2003-01-24
Good Morning Dear Ones,
There are some wonderful truths worth taking a little more time on in EPH 3: 14-21 to see. This is Paul’s prayer, which is offensive use of God’s word in spiritual warfare against the adversary and his followers. Let’s begin with what Paul prays we will know. The first couple of elements are found in (17): that Christ will make His home in our hearts through faith and that we will have our roots and foundation in love. There is nothing said here or in any other place in the Scriptures which is out of sync with God’s consistent messages or His plan. Faith is a gift given to us by the Father. He extends an invitation to all His human creation to have faith and to join Him in His work. The sad truth is that many more people ignore or reject this invitation than accept it. As Christ’s ambassadors here on earth, we are called in the Great Commission of MT 28: 19-20 to help reduce the numbers of people who are ignoring or rejecting God. We know that without faith, there cannot be salvation. FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. How do we know this? Our Savior’s very own words tell us this in JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.” Our very wise Father, whose perceptions are so much higher, broader, and greater than ours, devised a system to bring us back to Him [PS 139:6; IS 55: 8-9; COL 1: 20]. This system also involves His Son wresting dominion over the earth back to Him from Satan, whole snatched it away by deception, [GN 3: 1-6; REV 5: 5]. His agendas for us are completely righteous. PS 73: 28, “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy works.” The Spirit often leads me to cite JN 13: 34-35, the passage in which Christ makes it clear that we are to love one another, as He loves us. That love must be the foundation behind all that we are and all that we do for Him and for others.
Going back to the next element of what Paul prays we will know in EPH 3: 14-21, it is found in (18): that we can understand how broad, long, and high is Christ’s love. Believe it or not, doing this takes time and some self-discipline. The only way it can be done is to engage in daily study of God’s word, prayer, and applying the truths learned about Him in our own lives. In other words, it’s this thing I have been calling living “in Christ.” In what other belief system can one find a loving Deity, Who is willing to come to us in His incarnate form, model for us what is an ideal life in the His eyes, and then suffer and die in humiliation on the cross so that we can be saved? If it seems like I’m confusing the Father and the Son here, I’m not. We must remember that Christ is the second personality of the One only true God. Christ’s life is a real “how-to” for us. It also gives us an entirely different perspective on our lives than the world has. But, we must get to know Christ over a period of time from the Scriptures before we can have a mature perception of Who He is and what He means to us. None of this modeling the life that Christ modeled for us is easy. Remember MT 7: 13-14, the passage about going through the narrow gate to the hard path? The key to appreciating this is to know that this hard path is the only way to eternal life with the Father. Thus, it makes going to all this trouble and not fitting in with the worldly values practiced around us worth it.
The next element of what Paul prays for us is found in (19): that we can know His love, although we can’t understand all of it, so we can be filled with the nature of God. We need to see what it means to be filled with the nature of God. I’ve actually discussed this in a different context before. It’s the conflict between the flesh and spirit found in RO 7: 14-24. We can all relate to Paul’s words in RO 7: 15, 17-18 “I do not understand what I do; for I do not do what I would like to do, but instead, I do what I hate…So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me. I know that good does not live in me-that is, in my human nature. For even through the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.” Alone, without faith in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Paul is right. However, Christ provides us with a way out of this trap as Paul is able to reveal in RO 7:25-the only way out! What that does is to reveal God’s wonderful love for us and how he fills us with His very nature to help us escape from slavery to sin. Christ paid the price at Calvary necessary to buy us out of that awful marketplace and out of Satan’s stranglehold on our lives.
This morning, I was watching a TV program about a well-known cult, Scientolgy, and it’s founder L. Ron Hubbard. I’ve known about this group for a long time and have avoided it like the plague. In view of my own past history being involved with another cult, I have learned my lesson about these groups. My heart goes out to people who are emotionally vulnerable and spiritually empty, for they are the ones who are sucked into them. Once they are, the group makes is increasingly difficult for them to connect with non-members, leave the group, or hold on to their financial assets. Their method of doing this is Satan-led mind control, and it is insidious. Since a lot of very famous people belong to this group, their credibility seems to be heightened. However, we must remember the elements of Paul’s prayer in EPH 3: 14-21 to find the discernment to remain protected from such an organization and its tactics. Yes, I’ve put myself out on a limb by being so bold as to say this, but from the depth of my heart, I pray the words Paul gave us for each person who reads this message and/or knows the truth of how precious Jesus Christ is to our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, there are times when we must be able to take a stand against something we know is the work of the devil. Perhaps, there will be evil repercussions to us for that on earth, but we can place our faith in You that You will see to our spiritual protection. PS 32: 7, “You are my hiding place; You save me from trouble. I sing aloud songs of deliverance, because You protect me.” Those words from David written so long ago still apply today. You have taught us in COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory!” We have died to the law, and we have died to sin. This means, Dearest Abba, that while the law tells us what is pleasing to You and what isn’t, it does not provide salvation. Once Christ saved us through His Atonement, we were now under Your grace [RO 7: 6-7; GA 3: 11]. We have died to sin, because by the sacrifice of Your Son on the cross, You made it possible for us to no longer be slaves to sin. The adversary no longer has us under his control without us having a choice about it [RO 5: 10-11 & 6: 11]. How blessed we are to have You as our “hiding place!” You allow us to feel Your constant presence, encouragement, guidance, and compassion when we spend daily time in Your word and keep the channel of prayer open at all times. There are even times when You awaken us from our sleep in the middle of the night, because what You have to say to us is so important. Most of the time we are able to sleep in peace, because You are there for us day and night. PS 4: 8, “I will lie down in peace and sleep for though I am alone, O Lord, You will keep me safe.” We humbly confess our sins, beg for You to fill our vessels with the Holy Spirit, and pledge You our eternal adoration, worship, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
In tomorrow’s message, I am led to continue discussing EPH 3: 14-21, this time from the point of view of what God is able to do for us. The amazing thing about all of this is that we would never know about these truths if we didn’t spend daily time with God’s word. With a knowledge of it and the wisdom God gives us through this study and our belief in it’s voracity, we have a powerful weapon to use for offensive action when confronted with evil. Praise forever to the God Who loves each of us so very much! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn