I want you to hear this today…
God loves you.
I’m talking to the children of God. Especially those who have been in church your whole life. It’s too easy to take our theology and truth for granted. We feel a responsibility to tell the world. But don’t let it slip from the center of your thoughts.
God loves you.
Right now, in this moment, the God of the universe is calling you by name. He is so close to you that you can feel his breath on your cheek as he speaks words of love and encouragement to you.
If you don’t do anything else right today, if you don’t serve your community in a heroic way in this moment, know that Christ died so that you can sit in fellowship with God right now. He doesn’t need your offerings or your honorable deeds or your clever philosophies. He just wants to be with you and for you to be with him.
Let it sink in that just beyond the veil of what our physical humanity can see and hear, the Lord God invites you to be near him as he is only a breath away from you.
Paul Says It Best
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he writes about the love that God has for his children. Writing to the congregation in Ephesus, he teaches them some deep wisdom in Christ. But he also wants them to know without doubting or forgetting that God loves them. In a passage leading up to his prayer for the church at Ephesus, he reminds them of several things.
(Ephesians chapter 3 can be read at this link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+3&version=NIV).
1. God’s children are all members of the household of God and fellow citizens of God’s kingdom with the saints. The church of God’s children was built on the foundation laid down by the apostles when they preached the gospel message. And the cornerstone of this spiritual building is Jesus Christ.
2. We, the church full of God’s children, are being built together into a dwelling place for God, a holy temple in the Spirit where God can be with us and we with him. When we sit in God’s presence, we are the place where God can be on earth with us, and we enjoy each other’s company.
3. When the church acts as a temple for God’s presence, the wisdom and goodness of God is made known to rulers and authorities “in heavenly places” (Eph 3:10). When God dwells in his people, his people become his testimony on earth.
Paul’s Prayer for the Beloved
You are the beloved, God’s precious treasure in Christ. Today I have prayed Paul’s prayer for you that is written in Ephesians 3:14-19.
I pray that out of the glorious riches of God’s vast reserves that you will be strengthened with his power through the Spirit and that you are rooted and grounded in his love.
I pray that Christ will dwell in your heart because of your faith.
I pray that you will have strength to grasp and comprehend like the saints before us what is the height and depth and width and length of God’s love for you.
I pray that you will be filled full of the presence of God and know his love for you which is beyond anything your mind can imagine.
I pray that you will know that you aren’t loved by God because of how religious you are, how many ministries you participate in, how much money you give, or how many good things you do in your community. You are loved deeply, passionately, unreservedly because you are His child, His beautiful creation in Christ Jesus.
The world will know we are his children not by the things we do or don’t do, but by the presence of his love in us. May God dwell in our hearts fully and deeply.
“Father, out of Your honorable and glorious riches, strengthen Your people. Fill their souls with the power of Your Spirit 17 so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. May love be the rich soil where their lives take root. May it be the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together 18-19 with all of Your people they will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced. God, may Your fullness flood through their entire beings.” Eph 3:14-19 The Voice
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