Thanksgiving for the King

 Canadian Billy had to cross the St. Lawrence River. In January. Ice should've been >30" thick. It looked frozen, but Billy grew up in GA. No one walks on ice. Ever! Trembling with fear, he gingerly put a hand on the ice & pressed. It held. So, he got on knees & elbows started inching out onto the ice. When he got to the middle, a noise startled him. Looking back, he saw a team of horses pulling a carriage toward the river. To his horror, they didn't stop at the edge! They charged out onto the ice & shot past him. He gaped, then turned crimson. If only he'd had faith the ice would hold! He didn't have the faith of the Ephesians. They knew Christ had saved them. They knew He could hold them up. In faith, they were charging straight ahead. In Greek, Eph 1:3-14 is one long sentence. Paul praises God for His plan of salvation by faith. In our verses, Paul turns to the Ephesians, who have that faith. Let's look at Eph 1:15-23. 15I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus & your love (ἀγάπη) for all the saints. Paul heard? Their faith must be notable. How so? He can see their faith by their love. Agape love. God's love. Their lives show the highest kind of love. The love in Jas 2:18, 26. 18bShow me your faith without works, & I'll show you my faith by what I do. 26bFaith without works is dead. The Ephesians have a living faith. How can our faith show more life! Show our faith by how well we love others. Love them with God's love. Agape. Love that gives up. Love that seeks others' highest good, no matter how they respond. No wonder Paul says ever since I heard, 16I haven't stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Why so thankful? Paul knows their love comes from God. And he knows God. He knows what God's doing through them. So, let's ask: what's God doing through us? Is our love for others God's love-our utmost for His highest? Who gives thanks because of our love & faith? Don't like our answer? What can we do? Paul shows us how to start. Want to love others with God's love? Pray. No matter how perfect our love is, God can take us higher. Pray for others 1st. Pray also for us. Pray with Paul: 17aI keep asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit of wisdom & revelation. Why? For one, to love like God loves, we'll need His wisdom. How can we gain it? In Him. In His Spirit. God's wisdom, ours, as we dwell in Him! That's the start. There's more. God is love. Want to love like God loves? Pray to 17b know Him better! Knowing God is eternal life! Deep knowing. Not just about God. Knowing Him as He lives in us. Walking with Him. In His Spirit. And revelation? In Him, God will speak to us. The Holy Spirit IS the Spirit of revelation and the Spirit of wisdom. If He's in us, we're in Him. In us, He reveals His will. In Him, we will produce His fruit. In Him, our love will be transformed to be like His. After praying to know Him, & for faith & love... After praying for His Spirit of Wisdom & Revelation, what next? Keep on praying. Pray for others & for us. 18aPray that the eyes of each heart may be enlightened. How so? Like Elijah prayed for his servant in 2 Kgs 6:15-17. Pray for God to open our eyes so we may see that those with us are far more than those against us! No matter the odds against us in our battle to show God's love, God is our help & our strength. So, what prevents us from showing God's love? Whatever it is, His Spirit of Wisdom can open our eyes & guide us! Pray the Lord to open our eyes to those who are with us to accomplish His will! Pray that He'll open the our eyes of our hearts to see our greatest treasure. What is it? Pray 18bIn order that you may know the hope to which He's called you. Pray that we may clearly see that hope. Hope of eternal life. With Jesus, & with all our loved ones. No more pain. No more suffering. No more evil. Creation perfected. (No more global warming.) Forever! Believe it or not, this hope is ours! Now. Pray that we see it. That we know it. Experience it! Pray, too, that we may know 18cthe riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. Hmm... whose inheritance are we talking about? Ours? Knowing His riches in us? Or is it the incredible knowledge that to God we're His inheritance!?! Aren't both true? Let's pray to know both! Pray to know how very much God loves us-each of us. Pray to know He's planned for us to be with Him eternally-an eternal inheritance. After our earthly death, He inherits us. We're His riches! And pray to know the riches of God's Spirit in us. Eternal life in us. Eternal health in us, even as our bodies wear out. The eternal fruit of His Spirit (LJPPKGFGS-C) in us. Fruit He'll produce through us. Pray to know all these riches. 18cAnd, pray that you may know 19aHis incomparably great power (δύναμις) for us who believe. Resurrection power. Power to heal. Dynamite power to break down strongholds. To overcome powers & principalities. Power to change hearts & lives. Power to raise from the dead-whether figuratively or literally. That power. Pray to know that in our lives. It's all part of the Christianity package. Sadly, we don't all know that power! What's it like? 19bGod's power is like the working of His mighty strength. When do we see it in Scripture? 20The Father exerted that mighty strength in Christ when he raised Him from the dead & seated him at His right hand in the heavenly realms. Power over death. Resurrection power. Strength to raise someone to the seat of power in the heavenly realms. Ascension power. Jesus is now 21far above all rule & authority, all power & dominion, & every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Above everyone in the now & in eternity! Dominion power. That power. In His Spirit, it's all available to us! If that weren't enough, 22God placed all things under Jesus' feet & appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. All things under His feet. Over everything. Head over everything. That's high indeed. But did you notice? God appointed Jesus for the church! God gave Jesus to the church! Yes, we're His. Yes, He created us! And God gave Him to us! He's just as much ours as we are His! Why? The church is a body. His body. And, like a body, we need a head. Only Jesus is fit to be the head of the church. But God gave Him as head for the church. He directs all we do. Yet, when we hurt, he hurts. No ill befalls us but He feels it. No joy but He rejoices. We're His fullness. In some way we can't understand, He doesn't feel complete without us. Only the church is a fit vessel for Him. He fills us & fulfills us. In Him, we're complete. No wonder the Paul & the Ephesians are so thankful. So joyful! No wonder they want to share this good news with everyone. No wonder their love & faith are known! Jesus is ours. In Him, in His Spirit, we'll find wisdom. Revelation. In Him, our love will be transformed by His love. In Him, & He in us, we can know the God of the universe. Walk with Him. Talk with Him. And in Him is power to do all He calls us to do. He's our head & our King. Just before WW II in Itasca, Texas, a school fire took the lives of 263 children. Almost every family in town was touched by the tragedy. When the war ended, the town expanded & built a new school. But they were determined: never again would Itasca experience such tragedy. They put in "the finest sprinkler system in the world." Civic pride was high. Honor students guided tours of the new facility to show off the finest, most advanced sprinkler system technology could supply & money could buy. Time passed, & the town kept growing. 7 years later they again had to expand. But while adding a new wing they discovered that their finest sprinkler system in the world had never been connected to water. Incredible! But isn't this a parable of so many Christian lives. Untold power is available for every believer in Christ. But so many never hook up. The result? Their lives-impotent & shamefully useless. As we head into Thanksgiving, let's remember our King. And let's be thankful for all He's given. But also, let's be thankful for our King. He is our all in all. He fills & fulfills us. Untold power is freely available in Him. Let's start with thankfulness. But let's do more. His Spirit is already in us. Today, let's don't miss out any longer. Let's hook up to the Spirit's power. He's already in us. His power is already in us. Let Him transform our love with & in His love. His power is available to us. From this day forward, let our lives be powerful & useful for Him. Ephesians 1:15-23 - Thanksgiving for the King Page 1 of 1