“The basic problem of the Christians in this country in the last eighty years or so, in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals” (Francis Schaeffer). 

Most of us envision the church as a building with programs to meet the needs of families. God had a much larger vision. He created the church as His tool so Christ could rule in every human domain and authority. 

God Provides Every Spiritual Blessing
Apostle Paul wrote to faithful believers in Ephesus. God blessed them with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Before creating the world, He chose them in Him to be holy and blameless. He predestined and adopted them as His sons through Christ according to His will and glorious grace. In Christ, they had redemption and forgiveness of sin through His blood according to God’s grace lavished on them with all wisdom and understanding. He made known the mystery of His will to bring everything in heaven and earth under Christ. They obtained an inheritance being predestined according to God’s plan. They believed the gospel and were sealed with the Holy Spirit as a pledge of their inheritance until God redeemed His own possession to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:1-14). God provides every spiritual blessing in Christ so people can believe and be redeemed by the gospel for His glory.   

Ask for Wisdom to Know God So Christ Rules Every Sphere
Paul prayed for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so they could know God better. He prayed that believers have enlightened hearts to know His hope, His glorious inheritance and His great power that God used to raise Christ from the dead. He sat at God’s right hand far above every rule, authority, power, dominion and title in the present and future age. God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church. Christ filled His body, the church, with His fullness in everything and every way (Eph. 1:15-23). Ask for wisdom to know God and work in the power of the Holy Spirit so Christ rules every sphere and authority. 

Demonstrate God’s Love Through Good Works
Being dead in sin, they followed the world, devil and flesh as objects of wrath. Because of God’s great love and mercy, He made them alive, raised up and seated with Christ in heaven. In the future, He showed the incomparable riches of His grace through Christ. He saved them by grace  through faith as God’s gift without works or boasting. As God’s workmanship, they were created to do good works, which Christ prepared in advance for them to do (Eph. 2:1-10). Demonstrate God’s love through good works so people believe in the gospel of grace, 

Trust in Christ’s Blood to Create Unity
The Gentiles were separated from Christ and Israel’s covenants without hope and without God. But Christ’s blood brought peace, destroyed the dividing wall of hostility and abolished the law with its commandments and regulations. In God’s purpose, He created one new man out of the two and made peace. He reconciled Jews and Gentiles in one body through the cross by putting to death their hostility. They both came to the Father by one Spirit as fellow members of God’s household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the chief cornerstone. He joined the whole building as a holy temple in the Lord. He built each member as a dwelling of God by His Spirit (Eph. 2:11-22). Believers trust in Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit in abolishing the law of commandments and regulations to create unity.

Pray, Serve and Preach the Gospel
God revealed to Paul the administration of God’s grace (church) though His Spirit to His apostles and prophets. The mystery of Christ through the gospel enabled Gentiles and Jews to be heirs, members of one body and sharers in His promise. As a servant and recipient of grace through the gospel, Paul preached the unsearchable riches of Christ to Gentiles. He also revealed God’s manifold wisdom through the church to be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm according to His eternal purpose in Christ. Make this practical by approaching God in faith with freedom and confidence through suffering (Eph. 3:1-13).  Pray, serve and preach the gospel to transform the world. 

Trust God for the Impossible
Paul prayed for God’s strength through His Spirit so Christ would live in their hearts through faith. He prayed they be rooted in love and have power together with all believers to grasp the full dimensions of Christ’s love that surpassed knowledge being filled to the fullness of God. Paul  reminded them that He did immeasurably more than one could ask or imagine according to His power within them to glorify Christ in the church throughout all generations (Eph. 3:14-21).  Trust God for the impossible as you pray that Christ lives in your heart by faith, love and power.  

Bob Moffitt in his book, If Jesus Were Mayor: How Your Local Church Can Transform Your Community, wrote about five implications for local churches concerning kingdom mathematics:
1.  Local churches, even those with few members or few material resources, are not powerless
2.  It is dangerous for local churches to keep what they have for their own use
3.  When people outside the Kingdom receive help that was given sacrificially, the impact is far greater than if it comes from someone’s surplus
4.  Churches need to teach their people to give so they are not robbed of the blessings God wants to give them
5.  Local churches should mirror the sacrificial giving of its people, not using resources only within the church but gladly and sacrificially investing them in service outside the church
6.  Churches must not be afraid, but have confidence in God, the multiplier

Where is God wanting you to risk by exercising faith in God to overcome the fear of losing the little you have?   


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