Ephesians 1:15-23

Monday, September 30, 2013               Ephesians 1:15-23

This passage is one of the richest, most glorious passages of scripture ever written.  I hope and pray three blessings for you as you take the time to meditate on this passage. First, if there is even the slightest doubt in your mind about how God feels about you, carefully plumb the depths of verse 18: “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” In the previous passage Paul discussed your inheritance from God. Here Paul proclaims that you are God’s rich and glorious inheritance! Go ahead and get your tissue box, and then I’ll point you to the other two blessings I pray for you.

This passage points to the surpassing abundance of our new life in Christ. I am reminded of the story of Mr. Yates. In the 1930’s, during the Great Depression, Mr. Yates owned some land in Texas. However, because of the depression he was very poor – living in poverty and struggling just to feed his family. He was about to lose his land because he was unable to pay the taxes on it. Then an oil company approached him and said they believed there might be oil under his land. The oil company offered Mr. Yates a contract to allow them to drill for oil. He signed the contract and in a short time the company struck the biggest oil deposit discovered up until that time in North America. Overnight Mr. Yates became a billionaire. Or did he? The oil was there all the time; Mr. Yates just didn’t know it was there. Like Mr. Yates, many Christians just do not understand what God has done for them, and thus they live in spiritual poverty. Now take your plumb line, and explore the entire passage and allow God to open your mind to His grand and glorious hope in Christ for you, His rich and glorious inheritance.

The third blessing will be your prayers for yourself, your friends and family. Take the time to contemplate exactly what Paul is praying for his friends in Ephesus. Make a list of each prayer subject and then shape these petitions into your own personal prayer. I dare say you will be much closer to living the life in Christ, to living as God’s own rich and glorious inheritance, if you allow these petitions to shape your prayer life.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.