For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 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, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
In the original text, Father and family are related words. All families of men and angels derive from God the Father, their Creator. The family of God includes all who have believed in Him -- in the past, all who believed in the present, and all who will believe in the future. We are all a family because we have the same Father. He is the source of all creation, the rightful owner of everything.
God promises His love and power to His family, the church (Ephesians 3:16-21). If we want to receive God’s blessings, it is important that we stay in contact with other believers in the body of Christ. Those who isolate themselves from God’s family and try to go it alone cut themselves off from God’s power.
Paul tells us that God’s love is total. It reaches every corner of our experience. It is wide—it covers the breadth of our own experience, and it reaches out to the whole world. God’s love is long – it continues the length of our lives. It rises to the heights of our celebration and elation. His love is deep—it reaches to the depths of discouragements, despair, and even death. When you feel shut out or isolated, remember that you can never be lost to God’s love. For another prayer about God's immeasurable and inexhaustible love, see Paul’s words in Romans 8:38-39.
“The fullness of God” is fully expressed only in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10). The love of Christ is so great that it is beyond our understanding. The fullness of God is the abundance of gifts that flows from God. In union with Christ and through His empowering Spirit, we are complete. We have all the fullness of God available to us. But we must appropriate that fullness through faith and through prayer as we daily live for Him.
Ephesians 3:20-21 form a doxology, or praise, to God in which Paul points out that God can do exceedingly abundantly above anything we may ask. Neither God’s love nor His power is limited by human imagination.
Father God, it is my prayer today to share Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians with all of those lost souls and believers in Christ who doubt the fullness of Your love for them. I am so blessed to be able to come to You in prayer to fill every aspect of my life to the fullest. Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for making it possible, for a sinner like me, to become a part of the family of God. Amen.
References: NKJV Holy Bible, Life Application Bible (NIV), the Nelson Study Bible.
18 comments:
Until we understand fully the richness of God's love, our focus is on earning his love. when we fully understand, we are free to show love to him with no fear of rejection.
i love this ephesian's chapter - and i agree with you that the fullness of god, expressed in christ is way beyond our understanding - touches me again and again
Lloyd, I am so glad I have visited your blog and it is SO refreshing to read words that ring with such a wonderful truth!!! Thank you so much for following my blogs and now I am your newest follower. I will be back to read more of your posts. I read in your profile about the loss of your son. My heart aches for you and your wife, his little family also. I, too, have lost a son and held on to the Lord tight with both hands as I realized he had given us a strength I never knew I had. You find you can survive when the pain is so great you think you cannot. You are doing such a wonderful job of getting His message out to others. Thank you for what you do.
Blessed indeed. Thank you for this meditation to start my week.
I love that prayer because it disregards the fact that we are sinners - we know who we are and Paul tells us that the Father, the Christ, the Spirit is in love with us anyway, no matter what.
every blessing +
I heartily agree with the importance of community for Christians. I've heard the argument that someone can be a Christian without going to church. I'm not saying that's not possible, but it seems to be cutting oneself off from the power that comes from a group of believers praising the Lord in unity.
Trying to be a dedicated, worship-driven Christian on your own is like trying to keep in shape by excercising at home alone. There are too many convenient reasons for putting worship off, just as there is for putting off excercise. In truth, they are both forms of excercise... spiritual and physical.
So true!!! We need the fullness of Christ. Too often when I struggle, I am rely on self rather than all that Christ has for me. We are truly whole only in Christ.
Excellent post!
"Those who isolate themselves from God’s family and try to go it alone cut themselves off from God’s power."
Well, not all of it, but too much of it. I can vouch for that, since I'm still between churches.
Hi Lloyd,
Thanks for sharing your insights from this passage in Ephesians; I find this scripture along with Romans 8:38-39, assuring.
It is disheartening to discover God's absence when I have isolated myself in an effort to go it alone. I thank God for those believers in Christ (my church family and other Christians) who encourage, inspire and motivate me to live each day of my life for Christ.
I lift you in prayer Brother Lloyd, for your encouragement. I also echo the words of your prayer in this post.
Blessings and peace.
MTJ
I am honored to follow you and your blog. Thanks for liking mine. I want people to be happy and think possitive things. I always hope I bring to light the reasons in their family and life to praise God.
Beautiful post. Very uplifting. Thank you.
Thank you for the invite Lloyd. I loved this post. Relationship with the Father and others in the body is the source of life for every believer.
Blessings
Church or not, prayer or not, worship or not, of one I am absolutely certain —
In God I live and breathe and have my being…
Therefore, nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore we are indeed blessed. For indeed we are joined in a silent fellowship of God's love — wherever we may live and whoever we are.
Your friend from across the seas...
Oh, this is definitely one of my favorites. So beautiful. I echo your closing prayer too. Blessings!
Thank you soo much for the follow.
I look forward to reading your blog more.
Thank You so much for visiting and following my blog!
I've read through several posts here and I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.
You are a great testimony- you press on for the Lord, in spite of the pain. It shows the grace and power of God.
May the Lord comfort your family daily and be an ever-present help when the waves of grief seem to great to tread.
"Thank God there'll be no vacant chairs in heaven. Where someone used to sit and now they're gone." We will all sit with the Lord one day and this life will hopefully seem as a dream.
May I ask how you found my blog?
Wow! Words of the Lord. Thanks for visiting my blog, your blog is worth spiritually refreshing & food of the spirit. Thank you!
Hi Lloyd -
Thank you for sharing Paul's prayer for the Ephesians....
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