Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 3:17-19

ESV

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of  Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

*ETS:

I pray that you will prove to be rooted in Christ by your love. I also pray you all may be strengthened in the Spirit to plunge the depths, soar the heights, and explore the infinite glorious realities in Christ - which is the experience of being filled with the fullness of God. 

*DTFTD:

Paul's suffering for the faith of the Gentiles was coupled with an unceasing prayer for their maturity in Christ. The church must carefully chart the emphasis of the epistles in the New Testament. The letters to the churches provide the key ministry emphasis for all generations. Mark carefully the content of the letters and you will discover a consistent emphasis: Missions and Evangelism  - Preaching the Gospel to the lost; Doctrine - Teaching the saved; Discipleship - Modeling the faith ; Vision / Looking at the world and the future with the mind of Christ; Faith -Believing the truth and practicing it in daily life; Correction - Finding error and making adjustment; and Prayer -Communion with the Father through faith. An ongoing dialogue with God about things as they should be, (i.e., according to His will).  The church, (you), must take this model and begin to make it a part of your daily experience. Paul was praying for the saints at Ephesus to go all the way with God. His prayer was a cry for all the saints to join the apostles in knowing what it was like to live in the fullness of God. It is time for the Christian to read the Bible with the intent of making personal application. Do you know the power of the Spirit's leading into the heights and depths of realities in Christ? The thing about prayers is they do not die. Claim God's blessing in Paul's inspired prayer today. Ask God to make real to you all that Paul had in mind as the Spirit inspired him to pen a promise of living in the fullness of God. 

*EDS:

"I'm pressing on the up-ward way, New heights I'm gaining every day; Still praying as I onward bound, 'Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.' Lord lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's table-land , A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."

Hymn - "Higher Ground"  - Charles H. Gabriel 1856-1932.

INGREDIENTS:  Going all the way with God. Word Study: The word "rooted" means "firmly fixed." God wants our lives to be consistent and our practices in faith to be evident. People who see us every day should notice a consistent walk that proves our faith is fixed - firmly fixed! 

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 3:13-16

ESV

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. 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.

*ETS:

Knowing that I am on a Divine assignment, and knowing that its primary emphasis is telling Gentiles the Gospel of Christ, I would ask you not to worry about any suffering I encounter because of my affiliation with you (i.e., Gentiles). Actually, when I pray, I do not pray to be exempt from trouble, rather I pray that all of God's children would come to know the strength and power of His Spirit within. 

*DTFTD:

In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul began to write concerning the content of his prayers for the saints at Ephesus (v17). As he wrote the Spirit inspired a pause, a parenthetical notation, an interjection of major proportion. The Spirit wanted every reader to know exactly who was being prayed for and why. The persons in the focus of Paul's prayer were Gentiles who experienced the resurrection power of God in converting the heart and making a new person in Christ. These new creatures knew the meaning of God's grace and faith in Christ. The saints in the focus of Paul's prayer were individuals instructed in the purposes of God, people who knew the Gospel's powerful elimination of the partition walls of legalism and racism.  Inspired by the Spirit, Paul amplified the position of the saints in Christ Jesus, and exalted the privilege of his call to proclaim the message of their blessings in God's grace. Having established the identity of the persons in focus, Paul returns to the subject of his prayer. 

First note, Paul did not pray for himself. Paul did not begin his letter to the Ephesians by saying, "I am in trouble! Help! Pray for me that I might be released from suffering!" We might imagine such a response to suffering today, but in the days of the apostles, when actions modeled faith for all generations, the content of recorded prayers focused on the strength to show the faith and glorify Christ.  Second, note Paul's last line before returning to his prayer, Paul said,  "Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory" (Ephesians 3:13). -Williams Trans.  Paul wanted the saints to know the glory in suffering.  Suffering may be personal, (i.e., you suffer for the glory of God).  At other times the suffering may be substitutional (i.e., another suffers for the glory of God on behalf of your faith). Paul was suffering because of the faith of the Gentiles. Jewish leaders were persecuting him for preaching the elimination of the wall of distinction between Jew and Gentile. Paul gladly suffered for the faith of the Gentiles, and he expected them to be settled about the situation.  Third, Paul prayed for the saints to be energized by the inner presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul knew the saints were not going to be exempt from suffering, and he also knew the life of Christ would only be seen through the working of the Spirit of God.  Therefore,  Paul did not establish a "deliverance from suffering" emphasis in his prayer, rather he emphasized an inner strength to face all difficulty with the courage of a conqueror. 

What lessons may we learn from the text? 1. We must expect suffering as we talk to our world about Christ; 2. We must come to be mission minded - willing to suffer to get the Gospel out to the ends of the earth; and 3. We must be filled with the Spirit if we are to be equipped for the task of living and sharing our faith. 

*EDS:

"Faith of our fathers! living still, In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword, O how our hearts beat high with joy Whenever we hear that glorious word! Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death." 

Hymn. Henri F. Hemy, 1818-1888. 

INGREDIENTS:  The prayer of a sufferer filled with joy.Word Study: "I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are for your glory." (Eph. 3:13 _NIV). The word translated "discouraged" may be best understood as the ESV has it "lose heart." It may denote cowardice. Paul does not want the saints at Ephesus to back down nor back away from the expression of their joy in Christ, (thinking such would add to his affliction). "NO!" Paul would cry, "Bring it on! If I am suffering for the expression of your faith my joy will be far greater than any pain I may encounter!" 

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 3:11-12

This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith. 

*ETS:

This, (the preaching of the grace of God in salvation; the drawing Jew and Gentile into a union with God through the work of Christ; and the proclamation of the riches of Christ to the heathen), was the eternal purpose of God which is executed in the gift of God through Christ. The result? Believers in Christ can boldly come to God by faith. 

*DTFTD:

As residents of planet earth, we are accustomed to temporary existence. We live in a world where things expire. Our foods have a shelf life, our purchases have limited warranties, and the words, "lifetime guarantee" may be translated, "until you lose your proof of purchase receipt." We are forced to think of a date of beginning and a date of expiration. Even our bodies have a beginning and an end. Enter the words "eternal purpose." What do such words mean to a temporal world. The words are "other world" terms, "outside our world" concepts.  The word "eternal" in our text, (Gk. "aion"),  brings into view a purpose God initiated that will have no end (eternity future).  However,  in II Corinthians 4:18 Paul used the word eternal to suggest a privileged focus on things without beginning and without end?  It is hard for us to imagine, yet Paul declares that God has an eternal purpose in mind - a purpose that includes our lives (which we think of as temporal). Paul's use of the word "eternal" requires the reader to make a II Corinthians 4:18 adjustment:

"because I do not keep my eyes on things that are seen but things that are unseen. For things that are seen are temporary, but things that are unseen are eternal." (Williams translation). 

 If you are focused on the things which are seen with the physical eye, you will only see the temporal, but if you are focused on things not seen, you can begin to think with a mind that brings the eternal into view. What should we see in the eternal, what should come into view? As we exercise our privilege to consider the reality of the eternal purpose of God, we will see ourselves wrapped up in a union with Christ, who had no beginning and will have no end. In this eternal state of blessing we are invited to come before God, not as aliens with temporary passes, but as children with bold access. We are not viewed as unacceptable invaders without rights, we are children who are to feel at home before the Father. We do not have eternal passes, we have an eternal position! Our eternal identity is in Christ. Praise God and the Lamb forever! Because of Christ, the believer has eternal position and bold access before the throne of God. Make the II Corinthian 4:18 adjustment to your thinking today and enjoy the blessings of God's grace gifts through Christ. 

*EDS:

"His banner over us is love, Our sword the Word of God; We tread the road of the saints above With shouts of triumph trod; By faith they, like a whirl-wind's breath, Swept over every field; The faith by which they conquered death Is still our shinning shield. Faith is the victory, Oh glorious victory that overcomes the world" 

Hymn "Faith Is the Victory"  Ira Sankey, 1840-1908. 

INGREDIENTS:  The joy of being in God's eternal purpose. Word Study: "He planned it through the ages and then did it in Christ Jesus, our Lord. In Him, by believing in Him, we have confidence and can boldly come to God." _ Beck Translation. 

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.

Spiritual Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 1 truth
Servings Per Verse: Unknown

Text: Ephesians 3:8-10

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 

*ETS:

Talk about grace, God has allowed me, Paul, the least of the apostles and saints, the privilege of sharing the unsearchable riches of Christ with Gentiles. He has also granted me the honor of announcing things that have been hidden from the ages -awesome things concerning Christ and the church - things that will reveal God's wisdom to all spiritual beings in the entire spiritual realm. 

*DTFTD:

How does God announce his revelations to the world? He chose to announce the birth of Christ through shepherds who were watching their flocks by night Luke 2:8-15). He chose to announce his thoughts on the value of our contributions by focusing on a woman with two mites (the smallest of coins in Palestine, worth about one-eighth of a cent. Luke 21:1-4). He chose to express his compassion by raising a young man from a coffin (Luke 7:1). He chose to manifest his power over demons by responding to a Syro-Phoenician woman who referred to herself as a little dog (a pet of the house. Mark 7:24-30). He exposed his attitude toward Sabbath restrictions and regulations by touching a woman bent over in body, (i.e., unable to stand erect -Luke 13:10-17).  He chose to amplify his dissatisfaction with the carelessness of the teachers of the law by healing a man with dropsy (a condition of fluid retention caused by liver or kidney disease - Luke 14:1-6). Who are all these people? What were their names?  What did they do with their lives after their encounter with Christ? We do not know, but we do know that Paul considered himself the least in the ranks of all who were used to make announcements of God's truth. He thought himself the least of all saints, yet God chose Paul to announce the most glorious news of all - the world impacting power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The secret that had been hidden from the ages was Jesus Christ and his power in the church. The secret is out, and God wants to add you to list of vessels used to announce the glory of God! 

*EDS:

A SHORT LIST OF THOSE USED TO ANNOUNCE GOD'S REVELATION: Shepherds watching their flocks by night; a woman with two mites; a young man from a coffin; a Syro-Phoenician woman; a woman bent over in body; a man with dropsy; Paul; and now...YOU.

INGREDIENTS:  God's choice of servants used to reveal His secrets .Word Study: "yes, on me, the very least of all His people this unmerited favor was bestowed - that I might preach as good news to the heathen the boundless riches of Christ, and to make clear how is to be carried out the trusteeship of this secret which has for ages been hidden away in God, the Creator of all things, so that the many phases of God's wisdom may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven." -  Williams Translation.

*ESV- English Standard Version; ETS- Essence of the Text in a Sentence; DTFTD- Devotional Thought For The Day; EDS- Essence of the Devotional in a Sentence.