- Sing To MeOf Heaven
- On Zion’s Glorious Summit Stood
- All Hail The Power Of Jesus Name
- I Have Heard of A Land
- Precious Lord, Hold My Hand
- Precious Redeemer and Friend
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Christian Articles to Edify Folks
Thoughts From Ephesians – # 20 The Eternal Purpose of God (Eph. 3:11-13)
The plan of God to reconcile both Jew and Gentile into one body was in the mind of God from the foundation of the earth. It was revealed to the world through the church. It was conceived from eternity and eternal in its scope. The word “purpose” means “that which is planned in advance, plan, purpose, resolve, will”(BDAG 869).
God’s plan was brought into fruition through His Sons redemptive work Guy Orbison, Jr., writes, “In Christ there is peace (John 14:27) that breeds boldness where we can ‘boldly approach the throne of grace’ (Heb. 4:16) and we should hold fast our confidence.” A key aspect of this is that we have a confident access. This tells us that we can come to the Father through the Son and know that He hears us.
We can rely on this closeness with God in our daily walk with Him. We can put this confidence and trust into action as we serve the Lord and help reach the lost with the saving Gospel and strengthen those who are in Christ. It must be a privilege to be a member of the Lord’s church and know that we have the honor of serving God in the eternal purpose of reconciling Jew and Gentile into the marvelous light of the Gospel.
Thoughts From Ephesians- Number 21 – Strength and Riches Through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:14-16)
We serve an Awesome God and Lord Jesus Christ! All three parts of the Godhead are present in our walk of faith. When we are in the presence of Deity, we “bow our knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Ephesians 3:14). Throughout the Old and New Testaments when godly people came int the presence of God, adoration was the order of the day.
Even when we are not physically bending our knees in praise of our Heavenly Father, we are to be in a spirit of adoration. Just like it says to “pray without ceasing,” which does not mean that we are constantly praying; rather it means that we are to be in a spirit of prayer, ready to pray when the need arrises. I thin think it is the same here. Our hearts and minds must be bended in adoration to the Lord.
Christians are a part of “family of faith” mentioned in Ephesians 3:15. We share a common faith with every Christian in the whole world. We share a common salvation (Jude 3).
As has been stressed many times in the Epistle of Ephesians, God has great things in place for His children. His riches are endless and He wants us to have all the blessings a loving Father has for His children,
He wants us to live our life with the might of God present through the work of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. Like I said in the very first article of this series, God is not a stingy God , not wanting to bless us; rather, He rejoices in blessing us.
We have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us (Acts 2:38). We must take advantage of that blessed truth and live daily in the Spirit. We must want all God has for us. All the blessings of God must be received so that we can grow in the Lord Jesus and help others find and enjoy the marvelous light of the Gospel.
-November 6, 2017, at Graymere Church of Christ, Columbia, TN (CBI)
Larry Miles, lives in Louisville, KY, and is Co-Editor of Word and Work On-Line
