Ephesians 1.15-23

15 "Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 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.

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself."

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What a testament Paul's giving to the Ephesians! It's easy to see that Paul greatly values his Christian brothers and sisters in Ephesus from reading what he writes here. I'm encouraged by verse 17, where Paul says he's asking God to give them spiritual wisdom so that they can continue to grow in the knowledge of God. Often times it's tempting to think that we've learned all we can, and then we encounter something that shows us that we don't know everything, and we enter into a stage of crisis. Maybe not crisis, but at least we get discouraged, thinking that we failed in some area. As much as I love learning and knowing things, there's somehow a refreshing truth from this. I don't know everything. I probably never will, and that's OK! The more I think about it, the more I should also be thankful that I don't know everything. I've noticed a trend within people, especially myself, that when I learn something, I can easily become conceited or arrogant. Notice in verse 18 that 'hope' pops up again? Remember talking about 'hope' this semester? Now go back, thinking of what we talked about, and read the importance and the magnitude of what Paul attributes to hope! Pretty sweet huh? =)

God's power is great. That's undeniable. But I want you to read between the lines here a little bit. Remember yesterday's passage and Paul's words about the Holy Spirit? I think this section is a continuation, if you will, of that too. I have some support for this opinion. Elsewhere, Paul talks about the Spirit when he says, "The same power that raised Christ from the grave, lives in you." And here, in verse 19-20 he echos this, and describes Him as 'incredible' and 'great.' Just take a few moments and think about that and see if anything pops into your mind. =)

I love the ending part of this section. Jesus is far greater than any authority here on earth or in the world to come. We have a magnificent savior. I can't help but think of Paul's words in Romans 8 here as well, 'If God is for us, who can be against us?!?!" 

So, any thoughts? =)

"Father thank You for loving us! I pray that you would give us wisdom and help us to appreciate Your Spirit more and more each day! Father forgive us when we allow our pride to take over. May we always seek Your will and align our lives to You in all things we do! God, we love You! Thank You for saving us through Your son Jesus!!! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen!"