“¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,…¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:14, 17-19 (ESV)

Paul is providing an example for us. We are to get on our knees for others. We are to pray for them. We are to intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Being a Christian is not easy and it is our job as followers of Christ to lift up those that are experiencing that difficulty. Lifting up their needs.

I also see that Paul is letting them know that he is doing so. It is important to know that someone “has your back”. We go about things too often alone. We don’t want others to know our struggles. Whether it is pride, embarrassment, or a combination of the two, we should allow others to go on the journey with us.

We all need support. There may be minimal that can be done physically in support, but as Paul did, we can let them know that we are there as support. We are to care for and love our neighbors as ourselves and that certainly includes letting them know that we are here.

When you pray for others, are you letting them know? Are you supporting them privately on your own, or are you telling them of the support you are able to provide? Will you go forward and pray and also let them know that you are there?

We are in the catbird seat with God’s Word. We have history on our side and with that history comes knowledge. We are able to read and study the word of God and apply it to our lives.

“¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” – Ephesians 1:16-19 (ESV)

Paul is telling the Ephesians of the wonder of God. He is interceding for them with his prayers. He is asking God to provide for them. I think that Paul’s words here are for me as well.

Paul is reminding me of God and what he has for me. We have the chance to learn from Paul just as the Ephesians. I am in a position of needing the reminders of the hope and greatness that God has for each of us.

We have to commit this to memory and store it away in our hearts. God is hope and that hope and his greatness are for us to draw on when we are in need. “Immeasurable” is the word I have to remember. There is no way to contain all that God is for us. I should lean on him in all things, knowing that He is and has thought of all things.

Are we absorbing all of God’s hope and greatness? Will we call on that hope and greatness and lean on God when in need? Do we really know God, His Hope, and His Greatness?

The law does nothing to make us good. Just knowing the law is not going to do anything for you.

“¹⁶yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” – Galatians 2:16 (ESV)

As I read this verse and the commentary, I was reminded that just knowing the law does not bring us closer to God. It is our faith that does. We are not justified by the law, it is by our faith.

My NIV commentary for verse 16 says: “The law: (1) guards us from sin by giving us standards for behavior; (2) convicts us of sin, leaving us the opportunity to ask for God’s forgiveness; (3) drives us to trust in the sufficiency of Christ, because we can never keep the Ten Commandments perfectly.”

Notice that the commentary does not indicate that knowledge of the law does anything for us. It does show how the law provides a framework for our behaviors.

We are justified by our faith in Jesus Christ and not simply by our knowledge of the law. I like to say that the rules/laws are there to keep the honest people honest. The laws of the Old Testament are in place to give us guidance, and we should know them. The real test is in keeping them, not for the purpose of justification, but as a guide to more Christ like actions.

When you look at the law, do you believe that you are great, simply because you follow it? Are you taking away changes in behavior to drive you? Do you know the law, are you trying to use it for your justification?

Imagine you have a place you would like to visit. You learn all you can through books and magazines and online about this place and it only continues to drive your desire to visit. You finally get the chance and when you arrive you soon forget what you learned and dive into the excitement and understanding of the “real” place.

“¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)

Paul is describing out meeting with God. We have knowledge of Him and what it will be like, but when we get there, we will forget all of that and see from the perspective of God more clearly. This new vision provides the clarity of all that went on here on earth and we will understand the reasons for the path we took.

We have the knowledge provided by God in His Word. We are to study up and look to walk the path God has for us. But, we cannot think for one second that we know it all. There are things that we are not made aware of just yet. There are things we cannot see. When we see God face to face, clarity will abound. We are to keep fighting the good fight and obeying the Word of God to get us closer each day.

Have we taken the time to think about the clarity we will have? Are we seeking to understand rather than just get by? What wonders will be clear when we know from God’s perspective?

You live in a home, your own a vehicle, you borrow books from the library, and you use a car service for transportation. Each of these are instances of things not being yours to do with what you please, because if treated poorly, there is a cost (specifically financially) to your actions. The way we treat our bodies is not any different.

“¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,” – 1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV)

I will admit, I did not think of my body this way. I know, as Christians do, that my body is a temple for God and the Holy Spirit, but I did not put the consequences fully together. Study this morning brought me to a different understanding.

Commentary from my NIV Bible: “If you line in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building’s rules. Because your body belongs to God, you must not violate his standards for living.”

And from my ESV Bible: “As with other gifts from God, Christians are to exercise responsible stewardship over their bodies.”

As children of God, we are to be good stewards of what God has afforded us. Our bodies are no different.

“²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV)

As parents, if our boys want something, we often require them to pay for all or some of the item. This practice is to be sure they take ownership and will care for the item as opposed to treating it poorly. We also teach them that when they are interacting with someone else’s things they should care for it better than their own.

Our body is no different. We were purchased by Christ’s death on the cross and that purchase was for all of us, including our bodies. We are obligated to treat our bodies better than the things we purchase for ourselves for they belong to God.

How are you treating your body? Are you treating it as though you are a renter while here on earth? Do you really know; what is the meaning of your body belonging to God?

I wonder if this is what I am doing with my writings each day.

“¹And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (ESV)

Paul was very well educated and had every opportunity to use that education to sound off in extremely eloquent and authoritative ways (you see what I did there). Instead, he spoke the truth in ways that everyone would understand. He spoke to the topic at hand, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the impact of that topic on us. He spoke in words and ways that those listening would understand.

I have sat in many a meeting where the speaker begins using terminology and rhetoric to demonstrate their knowledge and education to somehow sound smarter than the rest of us. Paul gives us the lesson that this is not needed. We don’t need to complicate things.

We are charged with taking the gospel to the people and in doing so, doesn’t it make sense to speak to them in the language they understand? It is important for us to study God’s Word so that we speak with knowledge and understanding ourselves, but when taking that knowledge we take it to those that understand. I remember helping to coach up a young man playing basketball. It was his first year moving to the sport and was having some trouble understanding the specific concept. I knew that he was an accomplished football player for the past few years and so I used football concepts to explain the basketball movements to which he quickly understood and was able to apply. I had to keep it simple and speak in a language he understood.

Paul lets us know that we do not and should not make it more complicated than it has to be. We should take to gospel to the people where they are in their environment and in their language. We have to know the gospel well enough to adjust our delivery to fit the audience we are addressing. No need to water down the message by attempting to puff it, or ourselves up.

When you speak about the gospel, do you have trouble getting it out? Do you have a plan to spread to those you are with? Are you able to speak their language? Do you know God’s Word well enough to keep it simple?

Have you ever been in the position of knowing something that others may not be aware?

“²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (ESV)

Paul is making it known that we know. We are in a position to be the reporters. Our position of knowledge of God and all of his glory, wisdom, and power places us in the important seat of declaration.

In the corporate world, and everywhere for that matter, I have seen people hoard knowledge to gain power and be seen as something greater than those around them. But real knowledge is meant to be shared and knowledge of Christ is the greatest knowledge we can have.

Are we ready to be the reporters God has set us to be? How can we be sure to tell of the knowledge we have? Now that we are aware of our knowledge, will we be willing to tell?

I think about a child, a penny, and a light socket. Kids will be kids, and as soon as you tell them “don’t put a key in the light socket”, what do they do? We are not much different there when it come to our sin.

“⁷What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’.” – Romans 7:7 (ESV)

As soon as something is pointed out to us, we have a natural curiosity as human to check it out.

“¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” – Romans 7:14 (ESV)

Sin abounds in us constantly and when we know about it, the struggle is more difficult as we are being drawn to it based on our knowledge of it.

“¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” – Romans 7:18 (ESV)

But, we have a deliverer from the sin in our lives. We may not be able to avoid the sin unconsciously, but we have a savior that knows this and wipes it away from us.

“²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” – Romans 7:25 (ESV)

Are you serving the law of God with your mind? Are you aware that you are still a sinner even though you have been delivered from your sin? What are your thoughts around knowing makes things more difficult?

My family and I are binge watchers of programs. Hawaii 5-0 is one of them and there is a character, Adam, who has been transformed over the seasons from a member of Japanese mob family to a contributing member of the 5-0 team. His movement from the family happened based on an instant decision, but the transformation took time. With the passage I read this morning this analogy came to mind.

“⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” – Romans 6:6 (ESV)

Once we have accepted Christ as our personal savior, we are afforded to no longer be slaves to sin. We are still sinners, however that sin does not rule our lives. We have a newness with our relationship with Christ and therefore are under his grace.

“¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” – Romans 6:14 (ESV)

The Hawaii 5-0 character was no longer ruled by his old life in the mob family. The consequences to being part of the mob family were still there, however he had a newness to live to once he decided to turn away. He is under a new rule, one of rightness to all.

We are in a unique position in that once we have accepted Christ as our personal savior, we are no longer bound to sin. We have a new life and our old self is dead in God’s eyes. We are still going to sin, however our daily routine should be now to glorify God and therefor the sin is not ruling our lives. Will sin, yes all day, every day. The difference is that we are not actively taking opportunities to sin, we are actively looking for opportunities to live out our new relationship with Christ.

Have you taken the opportunity become a new person in Christ? Are you under the rule of sin or the rule of grace? Do you know that your old self has died?

Have you ever just known something with every fiber of your being? And that knowledge drove something deeper in you?

“³⁷No when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” – Acts 2:37 (ESV)

These had been listening to Peter and the passion he brought as he spoke of Jesus. They were intent with their learning that day and with the words of Peter, they were moved to take action with the same passion. They were in a position of wanting more based on the certainty of what they heard.

What did they hear?

“³⁴For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, ³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ³⁶Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” – Acts 2:36 (ESV)

They were reminded of just who Jesus was. Who it was that they had just killed. They were driven to an understanding of the actions they took.

After the understanding of what they did, they wanted to know “what next”? This question brought about action on the passion that was welling up inside of them, because they were now certain of who Jesus was.

Are you that certain of who Jesus is? Is the passion welling up inside of you? What actions are you ready to take to display that passion?