FROM PASTOR’S DESK….
Read the powerful passage in Ephesians
1:17-19….
Ephesians
1:17-19
17 (I pray)
“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of
His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is
the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the
working of His mighty power.”
There are obviously numerous truths found
here, but for the sake of this study let’s look at just one. Notice, if you will, in verses 18 and 19 the
apostle Paul tells these Christians in Ephesus that he is praying for them and
he specifically mentions three things he is praying about on their behalf,
namely: 1) God’s calling, 2) God’s inheritance, and 3) God’s power. Paul wanted
these early Christians to have these insights to help them; they are needed by
each of us today as well, that is why we take the time to learn them and to
embrace them.
It is important to notice, first of all,
that these things are spiritually understood. How do we know that?
Because Paul says he is praying over their spiritual eyes that
they might see and understand these mysterious and powerful truths. Remember:
the things of God can only be comprehended spiritually; that is why those in
the world simply cannot understand the ways of God – indeed they are
foolishness to them! But that is not
the case with those who believe, like the church folks at Ephesus and
you and me. We have the Holy Spirit who
is our Teacher and He lives within us and is even right now helping you and me
to comprehend these insights we are discussing. Aren’t you glad you have a Helper! Now let’s look at these three
things Paul is praying about:
GOD’S
CALLING
One of the amazing truths about God is
that He is the one who came looking for us! He beckoned us through the
preached Gospel to come to Him – He called to us to follow Him. The condition we were in when He reached out
to us was wretched indeed! But that did
not stop Him. He loved us. His concern was not our present condition;
(because He knows the end from the beginning) He looked beyond our sinful state
and saw us as His children, righteous, pure, glorified, and filled with His
grace. WOW! His calling literally changes everything about us – behold all
things have become new. That is what
Paul wants these Christians to understand.
Paul says there is a hope attached to
that calling. Indeed there is! That hope is the certainty of God’s
promises made to His covenant people, and that means those promises about
this life as well as the one to come.
There may be difficult days in which the only thing we have to stand on
is the certainty of the promises of God, and that is when we will rejoice that
in fact they are “Yes” and “Amen” to us because we believe what God has told us
in the Bible. The hope of God’s calling
is that anchor of your soul that keeps you strong even when everything is
seemingly falling down around you.
Rejoice in the hope of His calling!
The one who is born again by the Spirit
of God stands in covenant relationship with God. That literally means we are in the family. And it is the
family members who have the promises of the blessings found in the will. The Word of God is His will to us His
children. Paul knew these early Christians needed to comprehend this wonderful
truth. If they did, they would enjoy
all that Father had promised to them, otherwise, they would not. The same holds true for you. If you understand all that God has promised
you, and you chose to receive it by faith, it is yours. It is that simple. Father God desires for His kids to have the very best of
everything. That is the way a father
is, isn’t it? (Matthew 7:11) Don’t you
just want to jump and shout when you start thinking of how much Father loves
you and all that He has in store for you!
Don’t you wish every believer had his spiritual eyes open that he too
might comprehend such things?
The people in the church at Ephesus were
undoubtedly just like you and me. They
too had been burdened down by the weights of religion, in their case having
come out of the darkest heathenism.
Even most of us who grew up in Sunday school and church bring with us a
lot of baggage that are really religious weights. One of the most common religious weights is the rejection of the
power of God for His modern church. Some preach that God does not demonstrate
His power any longer; that all those miraculous things have long since ceased.
To those who accept such thinking, He indeed will not perform the miraculous
for them. Not because He does not
desire to do so, but because He is courteous and gracious. The truth here is that God gives us the
right to determine our own level of faith.
Paul wanted the Ephesians to rise into the great faith zone, that
is why he was praying like he was.
The woman with the blood disease (Mark
5:25-34) stepped out and took what I call “the faith initiative”. She reached out and touched the Master and
received her miracle by the power in Jesus. It is important to note that Jesus
did not decide to heal her; she decided to receive His anointing and that is
when she was healed. Jesus even told
her that it was her faith that healed her.
The good news is that Jesus is still in the power business, just as He
was 2000 years ago. Whatever He did
then, He is doing now. Can you see why
it is important for the children of God to understand the power of God? Can you see why it is important for you to
understand His power?
Child of God, if you will allow the Holy
Spirit to reveal the depths of these three truths to you, great things will
begin to happen in your life. It is
time for great things to happen in your life.
God wants for great things to happen in your life. Make the choice for it to start here and
now. Remember: Blessings always being
with the Truth of God. When His Word
goes forth, signs and wonders and miracles follow. Be like the woman with the
blood disease and make the choice to press in to Jesus and you too will
experience His wonderful love and power.
Today is a good time for all this to begin, so go for it!
Once you encounter a powerful truth, it
is good to really get it down in your spirit.
One of the best ways for this to happen is for you to begin to confess
it out loud. Confession is a dynamic force that releases the power of God
contained in that truth. Through
your voice that power starts to flow outward and inward as well. The outward flow causes things in the spirit
realm to move in the perfect will of God on your behalf. The inward flow changes your heart and mind
to align with the perfect will of God, which is the truth you are
speaking. With this concept of confession
in mind, please allow me to develop a confession for you on our subject.
Father
God, I now confess that Your Word is true.
Your Word is powerful on my behalf and It is bringing about Your perfect
will in my life. I declare that my
spiritual eyes are open to Your Word, and that I know the hope of Your
calling. By faith I receive the riches
of the glory of Your inheritance that is in me. And I rejoice that Your power is at work in me that I might
experience and enjoy all that is in Your heart toward me! May the name of Jesus be praised!
I encourage you to use this declaration
as a daily tool until you sense its power has renewed your mind on these three
dynamic principles you need in your life.
