“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18,19).
TEXT — Ephesians 3:13-19
Message
During the Great Depression, a man named Mr. Yates owned a huge piece of land in Texas where he raised sheep. Financial problems had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. Then an oil company, believing there might be oil on his land, asked for permission to drill. With nothing to lose, supposedly, Mr. Yates agreed. Soon, at a shallow depth, the workmen struck the largest oil deposit found at that time on the North American continent. Overnight, Mr. Yates became a billionaire. The amazing thing, though, is that the untapped riches were there all along. He just didn’t know it!
Apostle Paul, in our passage for meditation today, not only shared the gospel with the Ephesians but also prayed that they might recognise and possess their spiritual privileges, that they would be strengthened within, established in love, powerful in prayer, and filled with God’s fullness. This prayer, though has the Ephesian believers as the immediate audience, is by extended analogy for the militant Church in all generations.
The prayer focuses on the elevation out of spiritual feebleness into celestial fullness. It begins with the request for an unflagging comprehension of the unfathomable and inexhaustible love of God. Grounded and settled in the knowledge and experience of this sanctifying love ushers us into the fullness of God and the likeness of Christ. Thus shall we have the fullest possible experience of Christian vitality. This is the high point of Christ’s High Priestly prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John’s gospel.
What a model prayer request set before all today! When you can daily prayerfully prepare your heart for a dwelling place for Christ by faith, seek a fresh infusion of strength by His spirit into your own inner man, and covet perfect love that comes with the sanctifying fire of the Spirit of God, you cannot but consistently have a peak Christian experience and a compelling presence of God all the way.
Thought for the day
When it comes to spiritual resources, many Christians short change themselves.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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