Twin City church of Christ Blog
“Oct 17, 2024 - What God Can Do”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsWhat God Can Do
Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
Paul is so stirred up by his vision for God’s grand plan to unite mankind in Christ that he has interrupted himself (Eph 3:1, 14) and now describes how this motivates his prayers for them. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being”(Eph 3:14-16). If God wants Gentiles included, then Paul wants them to be strong! They will need strength to endure despite opposition, but they will also need “strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ”(Eph 3:18). There are some thoughts that are so grand, powerful, and staggering that we need strength just to process them. The grandeur of God and the dimensions of his love max out our capabilities; Paul prays for strength.
To all this “inner being” focus, Paul adds more requests. “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you being rooted and grounded in love”(Eph 3:17). Paul wants Jesus alive in their hearts so that their lives are shot through with this words and example. He wants heart change rather than behavior modification. He also prays that they “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”(Eph 3:19). How can we know something that surpasses knowledge? This tickles the brain. Paul is confident that there is more to the love of Christ than we can grasp. True growth is not found in moving past Christ’s love, but growing deeper into it. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen”(Eph 3:20-21). God can do all this and more.
This prayer leaves me breathless. God can transform us from the inside out. He can do all that we ask. He can do all that we think. He can do more than we ask or think. He can do more abundantly than all that we ask or think. But this is not enough: he is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” This is the God at work in us. God can do all this and more.
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One Thing to Think About: How often do I contemplate the “breadth and length and height and depth” of Christ’s love?
One Thing to Pray For: The strength I need to serve Jesus and comprehend his love
