Divine Encounter

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Ephesians 1 (click the link)


KEY VERSES:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:17-21, NIV)


MUSINGS:
Next to the Lord’s prayer, this is my favorite prayer in the Bible. It is just cram packed with so many wonderful truths! 

I love the insight that in some very real way we cannot know God intimately without him giving us a “Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Sure, Bible study and sermons and spiritual disciplines are all important and help us grow in Christ, but at the end of the day, God must reveal himself to us, make himself known and grant us the wisdom to see him more clearly. We must experience revelation in the midst of those things, or we just get puffed up with knowledge.

Jesus was fond of saying, “He who has ears, let him hear.” In other words, just because you can hear the words coming out of someone’s mouth, doesn’t mean that you “get it.” Two people can sit in the same sermon, prayer time, Bible study, or whatever, and have completely opposite experiences with God. One can come away with wonderful fresh revelation and wisdom, while the other has a hard time staying awake. It’s not enough to be informed about God; Paul is praying that we will encounter God through his Spirit to know him better.

Apply Paul’s prayer to yourself right now, asking God to give you his Spirit to bring fresh wisdom and revelation, straight from his heart to yours. Whether you are in the middle of the daily grind at work or in the midst of a worship service, may the Lord make himself wonderfully known to you.

And notice the next part of the prayer: that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened. Think about that. There is something beyond rational thought going on here. Paul is praying that at a heart level, somewhere deep in our souls, that we are awakened to “the hope to which he has called you.” This is very mystical, and intentionally so. As much as I love to study and think and learn, there is so much of our experience of God that must happen to us. Meaning, we put ourselves in a place to receive God’s wisdom and revelation, his enlightening of our heart. There must be something happening at a heart level or we are just going through the motions.

I am convinced that God is always reaching out to us through his Holy Spirit. It is just a matter of tuning ourselves in, drowning out the noise, and receiving what he has for us.

Paul brings this prayer to a climax by asking God to open the eyes of our heart to know God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” (that’s me and you!), going on to describe this power as the same as that which raised Christ from the dead. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend my days walking around in that kind of power, but I would like to!

Just like you, I have tasted of God’s power, experienced his victory over certain sins and temptations, known his strength on occasion to minister way beyond my natural ability, even to forgive when my natural self would choose bitterness and revenge… but I don’t spend most of my life there. In fact, I feel like I am operating on much less than “the power that raised Christ from the dead.” 

But I want more, and I think God is offering us more. So let’s apply Paul’s prayer to our lives right now, asking our Father to work his “mighty strength” in us today. May the Lord grant us the ability to draw from his incomparably great power.

We admit to you, Father, that we spend much of our days fatigued physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but we know that you have more for us. So we ask you, Lord, to be our strength in weakness. We want more than just a taste; we want to live in the power that Paul speaks of, so let us abide in your mighty strength through the Holy Spirit, even now.


WHO AM I?
My name is Greg Bland and I am getting ready for a family trip with all my children to northern New Mexico. We are planning to spend time hiking, relaxing, and waking up to temperatures in the 40’s. Should be wonderful! As my kids get older and move away to far-off places, I know what a treasure times together like this are. 

I am currently reading NT Wright’s new book, How God Became King, and it is great. I highly recommend it.

Most of you are reading this on July 4th. Some of my best memories with my kids are on this holiday, but they probably would not share my sentiment. Apparently they don’t like being in the line of fire of the fireworks. mmm, it was funny to me. J I hope to create more memories tonight.