Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday, April 11th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Joshua 13-14; Psalm 73; John 5
Today's scripture focus is Ephesians 3:14-19


Ephesians 3:14-19

English Standard Version (ESV)

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 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, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.


Accompanying David Legge sermon:  A Prayer for the Church
Accompanying Mark Driscoll sermon:  I am Heard
Accompanying John MacArthur sermons: The Fullness of God Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

I appreciated MacArthur's point on this passage, and the fact that it's a progression building upon itself.

As we yield to the Holy Spirit, one day at a time, our inner man is strengthened and it becomes easier to say no to sin and yes to the Spirit.

As we yield to the Spirit, Christ settles down at home in our hearts, and He permeates every part of our lives as we submit to the complete lordship of Christ.

And when that happens, we are rooted and grounded in love.  Love is our root system, our foundation, and it becomes natural to love.

This is all building off of each other.  As we yield to the Spirit, Christ dwells within us, filling us with love that pours out on those around us.

The absence of love is sin.  When we fail to love it is because there is sin in our lives, and we are not walking in the Spirit.  Without love we are nothing.   And love is only possible when we are humble.

it can be expressed in every human relationship. If there's ever a family where brothers and sisters and moms and dads and kids ought to get along and have love it's a Christian family because we have a love that passes knowledge. That is unavailable to the world. You know, the world's love says-you're a nice object, I choose to love you, I'm attracted to you. God's love says -- I love by nature, you exist so you get it. The world's love says - I love you until I find something that looks better. God's love says--You look so perfect in Jesus Christ I love you forever. The world's love says -- I love you until you offend me. God's love says - I love you in spite of the fact that you never stop offending Me. And that's the kind of love we bring to a relationship. Any human relationship that the world doesn't know anything about. The world loves for what it can get and we love for what we can give.

How long, how deep, how high is this love?

It's breadth?  It can reach absolutely anybody.
How long?  It reaches from eternity past to eternity future.
How deep? It reaches to the pit of sin.
How high? It takes us into the very presence of God, seated with Christ on the throne.

This is the kind of love we are to build our life on. This is the kind of love we are to comprehend and seize at every moment. This is the kind of love we are to experience and know. The kind of love that reaches to parties that hate each other. The kind of love that runs from one part of our life to the end of our life. The kind of love that reaches to the person in the deepest pit. The kind of love that can lift up a person to the very presence of God. That's the kind of love we are to know.
And so Paul prays that we will have a deep, experiential knowledge of Christ's love. A comprehension of its infiniteness. An expression of that same infiniteness that can only happen because we are rooted and grounded in it. Because Christ is at home in us. Because we are strong in the inner man. Because the Spirit of God is at work there. This is living life at a full throttle
And what happens when we do this?  We are filled with the fulness of God!  It's unfathomable really. We are filled with the Spirit (v16), we are filled with Christ (v17) and we are filled with God (v19).

to be filled with God, the eternal God, the almighty God, the creator God, the sustainer God, the God of the universe, the God who made it all, the God who fills it all can fill me? Incredible.

And it all starts with yielding to the Spirit in the every day.  Oh, it is worth it!


Monday's scripture focus: Ephesians 3:20-21
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Joshua 15-16
Sunday's passage: Joshua 17-18
Monday's passage: Joshua 19-20, Psalm 74, John 6

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