"...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." Eph 3:16
It is always comforting to know that we can count on God to be there for us, no matter when or where. He knows us inside and out, knows our strengths and weaknesses, our tolerances and our limits, and He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are capable of handling. His grace is always sufficient for us, day in and day out. He remains faithful to us even when we do not do the same. And He is ever loving and ever forgiving.
Why then, do we constantly turn away from Him?
And why is it then, that our passion is not Him and Him alone?
And why, are we still unwilling to place our lives, to surrender our all completely into His hands, but instead adopt a position of leaning on our own understanding, of stubbornness and even ignorance?
God is always wanting to bless us with more, but how can He give us more when we haven't yet done anything with what we already have? If He cannot trust us to accomplish simple tasks and instructions, how can He then entrust us with much bigger ones? Blessings are not blessings if we keep them to ourselves.
The more we bless others, the more God is able to bless you.
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Eph 3:20
A very powerful promise from God, and I have never noticed the last two words of that verse, in all previous 4 readings of Ephesians.
For no matter how abundant, how excessive, how overflowing are the blessings God wants to pour on us, it will not matter if we are not ready to receive it. If we do not position ourselves to receive the blessings which God has willed upon our lives, who are we to blame anyone else for it?
Do we, then, even deserve those blessings?
Prayer : Dear God, teach me today where to place myself to receive Your blessings, and teach me today to be open to Your word, Your voice, Your calling, and Your truth o Lord. Once again we ask that You forgive us for turning away from Your name and falling back on our own understanding. We wish to lead lives pleasing in Your sight Father. Help us we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS (v3)
ReplyDeleteThis is a pwerful verse. It teaches us several important truths:
1. God has blessed us : this is in the Aorist tense, indicating a one-off, once-for-all, decisive action in the past.
2. In Christ : not in ourselves or because of ourselves or our actions, but in Christ - he is the locale and cause of this blessedness.
3. With every spiritual blessing : this indicates that the blessedness of which paul is writting is not physical or meterial, it excludes us thinking that he means health or wealth or prosperity or freedom from accident.
4. With every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms - this does not mean that the blessings are not yet ours, that we have to wait till we die to enjoy them; rather it means that God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to give us.
CHOSEN IN CHRIST BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD (v4)
These words tell us that the fact we are saved is not our own doing; it is the result of a choice God made before he created the world. In these words we learn that before we had done anything good or bad God decided to save us 'In Christ' - not in our own name or on the basis of our own performance, but In Christ.
CHOSEN IN CHRIST - TO BE HOLY AND BLEMELESS IN GOD'S SIGHT (v4)
These words express the purpose and result of God choosing un 'In Christ' - this is not talking about how we ought to live; rather, it expresses how God sees every believer 'in Christ' - he no longer sees us in ourselves, standing on our own two feet with our own pityful handful of goodness; he sees us always, only and ever in Christ - as holy and blameless in his sight as Christ himsrlf.
GOD PREDESTINED US TO BE ADOPTED AS HIS SONS (v5)
This teaches us about God's eternal purpose and intention for us; that he would make us his children. There are some important points to keep in mind:
1. God did it "in love".... not as a reward fro our own merit.
2. It is 'through Jesus Christ' ... again, nothing to do with our merit or deserving.
3. These words express a further purpose and result of God's saving action in Christ, the He adopted us s His 'sons'. This stands in stark sontrast to what we are in ourselves... children of the devil (John 8 : 44) and slaves of sin (John 8 : 34)
4. This blessing of being adopted as God's sons is 'in accordance with His pleasure and will'. Paul here teaches us that this is something that God really wanted to do. It also means that our salvation is rock solic - grounded in the will and the pleasure of God.
5. This also teaches us that God the Father is not reluctant to save us; it is His will and His pleasure to do so at great cost to Himself - it is through the eath of His Son that He achieves it.
GOD'S GRACE FREELY GIVEN TO US IN CHRIST (v6)
God's grace.... UNDESERVED, UNMERITED, UNEARNED, UNCAUSED BY US . Nothing, absolutely nothing, that we are or have or have done cause God to save us; it is 'freely given' and it is 'In Christ'. We did nothing to gain this grace; we can do nothing to maintain it. It is sheer gift 'In Christ'. Paul deliberately and repeatedly emphasisses that the blessings of salvation are 'In Christ'. This is to keep before us the utter undeservedness of our salvation and the utter security of our salvaton. Our salvation simply does not depend on us. Paul mentions this amazing grace several times in this letter; he finds it so impactive that he simply has to talk about it. He knows its power, and he wants every believer to have the same knowledge and the same assurance.