Ephesians 3: 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
If you have ever wondered how active God is in your life, just look at the above scripture and know that God is "all about activity" in your heart, your mind, and your spirit. In past blogs, I have brought out what scripture says about our spiritual battle and there is a battle. Today I want to encourage you with the possibility of the realization that God is ever near to you and ever-loving you with an unconditional love. We cannot become all that God intends for us in this abundant life without the experience of God's love through His presence. The value God places on our lives is seen through the sacrifice of Jesus, and that value continues every waking moment of our lives. Satan would like to keep us from realizing this great love by only thinking of our relationship with God as a "stop-off" from time to time when we have some troubles.
God's intent is so much deeper than just a temporary touch. Paul mentions the unlimited resources of God in verse 16 and those resources are available to all who call Jesus Lord. Along with these resources God also gives us the power to "understand" how long, how high, and how deep is the love of God. His love is an unlimited resource for you to grow deeper and deeper in your walk with the Lord. God draws us to Him to be ever so near to His creation. In an earlier blog, I brought out verse 12 in the same chapter about how God allows us to be confident in this relationship and that confidence begins in our faith in God and our faith in his limitless love. We humans cannot understand the depths of this love when our human filters are engaged, but when we think in the Spirit we begin to understand that His love is limitless. And still, we cannot totally experience it all because it is too vast.
What did Paul say he does in light of the love of God? Verse 14 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father. Keep in mind Paul was writing to a group of believers who before receiving Christ had experienced their worship by worshipping an idol. Paul in writing to the church wanted to encourage them to draw closer to God and experience this overflowing love as he had done. Paul loved this church so much and knew they would need this great love relationship to be utmost in their thinking so the faith might go on and on. This was. a very emotional move by Paul as he expressed that the love he is living in is available to all who know Christ. Paul says one more thing that is really moving as Paul says in verse 19 Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
This love is not something we just react to, but it is a love we experience at the deepest part of our life. This love changes our "insides" and we experience God at a deeper level. The way when deep calls to deep we respond by moving closer to our heavenly Father in a confident more of faith because we can! Oh the love of God!! His love is so personal and so welcomed, but we must move into that love with confidence and clarity. Hebrews 10:22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. God's people hear his voice and they know Him. The following illustration makes this point more clear.
The University of Northern Iowa once offered a general art course that included a most unusual exercise. The teacher brought to class a shopping bag filled with lemons and gave a lemon to each class member. The assignment was for the student to keep his lemon with him day and night--smelling, handling, and examining it. Next class period, without warning, students were told to put their lemons back in the bag. Then each was asked to find his lemon. Surprisingly, most did so without difficulty.
Never doubt the "stamp" God has put on your heart when you receive Him. You are His and He is yours and that changes everything from The Inside Out. Live in the fullness of who He is and see just how much God continually loves you.
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren
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