORD From The Woods
Ephesians 1:15-23
"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."
The first thing that I want to point out in this passage is the way Paul prays, you see this example in all of Paul's writings. Paul always speaks of praying without ceasing, paying for others, giving thanks for them, lifting them up to the Lord and asking that He would bless them spiritually, with wisdom and knowledge of God. Paul is constantly lifting others up to God, not that God would "fix" their problems, but that The Lord would bless them in the things of the Spirit. Paul's first thoughts when he goes to prayer is first to glorify the Lord God, Creator of all things and then to pray on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Rarely do we see Paul asking God to do something for himself, even though we know Paul had some very real struggles of his own, he still thinks of God and then others before himself in prayer. If we could learn just one thing from this passage, it would be to reevaluate the things we go to God with in prayer. God truly cares about the most minute detail of our daily lives, but I think we have become an extremely selfish culture in the way we pray to the God who spoke the limitless galaxies of this universe into existence. Paul then goes on to reiterate what he spoke of earlier in chapter 1. He wants the readers to really grasp what this "inheritance" really is. He is telling us that to be a Christian is not just to know that when we die we will go to be with The Lord, but that while we live in this life we have obtained an inheritance of spiritual blessing and growth in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit living in us as believers. If we have truly been redeemed by the blood of Christ, then we have the Holy Spirit living in us and we are called to grow in the Spirit by seeking God in prayer and reading of His word. As we pray and read His word and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and minds we will grow in wisdom and knowledge of the things of God and our desire for such things will continue to increase. As we are told in God's word, "seek first the kingdom of God” and everything else will fall into place.
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-
Ephesians 1:15-23
"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."
The first thing that I want to point out in this passage is the way Paul prays, you see this example in all of Paul's writings. Paul always speaks of praying without ceasing, paying for others, giving thanks for them, lifting them up to the Lord and asking that He would bless them spiritually, with wisdom and knowledge of God. Paul is constantly lifting others up to God, not that God would "fix" their problems, but that The Lord would bless them in the things of the Spirit. Paul's first thoughts when he goes to prayer is first to glorify the Lord God, Creator of all things and then to pray on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Rarely do we see Paul asking God to do something for himself, even though we know Paul had some very real struggles of his own, he still thinks of God and then others before himself in prayer. If we could learn just one thing from this passage, it would be to reevaluate the things we go to God with in prayer. God truly cares about the most minute detail of our daily lives, but I think we have become an extremely selfish culture in the way we pray to the God who spoke the limitless galaxies of this universe into existence. Paul then goes on to reiterate what he spoke of earlier in chapter 1. He wants the readers to really grasp what this "inheritance" really is. He is telling us that to be a Christian is not just to know that when we die we will go to be with The Lord, but that while we live in this life we have obtained an inheritance of spiritual blessing and growth in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit living in us as believers. If we have truly been redeemed by the blood of Christ, then we have the Holy Spirit living in us and we are called to grow in the Spirit by seeking God in prayer and reading of His word. As we pray and read His word and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and minds we will grow in wisdom and knowledge of the things of God and our desire for such things will continue to increase. As we are told in God's word, "seek first the kingdom of God” and everything else will fall into place.
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-