Quote from Forum Archives on July 20, 2001, 12:53 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I have shared in the past, at least for long time readers, the
special prayer that the Apostle Paul had for the Ephesian church.
It has been a while since I last wrote about it, though, and this
time I would like to share a different Bible translation with
you, the New Living Translation.

This prayer really brings out the wonder and amazement that Paul
had for the greatness of God's plan. Let's think about that in
the context of our lives today, though. Now if you happen to be
a believer, you might share in the way that Paul marveled. But
what happens to that marvel when things get a bit uncomfortable?
Are you still in awe of the "wisdom and scope of God's plan"?

Let me be honest with you. That's where I want to be, and that's
my prayer, very often, in fact. But if I said that that was
always where my heart was, I'd be either lying or deceiving
myself. I want to be there all the time, but I struggle. To me,
the apostle Paul was an amazing man. He was not Christ. Yet He
really grasped what Jesus Christ had done, and he, Paul, became a
changed man, really changed.

Paul was always very zealous for God. He never lacked enthusiasm
for doing what he thought that God wanted him to do. But he had
a lot of bitterness and hatred for whatever disagreed with his
understanding of God. It took a personal visit from Jesus Christ
to change "Saul" (his former name) into the Paul that wrote the
attached passage.

I welcome a personal visit from Jesus Christ every day into my
life. Frankly, without His continual presence, I am as lost as I
ever was. Yet with Him, I am continually being renewed, and
little by little, He changes my attitudes, conforming me into His
likeness. What a HUGE job, for I have SO much that needs
changing and conforming!

I do believe that I have grabbed hold of who God is (at least in
part) and I appreciate the extent of His boundless love for you
and for me. I also appreciate the ability and willingness of God
to do things in my life and in others that I can scarcely
understand. I imagine great things. This passage suggests that
God is able to do much greater than what I can imagine. I
challenge and encourage you to imagine great things, that God can
restore a people for Himself, even out of the rubble we make of
things, people that will bring His Name the Honor and Praise He
so richly deserves! May we all be among those people, and may
even our deepest pain, hurt, insecurity, hope, and desire, be
fully satisfied in Jesus Christ alone!

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Ephesians 3 :: New Living Translation (NLT)
bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=EPH+3&language=english&version=NLT&showfn=on&showxref=on

Ephesians 3

Paul's Prayer for Spiritual Empowering

14 When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to
my knees and pray to the Father,[1] 15 the Creator of everything
in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious,
unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength
through his Holy Spirit. 17 And I pray that Christ will be more
and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your
roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. 18 And
may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great
you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with
the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now glory
be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to
accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or
hope. 21 May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.

1.3:14 Some manuscripts read the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996 by
Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers. All rights reserved. Comments? Questions? Tell us
what you think. Gospel Communications Network Online Christian
Resources. A Ministry of Gospel Communications, Inc.

bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=EPH+3&language=english&version=NLT&showfn=on&showxref=on

Sowing Seeds Ministry Prayer challenge for 2001: Prayer of Jabez
1 Chronicles 4:10

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would
bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would
be with me, and that You would keep me from evil." So God granted
him what he requested.

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
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