The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:14-21 (day five)

“may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,”

This week I have the privilege of being with over 50 of our adults in Branson, Missouri. I can tell you we have had fun- no doubt. AND, we have grown closer to God. Paul helps us understand how and why this happens. When we are together with other believers what begins to happen as we love, encourage, and serve each other is that we see, hear, and sense how the Lord works in the hearts and lives of His saints. When we are together, we get a bigger/better picture and clearer understanding of God- how He works, gifts, and blesses others. We hear it in testimonies as we listen to each other’s stories and experiences. We see it as we serve, encourage, and fellowship with each other. The love of God has too many facets for us to see on our own. We get to witness and learn so many more dimensions of His love when we are with other believers. That’s why gathering as the Body of Christ for worship and in smaller groups to study the Scriptures, fellowship, and serve together is so critical. God’s love is more grand and glorious than we can know by ourselves. It takes being with other believers to understand that He saves, uses, and blesses others in ways we might otherwise never hear, see, or sense. That is part of the testimony of our group this week in Branson. We have grown closer to God because we have seen and heard of His great love from each other.

“We can’t easily fathom his love on our own.”- Richard Coekin

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:14-21 (day four)

Think back for a moment. What are the times in your life when you have gained a new comprehension of the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ’s love?

I recently had an experience where I found myself with a new understanding of the cross and the magnitude of God’s love. But this experience didn’t come like an epiphany out of nowhere. It came because I had experienced a deep hurt, and I took it to the Lord. In a vulnerable, painful place, the Lord showed me a new depth of love that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen. I think many of the times we understand God’s love in a new way are like that – we’re in a vulnerable place, and God meets us there.

I think it’s interesting here that Paul prays for his listeners to have power. Specifically, he prays that they would have “power through his Spirit,” so that Christ would dwell in them and they would know the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love. I didn’t feel “powerful” in the earthly sense when I saw a new depth of God’s love – but the Spirit’s power is different. The Spirit’s power is strong in our weakness and vulnerability, and allows us to see new dimensions of God’s love, so that Christ would dwell in our hearts more and more.

The Spirit’s power shows us the love that surpasses all knowledge, so that we may be “filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:14-21 (day three)

“…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

The phrase “by faith,” might seem at times very close to “by make-believe.”  Consider, though: when you’ve been many miles away from someone you love and long to be near, have you brought that person to mind and felt in your body a sense of calm and well-being as you immerse yourself in the images of past experiences you’ve shared together? Or have you had such a moment bringing to mind a loved one who has died? Is this experience real, or is it make-believe? Surely you’re not pretending to feel the warmth and comfort of the person’s presence. There is a reality in such occurrences that transcends time and space. This is the way you are made; you carry around within you those you love. And so it is with Christ. Believe it.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:14-21 (day two) 

…and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend…

From the distance of a TV screen or newsfeed we have all just witnessed the awesome power and devastation of a hurricane upon the Southeastern United States. In the coming days efforts will be made by many to help those  affected to begin to piece together what remains of their belongings, their homes, families, and lives. It is an awesome sight to behold the destruction of such wind and rain, and yet there are some things that somehow withstand those forces. Often, they are centuries-old trees whose root system extends almost as deep as the tree is tall. This system of grounding, designed by the almighty, was fashioned to serve the purpose of withstanding adversity.

Paul reminds us this grounding also allows us to comprehend God’s full love. Without proper grounding in God’s love, we cannot appreciate God overwhelming goodness. The incredible fact is that the more you are grounded in his love, the more you are able to comprehend, thus creating a greater desire to know and love him more. Dig deeper. Love hard. Witness the majesty of God.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day seven)

By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. vs 4

The word mystery carries a dark tone in the English language. We liken it with words such as conundrum, enigma, and secrecy. By definition it means something that is difficult or impossible to understand. The Greek word here mysterion similarly is secretive, but it leaves room for something to be discovered. It is hidden from our human minds, but with revelation from the divine, we might come to understand it more. There is hope in this mystery.

“God works in mysterious ways” may be a popular idiom in our culture, but it cannot be found in scripture. God does not try to keep secrets from us or work behind our back. Just like His insight to the Ephesians, God will reveal His plans to us when we are faithful to seek His will. The closer we get to Jesus, the mystery will be replaced with insight. There is hope in this mystery!

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day six)

God’s grace is not limited to forgiveness but travels into everyday life. In Christ, grace can bring about real-life transformation from one life to the next. That is Paul’s objective when he describes his life in Christ as a prisoner and servant. He wants the Ephesians to know that God does not play around. The grace of God in Jesus is not a fashion trend to take out on the occasional spin. We don’t move grace around; grace moves us. Paul’s life was a living testimony of what the grace of God can do through him in others.

We are the beneficiaries of the very same grace.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day five)

“…so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”

I love the way Paul describes God’s wisdom in Ephesians 3:10- uses the word manifold. The only place this Greek word is used. It’s a compound word. The root word is Poikilos- various or varied of all kinds of colors. Paul adds the prefix Polu- very, considerably, much.  So Paul is communicating the wisdom of God is “very various”. It is universally sized. It has  unlimited variations, and subtleties. It is unsearchably intricate.

So the questions come: Does the way we give our trust, dependence, and obedience to God reflect our belief and confidence in His manifold wisdom?  Do I believe that God in His manifold wisdom knows how to live a human life (better than I do)?  Do I ask for (prayer) and act on His manifold wisdom that is available through the mystery of the gospel (a relationship with Gods through Christ Jesus)?

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day four)

“…so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”

The church is essential. I realize I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but the church is absolutely essential in the work of God. It is essential because God decided it was so. From the very beginning, the church was part of God’s plan. The church is the way in which followers of Jesus gather for worship and fellowship, it is the way in which believers serve the needs of their community, and it is the way by which the city comes to know Jesus.

But Paul tells us here that the church isn’t only part of God’s plan for the visible world. The church’s testimony reaches into the cosmos. When the church carries out its mission, it reverberates from the neighborhood all the way into the heavenly places.

The church certainly has its quirks. She has no shortage of bumps and bruises, and has hurt some with scrapes and serious wounds. Imperfect though she is, the church is still God’s plan for all creatures in heaven and on earth to know that Jesus is Lord. In Christ, what would otherwise be a rag-tag group of misfits becomes the unified reflection of God’s mercy and love. Will you stick with God’s church, and shout her testimony into highest heaven?

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day three)

“…in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord…”

Paul came along too late to have been one of Jesus’s disciples during the three years of ministry on earth. Nonetheless Jesus apprenticed Paul during the nearly twenty years between the Damascus  Road incident and the beginning of his writing and teaching. There was none more appropriate than Paul, then, to drop this bombshell revelation on the Ephesians: God’s intent all along was not a limited mission to save a fragment of the human race, but rather an expansive whosoever-will-may-come doors-thrown-open invitation to all who would come to him for healing. It was not just a sect thing,  not just a Judaism thing, but a cosmos thing. The church’s work will involve inviting all the world to Christ.