1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentilest . . . 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,t 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.t
This to me is incredible!! This whole chapter is. Again, I had a hard time choosing a verse, so you guys can help me with that..but this encompasses a lot of the chapter as the statement "When I think of this" encloses several epic truths: 1. The revelation of God's plan for both Gentiles and Jews and 2. The fact that he chose Paul (who wasn't even worthy of carrying God's truth) to everyone. This is what made him fall to his knees...it was such a privilege! We hold that privilege too! What are we doing with it? Are we falling to our knees and praying to our Father and following his will?
verse 12:
ReplyDeleteIn him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
This is incredible! Just think back to when God appeared to Israel at Mt Sinai. They rejected being in his presence because it was so frightful. They sent delegations of their leaders to him in their stead. This tradition carried on even in their temples where they could only offer up their sacrifices to God while the priests, specifically only the High Priest was allowed to enter into God's presence in the Holy Place once a year after a long cleansing process and many sacrifices. Christ's sacrifice allows us to approach this terrifying God with confidence because we know how much he loves us! There can be no doubt about how God loves us. We can now be free from our fears and our sins thanks to the huge, phenomenal, cosmic sacrifice that Jesus made for us! Wow!
By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest things to me is leadership. As wrapped up as I get in TUG, Greek Sing, Stroll, Social Chair, and my other positions outside theta xi, every single one of those was appointed by God. Not so that I could empress anyone, make people look at me, or show off how well i can lead. But to serve. And not for anyone's glory but God's. He appoints. I have to do my very best to give glory to Him in all aspects of my service.
Ephesians 3:17
ReplyDeleteChrist will make his home in your heart as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.
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strive to live a life rooted and grounded in love. To be rooted in something means that your very source of sustenance is derived from it. What does that look like? That looks like someone who tolerate voracious
Like someone who cannot handle discord or injustice but delights in unity and in the accomplishments of others. How often do we delight in others accomplishments?
ReplyDelete17-18:
ReplyDeleteAnd I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long, and high and deep is the love of Christ.
Christ's love for us is so incomprehensible. How can the human mind wrap itself around being able to love every human on earth, even those who have persecuted you, and still make the choice to die for those same people. Jesus loves us so much that he died for every single one of us and that is what Paul is saying in this verse. He prays that we can grab hold of how much God's love is for each of his creations. It is wider than any river and deeper than any ocean, taller than any mountain and and longer than any plain. With this verse, Paul helps us begin to understand that God's love is limitless and if we allow it to make us overflow with an abundant life.
verse 6:
ReplyDeleteThis mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
In this context, Paul was stressing the fact that even those who are not Jewish are welcome to become God's chosen people. Although the wonder of that fact seems to have faded from the public eye in modern times, it is truly astounding to think that no one is refused the opportunity to accept Christ and walk into God's loving embrace. His love overflows and permeates everything and everyone.