October 20 –Surpasses Knowledge

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, … that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, …that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:14, 16, 17, 18, 19 (NASB)

From today’s passage we’ll consider specific truths in Paul’s continued prayer* for the believers in Ephesus. Because this is part of the inspired Word of God, what Paul prays for on their behalf he has prayed for on ours as well. His prayer is for the spiritual welfare of others. The source of these promises are according to the riches of His glory – ‘according to’ rather than ‘out of,’ means the riches are never diminished. They are limitless and available to every believer. It is for our spiritual power that Paul prays, “strengthened … His Spirit in the inner man.” Spiritual power marks every Christian who submits to God’s Word and Spirit. The prayer is for our understanding. Only as believers are we able to understand the fullness of God’s love. There is no comprehension apart from genuine, Spirit-empowered love in our life. Paul gives us four descriptive words⸺breadth, length, height, depth⸺which suggest the vastness and completeness of God’s love. Such knowledge of Christ’s love is beyond the capability of our human reason and experience. It can be known only by those who are God’s children and are filled up to all the fullness of God.

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*Read our passage in context Ephesians 3:14-21 (NASB).

December 22 – Truly An Incomprehensible Gift

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”  2 Corinthians 8:9  (ESV)

We believe that most people who reflect on the true story of Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ – are impressed by the humble circumstances of the location where it occurred.  But to be laid in a manger, or feeding trough for livestock was only a sign of a greater truth which is expressed out Bible verse today.  Jesus was the Son of God, the ruler and owner of all the universe.  He was richer than we can comprehend.  He became poor which was shown not only by His birthplace – a stable where animals were kept – but by His entire style of living here on earth.  He did all this for us, to bring us into the family of God with all that this includes.  His purpose and mission on this earth was to live as humans live, but without sin, and to die for our sins, in our place so that we might live with Him in heaven if we believe and receive this gift.  He has made us rich – richer than we can comprehend.  As we think of his coming at Christmas, let's remember this promise – He became poor so that we might become rich.  What a gift. 

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Please take a moment to share this gift with friends.

September 19 – More Than Enough

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”  Psalm 124:8 (NASB)

Today, we are considering two of the many reasons these words from the Bible have great meaning for us.  First of all is the fact that our God is the Creator of the universe which convinces us of His great power.  Even to create the earth on which we live would require immense power.  Add to that what it would take to make the planets and the stars and all the celestial bodies that exist.  All this would take power beyond comprehension.  That is why we can trust His ability to help us no matter what our situation.  Secondly, it is remarkable when we realize that such a great God would even think of helping us, who are so very small in comparison and whose problems are dwarfed in the light of God's power.  What a loving compassionate God He is, and He promises us that our help is in His name.  Let's be open, honest and thankful for this promise when we call on him for that help today.  Whatever our challenges are, none are too great for God to help us face them and have victory over them.  

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September 18 – Truly Opened Minds

“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45 (NIV)

We have considered this verse before – especially during the days after our Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.  The joys of His resurrection are available for us to consider anytime and not only during Easter time.  What Jesus did for the disciples in this passage, He can do for us every day.  Even though Jesus had taught them much during His time with them before his death, they were not fully comprehending what had happened.  We too might find times when we are not comprehending lessons from God's Word even though we may have studied it and heard it preached many times.  What Jesus did for these two, He is doing for us today.  He promises to open our minds so that we can understand the Scriptures.  Without His work of opening our minds, we will not be able to comprehend what the Bible is teaching us. We need Him to help us understand. 

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September 19 – Where Help Is

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8 (NIV)

This is a promise God has given to us – help in His name.  When we turn to the Lord for help of any kind in our lives it is always well to remember who He is. We believe what the Bible tells us about our God creating the earth on which we live. The Bible goes beyond that and assures us that the sun and the moon, the planets and all the stars were also created by our God. All of this, of course goes far beyond our ability to fully comprehend. This is the kind of God we have and yet He is involved in the details of our lives. We really can't comprehend that either; but we can choose to believe it.  And we can turn to Him today and depend on Him to help us in big things and in little things. 

June 4

“My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—though I know not how to relate them all.”  Psalm 71:15

We have as much reason as the psalmist did to tell others how good our God is. The writer felt the urge to talk about the righteousness of God and about His salvation. He recognized that he didn’t understand everything about the righteousness of God. Nor did he comprehend how great God’s salvation is. Isn’t that true for us, too? There is no human being who can comprehend all it means to be brought into God’s family. What Jesus did for us on the cross and what God does for us when we believe is far greater than we can understand. And yet we can thank God for what He has done and we can tell others about it even though we don’t understand it all.