Tag Archives: Ephesians 1:15-23

I’ve Heard

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I’ve heard all about you.  Words that I’m never sure are terrifying or heart-warming.  Does my reputation precede me?  Am I notorious?  Or has someone actually been telling someone else nice things about me?  Maybe I shouldn’t feel so guilty!  But it a serious thought.  If someone has heard all about us, what would it be?

Ephesians 1:15-23 (CEV)

Paul’s Prayer

15 I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. 16 So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. 18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.

19 I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used 20 when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side in heaven. 21 There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well.22 God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. 23 The church is Christ’s body and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything.

Paul has heard about the Ephesians.  Good things by the sound of it.  The reputation that precedes them is of their faith and love.  They have done well, and Paul is grateful for them and their witness.

But that doesn’t stop him continuing to pray for them, that they will continue to discover new things about God and the life of faith.

Three thoughts:

  • What might someone have heard about me and my life and faith?  What might they have noticed?
  • However much I might think I know, however well I am perceived, or not, to be doing; there is always more to learn, more to discover of God, that in turn will effect how I live further.
  • do I continue to pray, even for those who seem to have life sorted?

Thank you Lord,
for those who are a shining example
of how to live for you.

Forgive me
when I do not meet that standard,
help me to learn more of you
and let that effect my life.

May I never think
I know everything about you,
and stop listening
and learning,
but always be open
to what you long to teach me

Christ-filled?

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Ephesians 1:15-23 (NIV)

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

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 also 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 the saints,

and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,

which he exerted in Christ when he raised him 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 title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

which is his body, the fulness of him who fills everything in every way.

I’m grateful to Sally, for making me think again about this passage.  I would have been focussed on the verses about Paul giving thanks for the church in Ephesus, and the prayer he had for them.  Oh that someone would look at my life and feel like saying, “I give thanks for you”, that my life could be such a beacon.

But Sally’s question brought my eyes to the final verse, and the fact that the church is filled by Christ.  That got me wondering…

When we think of the church, we may be used to thinking of it as Christ’s body.  The Church is the people, not the building.  We are the hands, feet, beating heart, and voice of Christ.  But what about being full of him?  A body only works if it is full of blood, reaching each part of it, keeping it oxygenated and alive.  To be the body of Christ, we need to remain full of him, serviced and kept alive.

But what if we turn that back around to think of the church as a building, or the place where we meet.  How full of Christ is that?  Is it the place where we go to be “topped up” on our vital life fluid of faith.  Is it full of people for whom we thank God, because they help in that process of keeping us and our faith alive?  Or is church sometimes full of busyness and doing, that can be life-sapping rather than life-enhancing?

What do you think?  What is your experience?

Lord,

may I ever seek

to be filled by you,

that my life may be all you offer

and make possible