Saturday, August 11, 2007

Ephesians 3 Today w/ Comments

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God Bless You Today, Lena B


Ephesians 3

God's Secret Plan Revealed
1I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus because of my preaching to you Gentiles. 2As you already know, God has given me this special ministry of announcing his favor to you Gentiles. 3As I briefly mentioned earlier in this letter, God himself revealed his secret plan to me. 4As you read what I have written, you will understand what I know about this plan regarding Christ. 5God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.
6And this is the secret plan: The Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children. Both groups have believed the Good News, and both are part of the same body and enjoy together the promise of blessings through Christ Jesus. 7By God's special favor and mighty power, I have been given the wonderful privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
8Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
10God's purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church. 11This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
12Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome. 13So please don't despair because of what they are doing to me here. It is for you that I am suffering, so you should feel honored and encouraged.
Paul's Prayer for Spiritual Empowering
14When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, F4 15the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. 17And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. 21May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.

FOOTNOTES:
F4: Some manuscripts read the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Lena's Journalin'

There is a revelation of principle here to bring out to our understanding. God gives us the principles in His word for us to get to know Him personally, that we’d get to understand the very character of God.
When one understands basic kingdom principles, they will also be able to see and learn many other things that stem off of those principles. Just as when one has learned the English alphabet and the sounds of that alphabet and the different combinations of those sounds, one can read words that were never ”taught” them. The principles for assembling the words were taught them and through learning and knowing the principles they were able to assemble new words on their own.
There is an identifiable principle of God outlined here. It is the principle of God having an original plan that is set to work through man. The plan was set up by the design and will of God. He set it up to be worked through specifically chosen men. If or when those men do not choose the plan, the plan does not change, the plan goes on and God offers its choice to others who may accept it at will. If others choose to accept it and adopt the plan as their own, becoming one with God in His plan, becoming a plan operator a participator and even a supervisor of the plan, they benefit from the blessings of obedience that come through fulfilling a plan of God and working with their Father and Creator.
There is no reason ever for the originally chosen to be angry, disappointed, or jealous of those who do (secondarily) choose the plan, being blessed, when they see that they may have lost their own blessing which was originally meant for them by God, but was being given to others who chose to fulfill and work it for and with God.
Those who choose His way prosper and have the success of sons, those who choose their own way live with the consequences of living one’s own way. Rather than be angry at the One who offered the plan, with the new understanding that its offers and blessings were given to others, it would behoove the originally chosen ones to swallow pride, bow the knee, repent to get back on that bandwagon. I assure you there’s still room and blessings for the obedient. The lesson learned is warmth to a Father’s heart.
Even now if the originally chosen by God Jewish people turn to the ways of Christ, they too will be blessed. The Bible tells us all that we are blessed in what we do. It’s never over till we exit the earth. Opportunity is knocking daily. God will always receive a repentant humbled son. Bottom line - God blesses obedient actions of faith!
He doesn’t ask us to do what He does not empower us to do. Through faith in the power He gives us, and has made available to us, we can do anything He asks of us. It is what we believe that we will do. If we don’t believe it (yet) we won’t do it. To say we believe it, without doing it, is deception, usually self deception.
One must act out what they say they believe for it to become solid and true and be blessed by God.
When Christians say they give their whole live to God, their words are very cheap if they keep their life to their own guides. If they give God some of their life, and go to church as an obligation, they’ve not yet seen or known Him as He is.
If I’ve truly seen Him, I know that My life is not mine, I was bought with a price.
If I know that, I live that way.
I glorify God with what I do with my body, what I lend my soul to, and how I spend the life of my spiritual growth. I care how I live and who I spend time with, and what comes into my thinking. I’m even a steward of the mysteries God revels to me through His word. They aren’t free just because I hear them or get a glimpse, and whenever I understand something from the word, I don’t get to just keep it without guarding it and growing in it by acting on what I’ve understood. Everything He gives me can easily be taken from me, either by an enemy talking me out of it, or something in my life giving me an alternate message, or my own life’s choices form other offers that come my way everyday. I just may choose another way or an easier idea. I’m a keeper, a guard of my own faith. If I value God Word in my life I choose to keep it.
There a song I love – I Have decided to Follow Jesus, no turning back, though no one else goes with me, still I will follow, no turning back, the world behind me, the cross (and the throne) before me, no turning back, no turning back.
The key, by revelation of the love of God I decide, commit my whole life to Him.
If He is the only God, and I have none before Him, I do this.