| “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” |
| —Ephesians 3:16-19 |
In any building project, there are four qualities that determine the ultimate integrity of that project and make the project “true”:
- Dimensions
- Square
- Level, and
- Plumb
Thus, the likelihood of your project being “true” is nearly assured:
- If you measure the components of the project carefully to make certain they have the proper dimensions,
- If you erect the components of the project so that they have perfectly square corners of 90 degrees,
- If you make certain you maintain level—that is, square or 90 degrees off the horizontal—and
- If you make certain you maintain plumb—that is square, or 90 degrees off the vertical
So it is with our relationship with God. We need to understand how uprightly we stand in response to His calling for us. We need to understand the dimensions of His enormous love and His enormous caring for us. And, we need to be able to receive the strength He will give us through the in-dwelling Holy Spirit to perform that to which He has called us.
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to encourage the Christians gathered in the church at Ephesus, as recorded in Ephesians 3:16-19:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
The prayers of the Apostle surely helped the Ephesian Christians grow into a proper Christian Spiritual Formation, so that they could serve as well-prepared ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need this same kind of encouragement in our own spiritual lives.
As we begin yet another day, may we commit to pray for each other this very prayer of the Apostle. May we ask God to give our dearly loved brothers and sisters in Christ the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we may apprehend the depth, length, and breadth of the love of God for us through His Son. May our roots go deep into the soil of His precious written Word. May we live our lives in obedience to His will and to His written Word. And, may we experience the great joy that comes from knowing we are fulfilling the calling to which He has called us. That, dear ones, will be wonderful, indeed.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2018
