Category: Devotions

TUESDAY June 18^th

 

Ephesians 3;16

‘. . . that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being . . .’

 

I love those few words in this verse, ‘according to the riches of his glory’. Without jumping to far ahead, a few verses later Paul says this ‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think’, together these verses help us to understand that we can never out ask God, because a) he has an abundant store of riches in glory and b) whatever we ask, he is super abundantly able to do even more.

 

Our God is rich in every way! He pours out his love and it will never run out. He pours out his grace and it will never run out. He pours out his mercy and it will never run out. He giveth and giveth and giveth again says the words of the hymn writer.

 

This is our God, so if we come to ask him to be strengthened with power through his Spirit, we know that his power will never run out, so we can come for more power for each morning that we wake up! More power to equip us, more power to strengthen us, more power to accomplish whatever his will may be for us as we walk through each day. Not one of us needs to be powerless in our Christian Walk because we have an all-powerful God, ready to strengthen us with power by his Spirit according to his riches of glory.

 

We note also it says in our text, ‘in the inner man’, that is in our spirit / soul, that part of us that has already been quickened or made alive again the day we were saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

 

I wonder how much time in a day do we give to ensuring that we look after the body in comparison to looking after or caring for our soul? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:16 ‘So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.’ We can put all our effort in making sure we look good physically, but we cannot stop the inevitable, age comes, death will arrive, what is important is that we put every effort into ensuring that the inner man is being renewed day by day.

 

Do you need to be strengthen, we all need to be strengthened, then spend some time today at the source of the abundant supply, the throne where the riches of God’s grace can be found.

 

Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’

MONDAY June 17^th

 

We come today to the second section of verses in Ephesians which consist of a prayer that Paul made for the saints.

 

Ephesians 3:14–21

‘For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’

 

In the previous prayer that Paul had prayed for the saints it was for them to understand something about the immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards them, here he prays that they may be strengthened with power through his Spirit.

 

Now, I have been on my Christian journey for 55 years, having come to faith at the age of nine. I have spent 50 of them preaching the word of God, having the first opportunity at 14. I have also spent 45 of them in leadership in various churches, as a deacon, elder and then pastor. Yet, today as I read these verses I readily and willingly confess I need that according to the riches of his glory, that God would strengthen me with power by his Spirit in my inner being! The more I have journeyed the more I have realised that it never ever can be by my might, nor by my power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.

 

Over the last few weeks, as the weather has been improving, (well slightly improving) I have been able to get more done in the garden. I have planted more beans and peas this year, and I have two choices, plant them and leave them or plant them and care for them. I have obviously chosen the second option, which means that the beans and the peas need support to enable them to grow, to be strengthened and to produce a harvest. So, I have put canes in the ground, so that they can be either tied to them or they can eventually naturally wind around them. The more they grow, the more they need the support otherwise they would just fall, collapse to the ground and be of no use.

 

We, each one of us as we discovered in the devotions last week, are the body of Christ, of which he himself is the head. Can I put it this way, we have been planted into the family of God. We need support, otherwise we would falter and fall. Being a part of the body means that we need each other for support, that is why regular fellowship is important. We have the word of God as another important means of support, to feed us, develop us. We have the means of prayer, communion with our heavenly Father, but in the context of these verses we have the help, the support of the Holy Spirit, he comes as a means of God’s grace to strengthen us with power in the inner man.

 

Now, excuse the way that I am applying it, but just as the beans and the peas need the canes to support them, the canes are also a means to empower them, to enable them to grow and to develop.

 

I want to be attached to a place of regular fellowship with others, I want my life to be attached to the word of God, I want to be attached to whatever God has made available to give me the support, strength and empowerment that I need as a believer to be who God wants me to be, that my life will be fruitful for him. I want that he will strengthen me with power by his Spirit. Can we all say this, do we truly desire it.

FRIDAY June 14^th

 

Ephesians 1:22-23

‘And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.’

 

We have arrived at the last verse that falls in this section that covers this the first of Paul’s prayers for the Ephesian believers.

 

As he began to say what he was praying for them, it would seem that he has got carried away with or excited about everything that God had done for them through the Lord Jesus Christ, and about Jesus himself. And he turns his direction from the heavenly places and the future back to the earth, and he sees the wonderful vision or picture of the church as being the body of which Christ is the head. In other words, before God’s purpose is finally realised in the age which is to come (verse 21) there is still much to be done in the present age. And it involves Christ, and it includes all who have come to faith in him, you, me, each one who by trusting in Christ have been incorporated into the church, which is his body here on earth. And it is Christ, the one who is seated at the right hand of the Father who is the head of the church. It is from him we receive our spiritual health and vitality.

 

I want us to go back to verse 19 which was all about the ‘greatness of his power toward us who believe’ and how we see that the power was seen being demonstrated in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. Well, we continue to see that the greatness of this power is also demonstrated or seen in the mystery of the church. That God would take men and women who were utterly depraved, sinful, vile, and through the powerful preaching of the cross would not only unite us to Christ, but also unite us toward one another! We have become his family, therefore brothers and sisters within that family, or as Peter puts it, we have become living stones that are being built up together to become a spiritual house, or as we have already seen we have become members of one body with Christ as the head.

 

The evidence around us in the world is that multi-culturalism fails in so many ways, there are so many schisms and divisions, but such is the power of God that is at work in the many ways we have already mentioned as we have covered these verses, the cross unites men and women together from all over the globe! What politicians fail to manage, what globalism fails to manage, what the United Nations fails to manage, what even equality rules which are fudged and changed as soon as some new fad or ideology seems to surface, fail to manage, the cross has succeeded in doing! We who are saved are all one in Christ Jesus, and what is more, such is the wonder of this incredible power at work that the day is coming when we shall all be together, an innumerable number gathered around the throne worshipping God, these verses are a wonderful portrayal of the incredible power ‘And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth”’, Revelation 5:9-10.

THURSDAY June 13^th

 

Ephesians 1:21

 

‘. . .far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.’

 

Paul continues to remind us that Christ was not only raised from the dead, ascended and exalted, but that he is ‘far above all rule and authority and power and dominion’. He holds the highest place, the highest honour, the highest name, the highest position of power!

 

This is our Saviour! This is our Redeemer! This is our Lord! This is the one whom we are looking for as our coming King, who promised that he would come again, so that we who believe may be with him forever.

 

Yes, we see the power of almighty God at work in creation, just look up at the splendour of the heavens, look around you at the splendour and the beauty of the birds, the trees and the flowers, see it as we see the rolling hills and the mighty sea as it splashes its waves upon the beaches, we see it at work in the sustaining of all he has created, we see it at work in a thousand and one other ways, but surely, we rejoice in that his power has been at work and is still at work in bringing about our eternal redemption. His power which raised Christ from the dead, working in our hearts and in our lives making us to become more like Christ every day.

 

But let’s keep reminding ourselves that as we see so much going on all around us today that speaks against God, which rejects the authority and the rule of God, which seeks to push God aside and fill the void with anything and everything else, that he is still in control, his power is unstoppable, and everyone who seeks to reject his word, his ways and his wonderful work of redemption will one day have to bow the knee and confess ‘that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father’.

 

God is never going to go away, it would be an impossibility, for he is omnipresent, we cannot flee from his presence, but if you are reading this devotion and you have rejected God, or you continue to reject God, it doesn’t stop him from existing, he always has been and he always will be, and although at this moment of time he offers you salvation through the powerful message of the cross, one day that opportunity will come to an end, but the sad thing is this, if you have rejected him now, in the present, when the moment comes when you will be found standing before him on the day of judgment he will turn to you and say ‘Depart from me, I never knew you.’ You will be eternally separated from the presence of God, and it will have been your choice, for today he offers you salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

WEDNESDAY June 12^th

 

Ephesians 1:19–20

 

‘. . .and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places’

 

As we continue to consider this incredible power that has been made available to us, Paul says that it was not only demonstrated in the tomb, by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, but it was also demonstrated by the very fact that after being raised, God seated Christ at his right hand in the heavenly places. I recall a song we used to sing ‘Far above all, far above all, God has exalted him far above all, crown him as Lord, at his feet humbly fall, God has exalted him, far above all.’

 

This verse reminds us that there is a man in the glory and his name is Jesus! And such was the power of God at work in him while he walked this world as a man, he sinned not, such was the power of God he could go to the cross to be the unblemished sacrifice for the sins of the world, such was the power of God at work that after having died on the cross and being buried, that death had no hold on him, ‘death could not keep it’s prey, Jesus my Saviour, he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord . . . up from the grave he arose’. And such was the power of God, he ascended back into the presence of God as the one who had conquered death, defeated Satan and provided salvation for all who would believe and when he sat down at the right hand of God, he was given the name that is above every name, he has been declared and still is and always will be Lord! See the power of God at work meant that absolutely nothing was going to stop, prevent, or destroy that which God had purposed to do, way before even the foundation of the world was laid.

 

Recently I purchased a top that across the front has the word ‘Unstoppable’.

 

God’s power is such that it is unstoppable, God is unstoppable, he will do all that he has decreed and no one nor nothing will stop him. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus is the proof we have. And the wonder is this, he makes his power available to each one of us who believes. Therefore, as we come to be filled with and to keep being filled with the Spirit, with his power we also should be unstoppable!

TUESDAY June 11^th

 

Ephesians 1:19–20

 

‘. . .and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places’

 

Let me repeat where I left off previously, although re-worded, God has made his power available to us who have believed to enable us to live victoriously in this world.

 

HIS power, God knows we cannot do it in our own strength! Power to be able to live for Christ, power to live according to the Spirit and not the flesh, power to fight the good fight of the faith, power to stand firm, power to say no when the world demands us to conform, power to overcome the evil one, power to make it to the finishing line, our eyes firmly fixed upon Jesus.

 

And Paul uses as the example of what this power is like as being the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead—now, when Jesus died, he was placed into a tomb and a stone was placed in the opening to block it off and a seal was placed around it. But it didn’t stop or prevent the power of God, for in the darkness of the grave, Jesus the light of the world was raised back to life! No medical intervention, no magic, no! The power of God was at work, defying all the laws of nature, defying all the logic of men, defying the powers of darkness and demonstrating that without any shadow of doubt that God has power over all things.

 

Now, I am sure we have all seen some incredible things that would cause us to be astounded, but the resurrection of Jesus is the most astounding thing that has ever happened. Now, some would argue, ‘Ah but you didn’t witness it, you have only read about it’. That is true, but I believe it! And the Scripture says that the ones who are blessed are those who have not seen yet believe!

 

Paul wants us to know that this incredible power that was demonstrated in the tomb is being made available towards us who believe. Later in this same epistle, Paul encourages us to ‘be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might’, or as the NIV puts it ‘be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.’ (6:10)

 

I wonder if sometimes too often we live our lives as if we are running on low voltage batteries, or rechargeable batteries that are running low, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to indwell us and to empower us, for to remind us again, it is not by our own might, nor by our own power—I can assure you that this way I would get absolutely nowhere—but it is by his power and his power alone we will live victoriously.

MONDAY June 10^th

 

Ephesians 1:19

 

‘. . . and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe . . .’

 

The ESV has verses 15-21 as two sentences, but the NIV breaks it up into six sentences, one of those breaks being here at the end of verse 19 ‘and his incomparably great power for us who believe.’

 

Remember that Paul has prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him’ and as we come to verse 19 it is that we also may understand ‘what is the immeasurable greatness of his power’ or as the NIV puts it ‘his incomparably great power’ that is for us who believe. Now in the next verse, or sentence as in the NIV, Paul uses an illustration to describe how great this power is, by considering the resurrection of Jesus, but we will turn to that in the next devotion. For today we will consider some other examples of the greatness of God’s power.

 

As I prepare this devotion, I have just been reading for a future ministry the account of the exodus of the children of Israel from out of the land of Egypt, and verse 6 of Exodus 15 says ‘Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power. . .’

 

There is absolutely nothing, whether a person, a principality or a power or any man-made invention that can match the power of almighty God. And God has demonstrated this great power in many ways, consider the power of his voice, which spoke what is into being, the same power that holds everything together.

 

Going back to the chapter in Exodus, his power had been demonstrated by delivering the Children of Israel, while at the same time destroying their enemies. That is amazing, but Paul says about his power toward us who believe, that is we who have responded to the wonderful gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The power that originally created all things has also recreated us or made us anew in Christ Jesus, the power that destroyed the armies of Egypt, has destroyed the enemy of our souls, and has destroyed the sting of death which is sin. The same power that caused the walls of Jericho to fall, was present with Daniel in the den of lions, with the three Hebrew lads in the fiery furnace, and the same power as Paul says that was worked in Christ when God raised him from the dead is the power that Paul prayed that the believers would come to know and to understand more. Power to enable us to live victorious Christian lives that we need to be living in our anti-God society. I don’t know about you, but I willingly admit, I need that power in my life today.

 

I remind us, that it is ‘not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the LORD of hosts’. It is his Spirit that brings to us or gives to us the power we need to walk in this world today.

FRIDAY June 7^th

 

Ephesians 1:18 ‘. . . having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints . . .’

 

We continue from the previous devotion, which is that we will have our hearts enlightened towards that which ‘are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints’.

 

At first, we would consider the word inheritance and think of that which is ours in Christ, because we are heirs of Father, joint heirs with the son, but commentators suggest that what Paul is expressing here is that we as the redeemed of the Lord are the riches of God’s glorious inheritance. When God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, it is later said of them in Deuteronomy 9:29 ‘For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’ The NIV uses the word inheritance, ‘But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.’

 

The children of Israel became God’s chosen possession, it is said of them in Deuteronomy 7:6 ‘For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.’ Now, before we move on this surely is sufficient for us to realise even today in the 21^st Century, that Israel as a nation and Israel as a people are extra special to God out of all the nations and peoples of the world. After all, we often say, the God of Israel. That is why it is so important that we pray for the nation and the people of Israel.

 

But when we come to 1 Peter 2:9-10, it is said of the church ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’

 

Does this mean that the church has replaced Israel—not at all, God has not finished with Israel, he still has much to fulfil through them as a nation and as a people, the wonder is this that God has chosen to gather from the Gentiles those who will make up the Church, the body of Christ who have become his glorious inheritance, when God looks at Israel he sees them as his inheritance, when God looks at the church he sees us as his inheritance, that is we belong to him, we are precious to him. And how has this been made possible? Through the riches of his grace, as Paul has said earlier in Ephesians 1:7-10. ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.’ In Malachi 3, there is a verse that says ‘“They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.’

 

When we fully grasp this, who we are and what we have become in Christ, and especially that God sees us as his glorious inheritance or heritage, we would ensure that all times we would seek to bring glory to God by the manner of life that we live, what we do, where we go, how we speak and act, for as his inheritance he has the right to demand that just as he is holy, so we too should be holy. Ephesians 1:12 ‘so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory’.

FRIDAY June 7^th

 

Ephesians 1:18 ‘. . . having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints . . .’

 

We continue from the previous devotion, which is that we will have our hearts enlightened towards that which ‘are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints’.

 

At first, we would consider the word inheritance and think of that which is ours in Christ, because we are heirs of Father, joint heirs with the son, but commentators suggest that what Paul is expressing here is that we as the redeemed of the Lord are the riches of God’s glorious inheritance. When God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, it is later said of them in Deuteronomy 9:29 ‘For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’ The NIV uses the word inheritance, ‘But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.’

 

The children of Israel became God’s chosen possession, it is said of them in Deuteronomy 7:6 ‘For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.’ Now, before we move on this surely is sufficient for us to realise even today in the 21^st Century, that Israel as a nation and Israel as a people are extra special to God out of all the nations and peoples of the world. After all, we often say, the God of Israel. That is why it is so important that we pray for the nation and the people of Israel.

 

But when we come to 1 Peter 2:9-10, it is said of the church ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’

 

Does this mean that the church has replaced Israel—not at all, God has not finished with Israel, he still has much to fulfil through them as a nation and as a people, the wonder is this that God has chosen to gather from the Gentiles those who will make up the Church, the body of Christ who have become his glorious inheritance, when God looks at Israel he sees them as his inheritance, when God looks at the church he sees us as his inheritance, that is we belong to him, we are precious to him. And how has this been made possible? Through the riches of his grace, as Paul has said earlier in Ephesians 1:7-10. ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.’ In Malachi 3, there is a verse that says ‘“They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.’

 

When we fully grasp this, who we are and what we have become in Christ, and especially that God sees us as his glorious inheritance or heritage, we would ensure that all times we would seek to bring glory to God by the manner of life that we live, what we do, where we go, how we speak and act, for as his inheritance he has the right to demand that just as he is holy, so we too should be holy. Ephesians 1:12 ‘so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory’.

THURSDAY June 6^th

 

Ephesians 1:18 Paul continues to pray, ‘. . . having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints . . .’

 

In our previous devotion we saw that we need the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to enable us to come to a better knowledge of God, and then in our verse today, Pauls prayer continues in asking that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation will enlighten the eyes of our hearts so that we will understand or know in a greater measure the hope to which we have been called and a greater understanding as to what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

 

In other words, we need to grasp more fully the immensity of the hope that we have as believers and to grasp more fully the riches of his glorious inheritance, which is us who are the saints, the children of God.

 

Firstly, though we need to allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, I want to link this to what Paul says later in the same letter, Ephesians 5:18, ‘Be filled with the Spirit . . .’, I wonder how little the Spirit can do sometimes, in many areas of our lives, but more specifically in the context of this prayer that Paul has made, and which we can say as a prayer for ourselves, because we are too often occupied with filling our lives with so many other things that hold no real value, rather than to be ensuring that we seek to be filled and to keep being filled with the Holy Spirit so that we will know the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation.

 

Secondly for today, what is the hope to which we have been called? We need to know what it is, and the answer in a nutshell is that in Christ we have been called to that which is a sure and a certain hope.

 

In chapter 2 of this same letter Paul says this about we who are as Gentiles by natural birth, ‘that you were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, HAVING NO HOPE, and without God in the world’. That is a hopeless situation. But thankfully Paul continues with this, ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ’. This means that all the negatives of the previous verse have been undone and we can now say that because of the blood of Christ we are no longer separated from Christ, no longer alienated, no longer strangers to the covenants of promise, we HAVE HOPE, and not only have we been brought near to God, but we will also spend eternity with him. That is our sure and certain hope.  It is not something that we cross our fingers and hope for, it is guaranteed because of the one who was willing to have his hands and his feet nailed to a cruel cross.

 

The more we fully understand this hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, the more serious we will become concerning how we should be as the children of God as we live as strangers in this world, awaiting the day when we will arrive at our eternal destination. As our eyes become more enlightened, we should want only to live for our Saviour and coming King.