The Power at Work Within Us

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.”  -Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV.  Read Ephesians 3:14-21).

Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus that they might be “strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 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” (Ephesians 16-19).  Many of you have read “From My Daily Devotional Journal” for a year now.  As we close out 2012, I borrow Paul’s thoughts and pray this same prayer for each of you that Paul prayed for his fellow believers in Ephesus long ago.  It is the Spirit of the living God who applies to each individual believer the presence and power of the living God.  May you experience an indwelling of the Spirit that you may discern what is right and good and have the spiritual strength to follow God in all aspects of life.  The Spirit also allows Christ to dwell in your hearts through faith.  It was the Spirit who first prompted you to be convicted of sins and to come to the Savior for forgiveness and salvation.  Now may that same Holy Spirit lead you to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  And may your love grow, the “agape” self-giving kind of love that counts not the cost to self but desires what is best for those loved.  It is only through knowing the love of Christ that we can love others.  We love God because He first loved us.  And with His love operating in our lives, we will be on the receiving end of “the fullness of God.”

In the prayer continued in verses 20 and 21, it seems that Paul warmed even more to the content of his prayer.  He breaks into a doxology of praise.  He thought of how magnanimous was almighty God in answering prayer and extending His love to us:  to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think!” (v. 20).  We can’t begin to comprehend the extent of God’s power and work through Jesus Christ.  But we are recipients of that power (dunamis).  It is like resurrection power:  the power that raised Christ from the dead.  And the same dunamis—living, active power, can raise us from the deadness and lethargy of our ineffective lives and make us active and productive in the Lord’s kingdom.  The power works within us—in the inner person to motivate, to activate, to help us participate in what God is doing in the world and through His church.  “Without me, you can do nothing,” Jesus taught His disciples in John 15:5.  We must remember that this power, transferred to each willing believer, is not a luxury; it is a necessity for our work in the kingdom.  And then came the affirmation of promise in Paul’s prayer:  what we do for Christ in this world will “be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! (Ephesians 3:21). With all this in mind, what can prevent us from praying Paul’s prayer written to the Ephesians and anticipating God’s answering the prayer now…with results that will last through eternity?

Prayer:  Lord we pray for an outpouring of the Spirit to motivate and activate us in the work of the Lord.  We look forward with great anticipation to what You will do in and through us in the coming year.  May we daily be “strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit, …rooted and grounded in love…and filled with all the fullness of God.”  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Christ Triumphant, Ascended, Gives Gifts to Mankind

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore He says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’ (In saying ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?  He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”  And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way unto Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” –Ephesians 4:4-16 (ESV).

Throughout December these devotionals have looked at some of the prophecies concerning the Messiah.  At Christmastime we celebrated anew the account of His birth and those who first encountered the newborn King.  In other devotionals throughout the year, we have looked on occasion at Christ’s work and mission.  A lifetime of study could be expended on Christ, His teachings, work, and mission and we would barely plumb the depths and richness of His perfect life.  To finish out this year’s devotionals we will consider the triumphant Christ.  Having finished the work He came to earth to do we know He then ascended to the Father.  But He left us work to do.  We recall when He was age twelve, Jesus made a trip to the Temple in Jerusalem.  His parents, not finding Him among the travelers returning to Nazareth, went to seek Him  They found him in the Temple, talking with the religious leaders.  Mary questioned Him about why He had not been with them on the way home and He responded:  “Know you not that I must be about my Father’s business?’(Luke 2:49).  And with the work finished He had come to earth to do, He ascended triumphantly to Heaven to His Father’s House where He is at the right hand of God interceding, awaiting our coming, and awaiting the Father’s appointed time when He will return the second time to earth to set up His kingdom (see John 14:3, Acts 1:11, Titus 2:13).  And He assigned us, His followers, to “be about His Father’s business,” to work at winning others to Christ.

We were given gifts to do the work of Christ until His return.  We are to work in and through the body, the church, which proclaims one Lord, one faith, one hope, one baptism, one Lord and Father.  The gifts Christ bestows are to allow those who work in His kingdom to be (as indicated in Ephesians 4:11):  prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers.  We are to conduct ourselves maturely and grow “in the fullness of Christ.”  We are to “speak the truth in love.” This sort of Spirit-led life causes the body of Christ (the church, believers banded together in the work of the Lord) to grow and be built up in love. What an assignment He left for us to accomplish!  How are we measuring up to His expectations of the work and mission He left us to do?  How are we exercising the gifts He provided us to be used in His service?  As we face a new year, these questions should be paramount as we resolve to follow Christ more faithfully and serve Him more lovingly.

Prayer:  Lord, Help us to examine our relationship with You and measure it by the guidelines for Christian living and service as taught us in Your Word.  Help us to correct areas of weakness and to rededicate ourselves to the work You have called us to do.  May we do all as unto the Lord.  Amen.

Plea to Pray for America – Claiming God’s Promises from Psalm 85

Note:  This is an “extra” devotional for today, a plea for Christians to take seriously the condition of America and to invoke God’s help for our nation, its leaders, its citizens.  It is an appeal  especially to those who are Christians and who believe that indeed God can intervene in circumstances and situations. 

With the “Fiscal Cliff” hanging over America—worse than the darkest clouds you can imagine—the situation calls for Christians to earnestly pray.  We may already have “gone over a cliff” and are in such a downfall we can’t recover.  But being the optimist and believer I am, I think God gives us opportunities to rethink positions, to make reversals, and to have opportunities to show that we are genuinely concerned.  Consider this scripture, and please make it a part of your sincere prayer and meditation for our country:

  

“Restore us, O God of our salvation,

And cause Thine indignation toward us to cease.

Wilt Thou be angry with us forever?

Wilt Thou prolong Thine anger to all generations?

Wilt Thou not Thyself revive us again,

That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?

Show us Thy loving kindness, O Lord,

And grant us Thy salvation.

I will hear what the Lord will say;

For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;

But let them not turn back to folly.

Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,

That glory may dwell in our land.

Loving kindness and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other;

Truth springs from the earth;

And righteousness looks down from heaven.

Indeed, the Lord will give what is good;

And our land will yield its produce.

Rightousness will go before Him,

And will make His footsteps into a way.”  -Psalm 85:4-13 (NASV).

Please read all of Psalm 85.  It is a prayer for God’s mercy upon the nation of Israel.  How very aptly it applies to America in 2012 and 2013 (or any time, for our nation always needs prayer.)

Prayer:  Lord, hear the earnest prayers of a remnant of Thy people!  Hear and answer in mercy.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Exile to Egypt

“Now when they (the wise men) had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child and destroy Him.’  And he rose and took the child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.  This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’’’-Matthew 2:13-15 (ESV.  Read  2:13-18).

With what unrest Mary and Joseph spent the days at the time of the infancy of Jesus’ life!  First came the call for registration for the taxes and the arduous journey to Bethlehem from Nazareth, some 80 miles, at a time when Mary was so near to giving birth.  Then they were lodged in a stable, the only housing available for them in Bethlehem so that the Son of God was born in a lowly place.  Other than their encounter at the Temple with Anna and Simeon who recognized the Baby as the Messiah, and the visit from the Magi, which Matthew records, we have no other scriptural accounts of their time in Bethlehem, or even how long they were there.  Since Herod’s decree to kill the children had an age designation (all male children two years and younger), “according to the time the star appeared,” Mary, Joseph and Jesus may have been in Bethlehem awhile.  The fact that they were “in a house” at the time of the Magi’s visit tells us some time had passed since shepherds visited them at the stable.  The time of the Wise Men’s first seeing the star and when they came to Bethlehem could well have taken two years.  But we are certainly assured, even if we don’t know how much time was involved, that God’s hand of protection was upon the holy family.  Again Joseph was warned by an angel in a dream that he should take Mary and Joseph and flee to Egypt to escape Herod’s jealous wrath and the decree to kill male babies.  We think how horrible was that decree.  But Herod seemed to have no feelings of compassion, for he had members of his own family murdered (his wife Marianne and three sons).  To order the deaths of infants of his constituents would be within the parameters of how he ruled.  Think of the sorrow it brought to parents affected by his decree!  God was providing a means of escape for the Baby Jesus, and his parents acted immediately on the warning Joseph received.

How far was the trip to Egypt?  We are told it was 200 miles to the country itself, and possibly as much as 350 miles if they went to either Cairo or Alexandria, major cities.  Traveling an average of twenty miles per day, it would have taken at least ten days from Bethlehem to whatever city the family went in Egypt. A shrine in Cairo claims to be the place where the holy family resided while in exile.  Alexandria was a refuge for Jews, having the largest concentration of Jews anyplace outside of Palestine.  For the long journey to Egypt, Mary and Joseph may have joined a caravan, which would have been the safest way for them to travel. Many scholars believe that the gold, frankincense and myrrh, expensive gifts from the Wise Men, may have been used to finance the trip and the holy family’s stay in Egypt.  Mary and Joseph stand as the first in a long line of persecuted Christians who had to flee to escape the death of Jesus.  When Herod died, an angel appeared again to Joseph to tell him to return to Israel.  But when Joseph heard that Archelaus, Herod’s son, was reigning over Judea, he took his family to Nazareth in Galilee.  There, Jesus was subject to His parents until he was about thirty and began his public ministry.

Prayer.  Lord, being in human form made Jesus subject to all the problems and challenges of life.  His parents were not exempt from persecution and hardships.  When we are prone to complain, help us to remember that the Son of God also encountered great opposition and adverse conditions.  Amen.