“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT)
What’s Paul talking about here? He’s speaking about God’s Church, the Family of God. Allow me today to make some observations based on this powerful passage. First, when the impact of who we become in Christ finally grips us, we’ll literally never be the same. What does that mean?
Regardless of our background, whether we’re an only child, one of a dozen or more siblings, abandoned at birth or given up for adoption, you are created by a heavenly Father who loves you, wants you, and invites you to become a part of His eternal family. But how? By the miracle of spiritual rebirth. Okay, but how? By opening your heart to receive God’s love by asking for forgiveness of your sins and inviting the Holy Spirit (God) to live in and through you.
Why is that important? When you do that, several things automatically happen. First, as Paul says above, God’s “glorious, unlimited resources” are released into your life to “empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.” What does that mean? It means you no longer have to rely on your own resources to govern your life. It means you can entrust the decisions you make from day to day into the capable hands of a loving Father who knows you best and loves you most. It means you can face each day knowing you’re not alone.
It also means that because you’ve invited the Lord of Creation to live in you, you can trust Him. Why is that good news? Because Satan’s plan is to steal, kill, and destroy – steal your heart, kill your will to live a life of meaning and purpose, and to destroy your soul for all eternity. No thinking human being wants that, that’s why the alternative to trust God is so inviting.
Because when we become a follower of Jesus we’re born into a loving Family – the Family of God – the Lord doesn’t leave us to our own to find our own way. He gives us genuinely loving, caring, and supportive brothers and sisters to not only give us guidance, teach us, and walk with us, but to model for us what it means to be a child of God. And yes, I’m not naïve, Satan is able and very willing to disguise himself in “sheep’s clothing,” with the express intent to do harm to and dishearten a true child of God.
That’s why trusting in the Lord will lead to putting down deep roots into God’s love that will keep you strong. The Spirit within you will give you discernment so you can recognize a phony and stay away from them. He’ll give you the power to understand “how long, how high, and how deep His love is. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Shane Pruitt encourages us with his words: “When God saved you, He saved you into a family.” That’s the beauty, power, majesty, and privilege we have when we’re born of the Spirit into God’s family.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 