(S)

God’s Mysterious Plan Revealed

3 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles. . . ² assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. ³ As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. ⁴ As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. ⁵ God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.

⁶ And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. ⁷ By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.

⁸ Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. ⁹ I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

¹⁰ God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. ¹³ So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

(O)

We live in a world of crazy deadlines, commitments, and opinions. Sometimes, it feels like we’re barely keeping our heads above water. Maybe God used this time of a worldwide pandemic to cause us to slow down a bit.

As we read Paul’s prayer in vs. 14-21, it is a reminder of how much more God wants for our lives than our short-sighted vision shows us.

The only way to experience the fullness of Jesus’ love is to let Him fully into our lives. God works through us not by pushing us around, but through His Holy Spirit’s guidance. The craziness of day to day life can drown out the whispers of the Holy Spirit showing us how loved and cherished we are by God. Paul prays we’re strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and we’re given the power to realize just how deep and wide God’s love is for us.

God’s love surpasses our knowledge and our circumstances (vs 19). Our vision and hopes and dreams are infinitely smaller than God’s picture and His plans for our lives. God will “accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (vs. 20). The best-case scenarios in our heads are nothing compared to what God promises to do.

(A)

We can pray the same prayer today — that every day we would invite Jesus further into our lives. When we do, we’ll start to see God do more than we ever could dream possible. Let’s not let the pace of our lives cause us to miss out on “immeasurably more.” Reflect today on these questions:

(P) Pause and Pray

• Is the pace of your life allowing you to reflect on the truths Paul highlights in this prayer? Why or why not? Does something need to change?
• What’s the best-case scenario in your current situation? Reflect on the truth that God wants infinitely more for you than even this.

Have an awesome day!