Attending Means More

 

 

“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart.” (Proverbs 4:20-21)

 

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)

 

My children, listen to my words of wisdom and live them out. Make them part of who you are by thinking about and meditating on them. In this way, these wise godly ways of life will become yours in what you watch, say, think, and do. Remember most of all to guard your heart, for from what flows out of it in action and word shows if you are living according to God and His wisdom, about which I taught you. [paraphrase]

 

Attending to someone’s words is more than acknowledging him speaking, more than hearing him speak, and more than listening to what he says. Attending is listening, meditating on, understanding, and then acting upon what is taught. Inaction to what is taught is action. It’s refusal to believe and obey the person’s wisdom and teaching. 

 

Keeping a person’s words in one’s heart is part of attending. It’s a pondering on it, guarding that lesson as important, and acting upon it. Keeping a person’s words changes one’s life. In this passage, the person speaking was Solomon, the one to whom God granted wisdom as his gift. Keeping Solomon’s teachings—his words—can be considered equal to keeping God’s words because wisdom comes from God. 

 

Keeping God’s words is guarding them in your heart so that lies cannot change your mind, heart, and actions. Keeping God’s words protects you from evil. They remind you of what is good (from God) and what is evil. They protect your mind and the people you teach and help. They protect your heart so that your spirit is not confused and put into chaos. God’s words keep you connected to Him through His Spirit living in you, a believer in Christ. 

 

How can you hear, listen, and know God’s words, His wisdom? By reading, studying, and meditating on what you read in the Bible every day. By listening to Bible-based preaching and teaching. By praying and fellowshipping with other believers. 

 

Are you attending to and keeping God’s words? In what way are you slacking off in your relationship with Him—praying, reading and studying His word, worshipping Him, listening to Bible-based preaching and teaching? It’s never too late to return to God and to hear, listen to, keep, and do what He says. Right now, take the time to pray to God and return to Him.

Resounding through Millennia

“I will praise the Lord and may everyone on earth bless His holy name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:21 [NLT]

Psalm 145 is a praise psalm by David. In this, if we just look at it peripherally, most of us will only see David praising God. Yet, if we dive into this psalm upon which people wrote hymns and contemporary songs, we will find David had several reasons for writing this psalm. Yes, most of all, he wrote it to sing praises to God. But Davidic psalms usually explain why he cried out or sang to the LORD. This psalm is no exception in that regard. There are two more things David did in this psalm. He commanded people to praise God, and he explained to every person who read, heard, or sang this psalm who the LORD God is and why we should praise and exalt Him..

David began this this psalm and ended it twenty-one verses later with the purpose of this psalm. He said, “I will exalt You, my God and King, and praise Your name forever and ever. I will praise You every day; yes, I will praise You forever.” [NLT] He meant, “God, I will lift up Your name with my heart, mouth, and spirit. I will magnify You and not me.” David then said twice for emphasis that he would praise God now, every day, and forever. He knew Who is greater than him and he knew of his salvation. God anointed David for an eternity with Him. David’s hope, love, thanks, and awe reverberated throughout this psalm and his being.

David didn’t end this psalm with this basic statement of praise. He continued by explaining why he would always exalt and praise God. David said twice in verse three, “God is great.” Though no exclamation points note David’s declaration, we can understand he was very excited in his praise and exaltation because he commanded people of the next generations to tell about God and proclaim Him, too (vs. 4). David wanted a resounding, rolling proclamation of praise and exaltation to occur over the centuries and millennia by all people.

David then explained what he did with his understanding of God. He said in verse five he meditated on who God is and what He had done. He then declared he would proclaim about these and God’s goodness. David taught everyone who read, heard, or sang this song, we should exalt and praise God with our hearts and lips and then carry it into our every day lives with meditation and proclamation. By meditating, we keep God, His covenant with us, and our resultant obedience to Him forefront in our minds and hearts.

Understand this next part; this is important. David said he exalted, praised, meditated on, and proclaimed God so everyone will share the story of His wonderful goodness and sing with joy about His righteousness (vs. 7). He understood each person is a sinner and separated from God, but God loves all of us and wants us to know about Him so we can come to know Him personally and accept the salvation He offers. David was evangelistic in this psalm. When a person is in a personal relationship with God, that person, too, will want to exalt, praise, meditate on, and proclaim God and His greatness and goodness.

After this point, in verses eight to seventeen, David taught later hearers, readers, and singers about God-who He is and what He has done and will do. Interspersed between each set of statements about God, he told the response of people upon learning about each aspect and act of God.

·       Vs. 8-9 – The LORD is merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, loves faithfully, is good to everyone, and showers compassion on all His creation.

o   Vs. 10-12 – All creation will thank the LORD and His faithful followers will praise Him. They will speak of His glorious kingdom, give examples of His power, tell of his mighty deeds, and about the majesty and glory of His reign.

·       Vs. 13a – David ended this section by explaining God’s kingdom is eternal and He will rule/reign forever, through the lives of anyone who ever lived and would ever live.

Ø  Vs. 13b-14 – The Lord keeps His promises, is gracious in all He does, and helps the fallen, weak, and weary.

o   Vs. 15a – Every person who looks to God in hope will receive all they need.

Ø  Vs. 15b-16 – God will provide for all needs of those who hope in Him. He will satisfy their need for food and drink.

v Vs. 17 – God is righteous in everything He does.

o   We can trust in Him taking care of us, loving us, being kind, and being faithful.

§  Vs. 18 – Because of God’s righteousness and kindness, He is close to those who call on Him in truth, those who are genuine in their desire to know Him.

§  Vs. 19 – Because of God’s righteousness and kindness, He grants the desires (about what one speaks to Him) of those who fear Him. He hears their cries for help and rescues them.

§  Vs. 20 - Because of God’s righteousness and kindness, the Lord protects those who love Him, and destroys the wicked.

In this psalm, David stated why God is great and why he praises Him. He said he wanted everyone to realize what God’s actions and attributes are. David said in Psalm 145 God is:

                        Majestic         Glorious                    Splendid                    Merciful            

                        Righteous       Compassionate         Slow to anger            Faithfully loving

                        Powerful        Faithful                      Gracious                    Good 

                        Provider         Kind                           Fearful/Awesome   

                        Did awe-inspiring deeds                Did mighty deeds    Helps the fallen                                                  Has an everlasting kingdom          Rules over all generations

                        Lifts the weary                     Is close to those who call on Him in truth

                        Answers the prayers of those who fear/revere Him

For these, David said in verse one he would exalt God and praise His name forever. Because of who God is and what He’s done, is doing, and would do, he wanted everyone to know about Him in truth and to have a personal relationship with Him. To emphasize David’s stance and commitment, he restated in verse twenty-one what he said in verse one, “I will praise the LORD.” He added his own desire, his prayer to God and plea to all who heard, read, or sang this psalm, that everyone on earth over all millennia would desire to praise God, too, because they know Him in truth through having a personal relationship with Him.

What may have seemed only a song in your mind when you read Psalm 145, hopefully has more meaning. It does for me. What is your response to this psalm? Do you desire to praise and exalt God, and proclaim Him to other people so they can come to know your faithful, loving, almighty God? We sing praises to God to recall who He is and what He’s done, to teach others how and why to praise God, and to proclaim about God and His greatness and goodness to non-Christians so they can have a relationship with Him, too.

Have you praised and exalted God today?

Have you led and/or taught others how to praise God?

Have you used your praise of God to tell someone who doesn’t know Him personally about Him so they would desire to be in a relationship with Him?

Each of these come from love in our heart – love of God and love of other people.

What will you do now?

Lord, You are great and I am not. I may have fooled myself to think I had everything under control, but really, it’s all Your doing. Lord, forgive me for walking in my strength with my plans. Help me to always take the time to praise You. By doing this, I remember what You have done and are doing in my life. By doing this, my voice will resound with praise of who You are and Your goodness, then others will hear, remember to praise You, and/or come to know You personally for themselves. Lord, whatever I have You have given me. Whatever I’ve done, You’ve taught me and made it possible. Lord, You are great, loving, faithful, and righteous; I bow to You and Your plans. Help me remember to take time to come to You, meditate on You, Your word, and Your actions, and to praise You. Stay first place in my life. Amen.

Living Sacrificially: A Psalm 51:14-17 Devotional

Psalm 51:14-17

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;

then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips

that my mouth may declare Your praise.

¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it.

You are not pleased with burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken spirit and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

David recognized he was a sinner. He understood God as loving, kind, merciful, great of compassion, and omnipotent. David realized he sinned against God and only He could cleanse him from sin and guilt. He pled with God and asked for Him to purify him ceremonially and wash him spiritually. David asked for his joy and gladness be restored to him. He asked God to create a clean heart and renewed spirit within him. In the last devotional (vs. 11-13), David realized he was unworthy to live in God’s presence or to have His Spirit live in him. He asked God not to cast him away from Him and not to remove His Spirit. Besides asking for a re-created heart and renewed spirit, David pled to God to restore the joy of his salvation. He wanted to live his life knowing he did not deserve God’s forgiveness, but could know and have hope he was God’s child and would forever be with Him.

What came next, in verse thirteen, begins a multi-verse reaction to God’s forgiveness, re-creation, restoring, and renewing of David. David, out of love for God, stated what he would do. He would teach others who rebelled against God about Him and His ways so they would be converted – turn back to God from their rebellion against Him.

With verses fourteen through sixteen David told God he would show his love to Him through specific actions. Because of God’s delivering him - rescuing him and snatching him  – from bloodguiltiness - from sin and its death penalty, he would joyfully sing of God’s righteousness, declare His praise, and offer his humble and broken being for God’s plans and purposes. David said he would sing and tell everyone about God and His righteous being, justice, and forgiveness. He would declare his own salvation from sin, guilt, and death by God (vs. 14). We read David did this in Psalm 35:28 and 71:15. In both these verses he declared God’s righteousness and salvation, both of which he was unable to fathom the depth. Do we show our love of God? Is it a visible testimony so others can know God, too?

Next David continued to state what he would do because of God’s righteousness, justice, and forgiveness (vs. 15). He asked God to open his lips to declare His praise. David wanted to express what God did for him and who God is. This speaks of the literal interpretation. Metaphorically, “lips” refers to the shore or edge of rivers and seas and “mouth” refers to a river, sea, or well. From this, we realize David’s praise and declaration of God would have no end. What he said would be just the beginning and did not encompass the entirety of Who God truly is. God is boundless; David loved Him and could spend each of his days praising and telling about Him and still would never finish speaking of God. In Psalm 71:15, he could not know the sum of God. Do we run out of things to say about God? Can we talk about God every day and never get to the end of who God is? Are we willing to spend our days praising Him?

With verse sixteen, David recognized no ritual animal sacrifice was acceptable to God for providing permanent salvation from sins. God does not delight in the death and sacrifice of animals, otherwise David would have given it. What we own - our possessions - will not testify to our realization of our smallness and unworthiness of righteous, forgiving, and saving God. To make an adamant point, David repeated this and said, “You are not pleased with burnt offerings.” Do we today try to offer something physical and fleeting to God hoping it is enough to show our gratefulness to Him?

David recognized nothing he could give God would be enough. He realized only by giving himself – his whole being created and restored by God – to God could his gratitude, love, and devotion be most shown to Him. This requires recognition of God worthiness and our unworthiness. It compels us to give that which is most dear to us – our lives, that which is eternal because of God’s forgiveness and salvation given to us. David acknowledged this in verse seventeen when he said, “The sacrifices acceptable to God are a broken spirit; a broken spirit and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” “Broken spirit and contrite heart” speak of David’s sorrow for sin and humble and thoroughly penitent approach to God. This broken spirit is a person’s crushed will, that which a person uses to decide, one’s temperament, and one’s choices - right or wrong. The person realizes what he or she has done or thought is crushed because of recognizing God and His ways. That person renders him or herself crumbled by his or her sin in the presence of almighty God. The contrite heart speaks of a broken or crushed inner man because of recognition of sin and unworthiness. Both these phrases refer to a person who is broken with sorrow for sin and humble and thorough penitence before God. This person recognizes God’s greatness and salvation as opposed to his or her sinfulness and finiteness. The person realizes he or she has nothing worthy to give to God in gratitude and love that is sufficient for what God did in his or her life except to give back his or her greatest possession – his or her life.

The sacrifices we give to God, all we own, came from God. They are fleeting and nothing more than possessions. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and everything in the created world. Our God-made saved and eternal selves are greater than anything we have to give back to God in thanks and praise. David said this; his life was the greatest sacrifice he could offer, and he chose to give it back to God as a living testimony of word and action.

Have you come to the place where you realize there is nothing you can give God that is adequate to free you from sin, guilt, and death? Sin requires justice. Penitential confession recognizes God, His greatness, and His power to forgive and save forever. Our response to Him should be love for Him. David shows us love for God should lead us to live out in word and action praise and worship of God and obedience to His ways. How has your walk with God been today? Did your words and actions speak of God so others would note it and learn more about and praise Him, too? True love for God should be evident in our obedience to Him.

What do your words and actions say about God today? It may be time for you to return to God and let Him re-create your heart and renew your spirit.

What will you choose to do? Will you live sacrificially today?

Do the Right Thing: A James 4:17 Devotional

James compiled his teachings to Christians into one singular lesson. He said in verse seventeen, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” When a person is a Christian, he/she belongs to God’s family and knows right from wrong because of Jesus’ Spirit indwelling the person. People can comprehend the heart of God. No believer can say he or she did not know the right thing to do. The Holy Spirit teaches of righteousness and convicts of sin. James said if a person recognized he/she was supposed to do something, but did not do it, omitting or choosing not to do what is right makes him/her a sinner. Whoa, intentionally not doing something right is a sin! Intentionally choosing to do something wrong is a sin, too.

Christians cannot say they did not understand. The Holy Spirit will tell believers what is right and wrong to do, say, and think. Luke spoke about this in Luke 12:47. The person who chooses not to do what God says is right, God will judge. Jesus similarly told the Pharisees in John 9:41. Peter took this idea further in 2 Peter 2:20-21.

Since we understand James’ meaning in verse seventeen, how is it a compilation of his earlier teachings? Consider his teachings.

·        Do not show favoritism to the rich hoping to gain influence and help from them in the future. God provides for each person what he or she needs when she needs it. You have an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Love your neighbors as your self. Show your love of God in your obedience to His laws. Do the right thing. (Ch. 2)

·       Show God’s love even to the poorest person by giving food, clothes, shelter, and daily needs. In this, you show your faith by your works and fulfill the second greatest commandment. Faith without works is useless (2:20). Do the right thing. (Ch. 2)

·       Guard your tongues. Blessings and curses cannot come from the same mouth. Ask for God’s wisdom. Allow the Holy Spirit to help bridle your mouth, which bridles your whole body thereby showing the new creation your relationship with God through Jesus Christ effected. Teachers have a greater accountability and stricter judgment from God. Do the right thing. (Ch. 3)

·       Ask for God’s wisdom to guide you so jealousy and selfish ambition do not lead you astray to arrogance and lying against the Truth. Seek wisdom and produce the fruits from above. Do the right thing. (Ch. 3)

·       Do not envy another person. Envy leads to quarrels and fights. It makes a person an adulterer, hostile to God. God gives the greater grace – the better blessing(s) – salvation and eternal life. James gave six things for each believer to return to God.

ü  Submit to God

ü  Resist the devil

ü  Draw near to God

ü  Cleanse your hands

ü  Purify your hearts

ü  Humble yourselves before God.

                        When a believer does these things to return to the Lord, God will draw near

                         the person and exalt him/her. Do the right thing. (Ch. 4)

·       Do not slander and judge another person. By doing so you judge God. You are not greater than God, so you cannot judge another person. Do the right thing. (Ch. 4)

·       Consult God when planning your future – in business and everyday life. You do not know the future and cannot plan without God’s guidance, recognizing He holds the future, provides the profit, and gives everything you need. Do the right thing. (Ch. 4)

Each lesson James taught to the Jerusalem Christians in his epistle dealt with the whole person – heart, head, mouth, and body. He taught how to speak and act as Christians in this world. James taught Christians to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” That means embodying the love of God in their daily lives. Christians understand what they are to do because of the indwelling Holy Spirit and Christian teaching. They sin if they did not do what is right and just. Christians cannot say they do not want to get involved. As Christians who understand the right thing to do, they must do the right thing in situations encountered in daily life.

Be “doers” of the word, not “omit-ers.”

Led by the Spirit: A Galatians 5:16-26 Devotional

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:16-26 [NIV]

Paul spent this letter teaching the Galatians once again faith in Jesus Christ was what gave them salvation and eternal life. Other teachers had been in Galatia teaching them they had to obey the laws of God including the law that all men must undergo circumcision. These Judaizers added a works element to the salvation of the Gospel. Paul told them nothing of the flesh could give them salvation, but only by God’s grace through faith could they receive salvation.

In chapter five, Paul continued his comparison of living by the Law and living in the Spirit. He taught that living according to the Law was living in the flesh. It was based on what the person did or could do. Because it relied upon a person’s actions, which were often sinful – self-centered, arrogant, self-seeking, etc – living by the flesh could not save them nor give them right relationships with God and other people. Paul taught that living according to the Spirit of Christ, whom God puts in each new believer, was living with the love of Christ in them – love for other people and love for God. Paul said what is of the Spirit is contrary to what is of the flesh. What a person wants often goes against what God wants and what is best for every person affected.

In verse fourteen, Paul reminded the Galatians the Law is summed up in one word, “love.” Since people are sinful, they do not keep the laws God gave. The love of the laws is warped often because a person wants what he or she wants more than what God wants. Because of this, Paul gave the Galatians a list of actions and attitudes that are contrary to God and the intent of His Law. These actions are self-focused and break relationships between people and between the person and God. These acts of the flesh he identified in verses nineteen to twenty-one.

The love God seeks to implant into people, which the Law could not instill because of the sinfulness of humankind, comes through the Spirit of Jesus Christ who dwells within each believer. This love is not twisted by the machinations of a human mind or greed, but is pure and from God. Paul listed some of the attributes of a person in whom the Holy Spirit lives in verses twenty-two and twenty-three.

If you compare these two lists, you will find the second list builds relationship among people and with God, and develops a person’s sense of worth based on the value God places on the person. The latter listing of attributes and characteristics are in line with the purpose and intent of God throughout the whole Bible and align directly with the two greatest commandments Christ taught His disciples and followers. The intent of the Bible is for people to be in a love relationship with God. This love relationship then affects the relationship of people with each other. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-38 [NASB]).

Paul’s point to the Galatians, once again, was they were not to be tied to the Law for salvation because it could not give it. It provided bondage because the flesh is sinful. Instead, live by the Spirit, the freedom Christ put into each believer. By living in the Spirit, the person lives in the manner of Jesus Christ – with love for the Father and love for other people. By doing this, people will not become enslaved to their sinful, human selves. By becoming enslaved to their own desires people become self-focused, envious, and provoke envy. These do not lead to harmony and love, but to chaos and self-seeking.

Paul taught the Galatians they received salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by following the Law. By seeking to follow the laws, they tried to earn salvation, which no one can earn because of human sinfulness. Besides this, striving to earn salvation puts self-seeking ahead of the needs and care of other people. Jesus summed the Scripture when He said we are to love the LORD God and our neighbor. Self-seeking does not put other people first, but second or last. By allowing the Spirit to lead us instead of trying to earn salvation, we allow the love of God to show in us, care for others, and develop a deeper relationship between God and us in our hearts.

Today we each need to stop and consider if we are trying in our strength to be what God wants us to be – to love people, to do for them, to make sure we are walking in the right direction, etc. We need to stop and see if our focus has shifted from God and developing relationship with Him to a focus on ourselves and how we can do more for God. If we are focused on God and our relationship with Him, He will lead us in our daily steps. We will not have to wonder if we are doing what He wants us to do. We can get so caught up in working for God that we lose sight of our relationship with Him and then no longer hear Him as vividly.

Today, take a moment and stop to focus on God. Ask Him to guide you to know if you have walked away from your close relationship with Him. Return to your quiet time with Him reading His Word, praying for closeness and guidance, and walking from that quiet time with His Spirit guiding you. Focus more on being in relationship with God and less on doing. Your relationship with God and with other people will be renewed so that you follow the two greatest commandments as Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-38.

Be led by the Spirit.

God’s Love: Exceedingly Abundant Beyond Ephesians 3

Ephesians 3

Let us do a quick review. In Ephesians 1, we found that Paul addressed his letter to the Ephesian Christians, Gentile believers, and to “faithful followers.” This letter is meant for every Christian. Paul told us that God loved each of us before He created the world. He made a plan for us to return to Him since before the creation of the world. Ephesians 2 tells us through Christ, God made His children, every Christian, into one body where Jesus Christ is the head. Jesus Christ made this possible by fulfilling the Law and its ordinances. Because of that, He removed the barrier or wall between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Now in Christ, we are under one covenant, the Messianic covenant. Hence, we are established together as part of the foundation of Christ’s church with the saints who went before us and with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. Being under a new covenant and in one body together whether Jew or Gentile is the great new idea in Ephesians 2 that Paul taught. None of this, though, is about us. God is the focus. He created us. He fulfilled His covenant through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. He calls us to return to Him. He grows us into His temple by building us together. We do nothing toward making the Messianic covenant, nor did we do anything to earn such loving-kindness from God.

            In Ephesians 3, Paul taught about the mystery that God revealed through Christ, that Gentiles are fellow heirs of the promise in Christ Jesus (vs. 6). Paul told them and us that God revealed His mystery, which was unknown in other generations, to His apostles and prophets in the Spirit. God’s plan from the beginning was to bring everyone back into relationship with Himself. From the Old Testament, we find that God chose a group of people, the Israelites, to be His chosen people. You can find this in Jeremiah 24:7, 31:33, and 32:38 and Ezekiel 11:20, 34:30, and 36:28. In the fulfillment of His covenant with the Israelites through the offering of His Son, Jesus Christ, as the sin sacrifice, God created a new covenant and revealed His mystery - He calls all believers His children.

            Let us go back to understand better. At the beginning of this chapter, Paul explained that he yielded himself as a captive/bond servant of Christ Jesus for the sake of the Gentiles. Jesus’ call of Paul on the Damascus road revealed to Paul that Jesus sent him to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul said he received God’s grace to be a steward for and to the Gentiles. God disclosed this revelation to him and told him His mystery that God included Gentiles as those who are called to return to Him, not just Jews.

Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members belonging to the body of Christ (Ephesians 3:4, Romans 11:25, and Colossians 1:26-27). God did not reveal this mystery before, but revealed it to the His apostles and prophets in the Spirit. As fellow heirs, Gentiles have right to the inheritance with other believers in Christ. Because they are fellow members of the body of Christ and fellow partakers, they share in the promise of Christ Jesus through the Gospel, salvation – an eternal relationship with God and eternal life. As Christians of Gentile background, we are given the grace of God to become fellow heirs, partakers, and members of Christ’s body with other believers, Jewish and Gentile (vs. 5-6).

Paul said God made him a “minister (one who executes the commands of God) according to the gift of God’s grace” (vs. 7). He is a minister for God because God chose him to receive His grace, not because of his (Paul’s) worthiness. Paul was a minister for God by God’s power working within him. He acknowledged God gifted him and empowered him to be His minister/servant. Paul felt his duty keenly. He said, “To me, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things” (vs. 8-9). God gave Paul His grace to proclaim the good news of God’s salvation to the Gentiles. Paul said he was to preach about God’s unfathomable riches. These riches have an unknowable beginning and end, so they cannot be fully comprehended (vs.18 – 19). The riches, according to Paul in others of his letters are kindness, tolerance, patience (Romans 2:4), forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), and strength of power through His Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). Since we are dealing with Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we will narrow God’s riches to forgiveness of sins and power through the Spirit. Paul said, too, he was to make known what is the dispensing of the mystery (how God will administer His salvation to Gentile and Jew). God did not reveal this mystery until He called Paul to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. God made Paul a steward/dispenser/minister of this Gospel. The Greek word oikonomia is what is translated as administer or dispense. God called Paul to do this, dispense of/proclaim God’s grace, which God hid in Himself. Remember, God chose each of us to be in a relationship with Him before He created us (Ephesians 1:4), before the Abrahamic covenant. Hence, He chose all people to be in relationship with Him before He formed the world. The Messianic covenant returned us to that status.

God calls every person to return to Him through Jesus Christ, not just Jews. By revealing His mystery then, God revealed His manifold (many and varied) wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (vs. 10). Ephesians 6:12 calls these the world forces of darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness. Colossians 2:15 says God will disarm rulers and authorities and will have the head rule over every dark force. Paul said God’s wisdom is greater than anything one can think or imagine. He had this mystery planned from before the foundation of the world. God’s wisdom will disarm all the dark rulers and authorities and He will rule over them. This was according to the eternal purposes, the purpose of the ages, which God formed and carried out in Christ as Lord. We can have fearless confidence, cheerful courage, and confident access through faith in Him (vs. 12). Remember the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 is “faith is the conviction of things hoped for and the assurance of thins not seen.” We can approach the throne of God because of His forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ and our giving Him control of our life as Lord. Paul said this in Ephesians 2:18, “For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. We know He will accept us and be with us.”

Paul did not stop with telling the Gentiles of their acceptance into the family of God through Jesus Christ, God’s mystery. Paul prayed five things for them from God’s riches, His abundance. He prayed they would not lose heart, faint, at the tribulations he endured for their glory (vs. 13). This glory came because of his and God’s opinion of them - they are loved by God. Paul prayed they would be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner man, the soul and conscience. This he prayed so that Christ would inhabit and govern their hearts and souls through faith (vs. 16-17). Paul prayed they would be rooted (fixed and established) and grounded with a firm foundation in love so they could have the full ability to comprehend (learn, understand, and take hold of) along with the saints who went before them what is the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love for them. Job spoke of this unfathomable and immeasurable-ness of God’s love in Job 11:7-9. He said, “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? They are as high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? It’s measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.” You cannot know even the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven, which God created, so how can you fully comprehend God and His love? Paul said in Ephesians 3:19, the love of Christ surpasses knowledge. The love of Christ is exceeding knowledge. The final prayer request of Paul’s for the faithful followers is that they “may be filled up to all fullness of God” (vs. 19). Our English word fullness translates from the Greek word pleroma. Pleroma is the abundance or being fully filled with the presence, power, agency, and riches of God and Christ. Paul prayed the believers would not lose heart, would be strengthened with God’s power in their soul, would be able to comprehend the depths of God’s love, would know the love of Christ, and would be completely filled with the presence of God and His abundance.

To finish this section of his letter to the Ephesians and other faithful followers, Paul offered a benediction of praise to the Father and Son in verses 21 and 22. He said, “Now to Him, the One who is able to do far more than we can ask or think, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Paul returned to his words in chapter 1 when he said “to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” He spoke of the exceeding abundantly in chapter 1. In chapter 3 Paul added the word “beyond,” which comes from the Greek word huperekeina. Huperekeina means super, beyond what we can think. This word used in one other place in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 10:16. The ability to do this beyond our imaginings is according to the power that is working within us, God’s power. The word “power” in Greek is dunamis, from which we derive our word dynamite. “Works” is the Greek word energeo and means operates. Energeo is from where we derive our word “erg.” So, this part of the verse can read “according to the dynamo that is erg (working) within us.” This dynamo does not derive from ourselves, but from the exceeding abundant fullness of God and Christ within our souls. The glory Paul gave here was to God. He stated this in the rest of the chapter, “To Him is the glory (magnificence, excellence, dignity, and grace) in the church (the assembly of believers) and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

God is the one who receives the glory, we are not. He is the one with the unfathomable and immeasurable love. God is the one who chose us and created us from the beginning. He is the one who provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. God is the one who calls us to return to Him. He is the one who fills us completely to an exceeding overabundance with His power through His Holy Spirit. God chose to love each of us, Jew and Gentile, and calls each believer to be in His household as fellow heirs and partakers of His promise. We can do nothing to earn His love and we could do nothing to offer the sufficient sacrifice that fulfilled the Mosaic covenant. We are the created and the recipient of God’s love. We are the receiver and God is the initiator and perfector. Notice in verses 18b-21, the verb is present tense when referring to God. These verses tell us there is no limit to God’s love. God is always present and active. In verses 16-18b, Paul spoke to the followers as recipients when he used the word “may.” The Gospel is not about us, but about God, His unfathomable love, His sacrifice, His calling to us, and His glory.

God still calls to His creation today. He calls them to return to His love. God provided the perfect sacrifice with the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. He fulfilled the covenant humankind could not fulfill because of their limited ability and power.

God will keep calling for you to return to His love. His whole purpose for creating you was to be in a love relationship with you.

Will you trust Him and return to Him today?